Billy Summers, by Stephen King.

 

 

           Prolific and acclaimed author Stephen King introduces us in his latest novel to a singular new protagonist, former Marine sniper turned hit-man Billy Summers.  Billy is used as often as needed by the Mob – he has an ‘agent’, Bucky Hanson, through which his work is vetted and his one proviso is that the target be a truly bad man.  Which must surely be an oxymoron of sorts, but Billy has a moral code made up of Marine honour, good and evil and a past life that explains everything.

            Of late he has felt like retiring;  it’s time to hang up the weaponry and live normally if such a thing could be possible, but Bucky has offered him one last job that pays so much, he’d never have to work again at anything.  The target is an Asshole Extraordinaire who doesn’t deserve to live another  minute, much less all the time his crooked lawyer has managed to buy him.

            Billy takes the job, which involves living in the community as a writer, an alias that turns out to be a very good way for Billy to blend in as an aspiring author attempting his first novel, all the while scoping out from his ‘office’ the Courthouse where the shooting will occur:  piece of cake!  Except for the Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men etc etc:  Billy does the job and expects payment, only to find that his contractors aren’t going to pay, and they aren’t going to let him live, either.  He’s been stiffed.

            It takes King a while to get to this point in the story;  in fact (dare I say it!) I was starting to wish he’d ratchet up the action, get things moving, when that’s exactly what happens:  Billy’s on the run;  he’s been forced to don another identity, including wearing a ridiculous disguise – but it works, and it buys him time in his new little hidey-hole to plan his next move.

            Which is to pursue those who betrayed him, and find out who employed them, for whoever did so, is the most evil one of all, and must be removed from this earth like the disease that he is.  This world has no place for such bad men, and Billy intends to eliminate them all.  Needless to say, Billy has morphed into a hero of Biblical proportions, with the reader cheering him on every bloodstained step of the way and, as an added bonus, we are privy to Billy’s writing attempts in his guise of ‘author-to-be’.  It is no easy task to write a novel-within-a-novel but Stephen King’s storytelling skills are superlative:  unforgettable characters, great dialogue, superb action - when it gets going.  Piece of cake!  FIVE STARS.   

 

Wanderers, by Chuck Wendig.

         

  

          An apocalyptic novel forecasting the end – and possible rebirth – of a different  civilisation is not inappropriate for times such as these, when the world is fighting wars against disease, bigotry and fanaticism;  in fact, there is the inescapable ring of truth in Wendig’s huge (800 pages!), densely plotted novel which teems with characters and has subplots galore.  And I have to tell you that nothing becomes really clear until the very end, which means that you have to stick with it, so there!

But it’s worth it.

            In early June a new comet, named Comet Sakamoto after its discoverer, passes over the United States, and a phenomenon coincidentally occurs:  certain people start walking, beginning with Nessie Stewart, a 15 year old girl who literally drops everything one morning at her home in Pennsylvania and starts walking – where?  Her elder sister Shana tries to stop her and is horrified that her attempts provoke a terrible physical response:  it is clear that her sister will literally die rather than stop walking.  In a very short time, Nessie is joined by other ‘walkers’, all silent, zombie-like and seemingly impervious to outside influences – they don’t need food, water or toilet-breaks:  they are in stasis till further notice.  The walkers are trailed by a band of loving, concerned relatives, and a team of scientists from the Centre for Disease Control, for surely this phenomenon must be an outbreak of a previously unknown pathogen? 

            In the meantime, a new disease has reared its ugly head in San Antonio, Texas:  a bat population disturbed by an explosion bites every human they find, and the resulting symptoms develop into a 100% contagious, fatal disease called White Mask, after the ghastly white mucus that runs from ears, eyes and noses.  It doesn’t take long before Southern Evangelicals start chanting about the End Times, and white supremacists begin blaming niggers, spics and slit-eyes for the breakdown of society – which, of course, was doing just that, well before comets and disease.  And it doesn’t take long before the Far Right start blaming the Walkers as well, for all of society’s ills:  it’s time for them to go, to be rubbed out!  After they’ve gone, Amurrica will be great again! 

            There are some great characters in this story – too many to list, but controlling everything is an Artificial Intelligence presence developed by one of the scientists called Black Swan:  he/she/it literally has the last word. 

            ‘Wanderers’ is similar in theme and content to Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’ and Justin Cronin’s ‘The Passage’, but retains its originality and frightening message to the end:  start walking, world!  FIVE STARS     

           

   

 

Falling into Rarohenga, by Steph Matuku.    Young Adults.

           

            Tui and Kae are twins, and contrary to all the stories we hear about the close bonds of twins, that happy state doesn’t apply in this case:  Tui is a school prefect at the small-town high school they attend;  she’s a swot and gets consistently high marks in everything, the object of which is to get away from this little nothing place, get to the big city and eventually cover herself with academic glory.  Kae is just the opposite – who cares about good results, as long as he has his mates – and his ukulele, the source of his biggest pleasure, for if there’s one thing Kae worships, it’s music, and composing his own songs:  music is the most important thing in his life, certainly not his snobby sister, who is Nigel No-Friends because she’s too smart.

            Until they arrive home from school (fighting all the way) one day, to discover that their beloved Mum, their mainstay through the divorce of their  jailed fraudster Dad and the death from cancer of their darling aunt Huia, has disappeared without a trace – but what follows next is so unbelievable it can’t be happening:  what they at first thought was one of the frequent earthquakes that plague Aotearoa New Zealand turns out to be a summons from Aunty Huia in Rarohenga, the Maori Underworld:  they have to fall through the portal to look for their mother, who has been abducted by their father, of all people!  Only the intervention of the twins will save her from dying before her time and staying in Rarohenga.  Neither of their parents are meant to be there, but their father learnt some pretty dreadful magic from one of his cellmates;  now, he has his prize, their mother, and who cares about the twins?  They were only distractions to divert their mother’s attention from him. 

            There begins a series of hair-raising adventures for the twins, including meeting Hinekoruru, Goddess of Shadows;  a fearsome taniwha with paua-shell eyes and many sad memories;  and an unbelievably handsome fairy called a túrehu.  They all provide assistance for the twins’ quest, but all demand payment – in the túrehu’s case, it’s Tui’s hand in marriage.  To which she agrees, fervently hoping that she will be able to get back to the real world before she has to honour her promise – which, perhaps, would not be that bad:  he’s pretty damned hot!

            Once again, the author of ‘Flight of the Fantail’ delivers the goods:  an exciting, topical meld of today’s New Zealand with Maoritanga and its ancient myths and legends - and she does it so well. Twins Tui and Kae are heroes for the ages! SIX STARS.