Never Flinch

A Novel

De: Stephen King

Narrado por: Jessie Mueller, Stephen King

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by The New York Times Book Review, AV Club, Variety, The Boston Globe, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Vulture, Men’s Health, Book Riot, The New York Post, Goodreads, AARP, Paste, and more!

From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines—one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker—featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.

When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to “kill thirteen innocents and one guilty” in “an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man,” Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.

Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women’s rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate’s message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate’s bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.

Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.

Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King’s richest and most propulsive novels.

©2025 Stephen King (P)2025 Simon & Schuster Audio

Home run

I was biting my nails waiting for my pre-order to become available (Stephen King is my favorite author) and it did NOT disappointed! Not even halfway through the first chapter I heard “Finders Keepers” and was filled with excitement. The narrator did such an amazing job as she switched from character to character. It kept me pulled in from start to finish. Hit this one right out of the park!! Can’t wait for the next one that I too have on pre-order. I’ve read my way through his entire catalog so as he puts them out I’ll keep right on reading. Rereading his past publications in the meantime.

Reader has Great voice

i really expected to hate this book. Even though I lean left & am pro choice i have become so sick of liberal author's preaching at me when I'm trying to escape into a good story. But i felt my favorite author (i'm a 68 year old Constant Reader) kept it on course for the most part. The story moved along and i found myself invested in the plot. So i happily give this five stars.

The Good:
1.The story moved at a good pace and kept me interested.
2. Holly grew on me this time. He might be getting the hang of this recurring character.
3. The narration was great. My only gripe is that she tended to whisper at times or get really low voiced. When listening to an audio book with earbuds and surrounding racket it can be frustrating when the narrator mumbles. But, wow! What a great voice. she can sing. i know it's an audiobook but trust me.
4. No Will Patton doing a Mrs Roboto voice for Holly!

The bad:
1. Stephen seems to have grown a little too fond of "authority" figures & corporation's as long as they're Democrats. His quick mention of Waco & Ruby Ridge with his prior love of Pfizer and others is a little cringy.
2. As i said i'm a little left of center and pro choice. But i have in my younger days been "Pro Life" and conservative Christian. They are not all wild eyed stupid fanatics. He at times in recent years had lost some empathy for those who vote differently than him.

The Silly:
1. i cringed at the "Woman Power" chant. 1970 called and they want their old school feminism back.

All in all a good book and the little possible supernatural line at the end was vintage Stephen King! loved it.

It was a great mystery story

I love everything SK writes. The narration of Holly was much better than the last one. I will definitely listen to this book more than once.
I hope he’s starting to feel better after the hip surgery. It’s harder when we age. Rest, rest and more rest.

Awesome!

Just to be clear, I am a Stephan King fan to my core. I have never LISTENED to a Stephan King book, this is the first time. I was worried that I would hate the performance, I loved it. For sure worth the listen.

Great story, great narration!

Now ... I will read the book as well.

Narrator

Talk about range. Stephen King at his finest with some flavors of John Sanford. What really did it for me was the narration bringing the book to life. One to reread soon

I love a Holly tale!

The reader is awesome. She puts on a great performance and the singer is very good too. Unexpected A cappella is nice. Good story. Decent ending. It’s all there.

Fantastic Narration

Enjoyed the book and especially the continuation of the Holly character. But, the narration was the best part. Hoping SK sticks with her on other books.

THE VOICES

So, it’s hard to follow as there’s not much of a distinction between the voices and characters. PLEEEASE bring back WILL PATTON!!!

Save your time

You can save your time and have more enjoyment by going back and reading Finders Keepers, Mr. Mercedes, Etc.
Mr King, In the epilog , says that he was suffering from a hip operation when he wrote this . I was suffering when I read it.
The character development (other than Holly) is very thin, like the book was rushed.
The villain is just as thin soup compared to other King villains.
The woman who reads the book only has one voice and it is hard to tell when she is doing a male character.
Other books with a female protagonist have been read by women with more talent (sorry) .
In the past when King touches on difficult political topics he gives a grudging nod to the other side , This is so one sided it tipped over.
Overall the book is a swing and a miss, but I am a fan boy and will buy the next one. No one bats 1,000.

Predictable and boring

Stephen King has lost his edge. This story was similar to one of the Mr. Mercedes stories. The showdown was too similar. He tried to make his characters interesting, but they weren’t. The story line was convoluted. King is usually good at juggling the story, but he dropped the pins on this one. I’m still looking for the next Shining. The closest he’s come is with Dr. Sleep. This was one his worst novels I’ve read. He should stick to writing instead of preaching. I should get a refund because there’s two sides to issues and both sides of abortion have their opinions. I always ask people, what if you had been aborted?