Heart-Shaped Box

By: Joe Hill

Narrated by: Stephen Lang

“Wild, mesmerizing, perversely witty….A Valentine from hell.”
—Janet Maslin, New York Times

The publication of Joe Hill’s beautifully textured, deliciously scary debut novel Heart-Shaped Box was greeted with the sort of overwhelming critical acclaim that is rare for a work of skin-crawling supernatural terror. It was cited as a Best Book of the Year by Atlanta magazine, the Tampa Tribune, the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and the Village Voice, to name but a few. Award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling Neil Gaiman of The Sandman, The Graveyard Book, and Anansi Boys fame calls Joe Hill’s story of a jaded rock star haunted by a ghost he purchased on the internet, “relentless, gripping, powerful.” Open this Heart-Shaped Box from two-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Hill if you dare and see what all the well-deserved hoopla is about.

not bad

The story is interesting, the writing is well done. The narrator wasn't very good in my opinion. Also, there is music that plays sometimes and its loud and a bit jarring. Totally unnecessary. Overall it's a 3 star experience.

Most Excellent

I really enjoyed this book. I am a fan of Stephen King, and bought this book based on that (I know, shallow, but it worked this time). I thought the story was very original and very scary, I enjoyed the characters, even the bad ones were very good in that they seemed to me to be true to themselves. I hope this is the beginning of a long line of books from Mr Hill. I will be looking for his work in the future.

Best book in a long time

Wow, this is some great story telling! I can only hope he decides to write more novels, as he is a master of his craft. His characters are vivid and full of history. He weaves a tight story and leaves nothing unturned or unanswered for in the end. Beautifully done. The narrator is good as well, but could use some classes on how to use more than the same two tones and voices for all of the charatcers. But this didn't dampen the book or mood at all. I fear that nothing will easily compare to this one in the mystery / thriller category in the near future. Good job.

A terrific horror story

This is the first Joe Hill book I have read. I also have not read a good horror story for years. I'm pleased this is the first I've read in years as it had all the components I love in the horror genre.

Aging, self-absorbed rock star Judas Coyne has a thing for the macabre and has a horrible collection. His background of abuse and this collection has caused him difficulty in hs relationships, yet he basically keeps them due to his reputation but when his assistant tells him about a ghost for sale on an online auction site, he immediately puts in a bid and purchases it. This is the beginning of a series of events, not even Judas could imagine.

The story not only outlines the horror but also brings some humanity to Judas. I started out not fond of Judas Coyne and ended up liking the character.

Stephen Lang did an excellent job of narration and bought a good deal to the dialogue.

However, I was less than pleased with the audiobook production. Adding music to an audiobook is not only not necessary, but also is extremely irritating to me.

It would have been much better without the multiple musical interludes which explains my rating on performance.

I thought this was optional

I enjoyed this book very much. The author has a sound voice. I found the music completely took me out of the story. The music was a distraction more than an asset to the story.