• Horns

  • A Novel
  • By: Joe Hill
  • Narrated by: Fred Berman
  • Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (5,412 ratings)

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Horns  By  cover art

Horns

By: Joe Hill
Narrated by: Fred Berman
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Publisher's summary

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache, and a pair of horns growing from his temples. At first, Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic. But Merrin's death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside.

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge. It's time the devil had his due.

©2010 Joe Hill (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

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What listeners say about Horns

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

people are funny

I just popped by to rate...wasn't even gonna write and then I saw some of the reviews and just had to laugh.....

The one up top with all the seething vitriol just makes me wonder if the writer has some kind of personal grudge against Hill - could not take that seriously at all - and neither should you. Obvious some odd bias thing happening there...there is just nothing in this book to waranty such heat (lol - yeah yeah...devilish - couldn't help myself) and those offended by the take on religion - why would you read a book called Horns by Joe Hill with a pitchfork on the front? Were you expecting tales of the life and times of Jesus and his pet bunnies and kittens? Lol...unbelievable.

Honestly, this book is good. I had just finished the latest Stephen King, which I really enjoyed, and was in that awful limbo where you have to pick your next book and you just know it won't be as good as the last and since I had exhausted the King library it struck me - Hey - like father like son, right? And I was not disappointed - genetic greatness. Hill definitely has his own voice, though, not just copying pops - he really is a good, solid horror writer (something there are just way too few of these days). Inventive, funny, made me cry, laugh - kept me interested and Damnit! another hellish reference) I'm back in limbo again! Maybe I'll just go for the ghost stories....after all I really enjoyed 'Heartshaped Box' too.

and please...if you don't like horror - stop reading and then giving bad reviews to things you should have stayed away from in the first place. It's unfair to the author. Horror is a tricky thing, you either like it or you don't - like country music or...opera!

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289 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Started out good, BUT...

This is my second listening of this book and just like the first time, it started out okay, but then the story spiraled downhill. Joe Hill, adds more profanity and vulgarity than is necessary. He seems to be trying to compensate for his general lack of .... There are plenty of excellent writers out there that don't need such a large amount of objectionable material in their stories. His father Stephen King is just one example of that. He writes interesting stories without the crutch of relying or overdoing the trash language.

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122 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

One Star Is Too High

I hung in with this book purely to see if there was a great ending (there was no ending). Blah blah blah what was the point in all this. What a waste of time. Boring, jumbled, disjointed, poor character interaction. Basically what the hell does this all mean. It left me not wanting anymore from Joe Hill, it will take some time before I try another. Stay away from this book. I have enjoyed his past work but this was horrible......did I mention it was horrible?

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79 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

I'll take a refund, please. 2 stars for slight humor

What disappointed you about Horns?

The summary gives you no clue this book is a diatribe on satanism and porn. I believed it was a murder mystery with a unique twist. It was simply too offensive and seriously depressing. Too bad Joe Hill is leaning towards his Dad's later work for reference. In the last 5 yrs I've given up on King writing anything relevant.

What could Joe Hill have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Zero.

Have you listened to any of Fred Berman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. I enjoyed his narrative.

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76 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Don't bother...

I want a refund! Completely disconnected and down right silly. So sorry I wasted my hard earned cash on this bomb. Too bad too, since I did enjoy his other book. Joe Hill, what happened???

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76 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Profane, dumb

And morally offensive. Who
Thought this was even close to a good idea. What a waste of time and money.

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74 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

A Spectacular journey into CRAP!!

loathed it!! I struggled to finish it, because it was unreadable . The narration was mediocre. The story ridiculous, and unnecessarily, crass, crude and just downright stupid. The best part was when I stopped reading it and promptly returned it for a FULL REFUND! My advice stick to the well known writers of the supernatural and horror; their well known for a reason. They are gifted writers who know how to write.

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74 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Bad

I want five hours of my life back, and I think Joe Hill owes them to me! The lost hours were spent slogging through his pretentious book, Horns. What a monumental waste of good reading time!
This book is apologetically pompous. I cannot understand any of the rave reviews, except that no one wants to admit that he/she didn't enjoy reading it. It's like the Emperor's New Clothes. Those who wanted to appear smart - lied, and stated that they saw clothes. Those who were honest said, 'what clothes?'
I didn't get this book, and I'm not ashamed to say so. Wait...I must rephrase that. I got it, but it stunk so badly, it was ridiculous! Horns wants one to examine personal faith, reasoning, and the reality of one's life, but it does it in such a clumsy manner, that it really doesn't merit deep examination. The book is shallow; a transparent desire for the dollar. It reminds me of another money-grab: Congo, by Michael Creighton. Heart-Shaped Box did so well, Mr. Hill decided to hit the suckers upside the head one more time. Did it too early, though. Creighton wrote Congo well into his career. Maybe he needed a new Mercedes or something, and decided to tap the ATMs known as his readers. Hill is pretty new in his career, and a book this pitiful is a real gamble.
Joe should read more of his father's books. Stephen King is best known for writing horror, but to me, he is the best at simply writing. I read very little horror, not my favorite genre, but the beauty of King is that his writing is complete, and he never leaves untied strings. His denouement always leaves you satisfied. Understand - a few unanswered questions in a novel provoke thought for a reader, but the unanswered, heavily veiled unanswered questions found in the trite pap Horns, invokes a gag reflex.
I am infinitely sorry that I bought Horns, but from now on, all Joe Hill books must come from the library. Then...I may lose a few hours, but at least my money will still be in my wallet!

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73 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

What was I thinking!

This was a very creative book, but even with that said, I could not wait for it to be over. I had forgotten how much I don't like gory, bloody snake swallowing, brutal stories. Read the Historian for a great thriller.

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71 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Don't Waste Your Time!

This book draws you in from the beginning . Seems like a great story for the first few hours - then the disappointment hits you. Hours and hours of never ending filler leading to a ridiculous long winded ending. That being said, the narration was perfect.

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