The master of literary horror, Stephen King, tends to keep his characters isolated to single novels or stories. While there have been a few obvious exceptions over the years, such as The Dark Tower series, Doctor Sleep, and The Talisman, typically his character revisits are contained to small, supporting cameos (like Bev and Richie in 11/22/63) or tiny blink-and-you-miss-it references.
However, since 2014’s Mr. Mercedes, King admittedly attached himself to a supporting character, who would accidentally lodge herself in his brain and become one of his greatest explored protagonists, one of the strongest female characters of his career, and a centerpiece for King’s continued work in the crime genre.
Holly Gibney was a small but important inclusion in Mr. Mercedes, and while her role grew in Finders Keepers and End of Watch to complete the trilogy, no one expected her to make an appearance as a major part of 2018’s The Outsider.
Holly then returned as the focal character in the title novella of If It Bleeds, which served as a sequel to The Outsider. In 2023, she finally got her own full-length novel, Holly, which moved away from the supernatural side of her previous stories and focused on an elderly serial killer couple.
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Now, Holly Gibney has received her second full-length novel with Never Flinch, King’s newest release and another straight crime story. In this one, Holly juggles trying to help the police locate yet another Ohio serial killer while trying her hand at being a personal bodyguard for a famous women’s rights activist.
Never Flinch’s story starts off simmering, with a villain who murders innocents at random, in place of those he believes are guilty of sentencing an innocent man to prison, who is ultimately stabbed to death there. He kills and leaves a slip of paper in their hand; a tell for who he believes is responsible. It has all the makings for the start of a great crime narrative.
As the book moves forward, it diverts from Holly having a major interest in the case to becoming a bodyguard for an activist, who is being stalked by a religious zealot during her U.S. tour. She still tags in to help the police in ways only Holly can, but her character feels disconnected, and no one on the serial killer side of the story can carry it.
Stephen King’s writing is always good, and that kept me happily moving through the story, but I was waiting for his usual character development and depth to propel us into another layer of Holly’s personality, and it never really came. Instead, we seesawed back and forth between two completely separate tales (that way-too-conveniently crossed paths at the end), with a strange focus on Barbara Robinson (another alumnus who has been around since Mr. Mercedes) abruptly starting a potential career in music.
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The ending to Never Flinch felt a little rushed, as both stories were hastily snuffed out after what felt like a buildup that was almost dragging. Rather than revisit the consequences or a reflection of what happened, each character was given a tight little feel-good bow to wrap up their parts in the story. The whole thing just felt all over the place.
Interestingly, in the Afterword of the novel, King mentions that Never Flinch was written during surgery recovery, and went through several rewrites, title changes, and even his wife, Tabitha King, told him he “could do better” after the initial final draft. He referred to the book as getting to a place where he felt “good… enough” about it, and that’s almost exactly how I felt as well.
Never Flinch is certainly worth the read, especially if you’re a fan of King’s venture into the crime genre. However, if you’re expecting it to be as good as any of the other stories in the Holly Gibney series, I think you’ll be a little disappointed.
Never Flinch is now available at all major book retailers and was published by Scribner.
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