Nightmares and Dreamscapes discussion

It's that time of the year again, spooky season is here and so is the new Stephen King September release! We'd like you to join us for a fun Big Buddy read starting this Tuesday, September 5th on the official release day of Holly. You can join in anytime and there's no closing date, so let's chat, read, get scared and best of all have a good time!



Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.



When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.


Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Holly-Stephen-...

Please use spoiler tags to make this fun for everyone, if you need help with that pls let us know :)

I'll be here! Thanks, Kas!

Sally wrote: "I'll be here! Thanks, Kas!"

Sweet! I've been avoiding reading too many articles on it, but sounds really good and intense!

Awesome! Count me in as I'm excited to read this with you all :-D

Looking forward to it!

LTJ and Vickie, yesss!!

I'm trying to wrap up my current read before Tuesday so I can give this book some attention, can't wait :)

Count me in!! I'm not sure if I'll be able to start on the 5th but I'll definitely start this in September, earlier then later.

I'm glad the group decided to do a BR on this. Woohoo!

I am here and ready to jump in as well! :)

I’ll try to join in as soon as I can 😁 so excited

This is going to be great.

I’ll be here…I’ll bring coffee and doughnuts lol 😁

Wahoo you guys, making my day! So happy to read this with you!

Sweet!!! Looking forward to this.

Yay! Hi everybody!

Just pre-ordered this. I'll join in.

I kind of wanted to catch up on this series by reading Finders Keepers first, but a big buddy read may tempt me too much I think!

Denis wrote: "I’ll be here…I’ll bring coffee and doughnuts lol 😁"

Awesome! We love coffee and doughnuts! ❤️

Cool - look at the crowd gathering! Awesome! Welcome everyone to the Holly read! :)

Exciting! I will be reading it as soon as I get my hands on it, have it pre-ordered!

Ready to pick up when it arrives

Ooo this sounds fun! Is this part of a series or am I good to just jump in?

Felina wrote: "Ooo this sounds fun! Is this part of a series or am I good to just jump in?"

I haven't read the prior novels, but from the blurb it sounds doable.

I've had it on Hold via Libby, so I'll read as soon as I receive it (which likely isn't "soon.")
Oddly I hadn't even read the description until now. Now I REALLY want to read!!

Cool! I preordered on audible. I’ll be starting it as soon as I finished my current audiobook. I’m excited. I was just thinking it had been a while since I read a King.

Felina wrote: "Ooo this sounds fun! Is this part of a series or am I good to just jump in?"

The book is stand alone - some people are reading the other books only because it introduces Holly but the stories are not connected to this book. So you can jump in! :) Welcome to the read! :)

I’ll likely pop in to comment at some point. My copy is coming via Amazon.

Awesome! LoL so I'm a BIT behind but will make up for it by finishing The Outsider today, then If It Bleeds by tomorrow night right in time to jump right into Holly. It'll be close but I'm glad to be off today/tomorrow to fire it up. The Outsider is so damn good, I can't put it down!

Felina wrote: "Ooo this sounds fun! Is this part of a series or am I good to just jump in?"

The character of Holly first shows up in SK’s Mr. Mercedes series. From that series, The Outsider and If It Bleeds, you really see this character evolve. It’s been fun to read her progress.

I don’t think you need to read those books to read this though. It might have some backstory but this looks like a standalone and I think you should be good on reading it.
That’s just my two cents on the character of Holly.
Just a heads up, you might get some spoilers when it concerns Bill Hodges and the Finder Keepers agency.

I did read The Outsider but that’s it for those connections. I always enjoy King’s Easter eggs.

To me The Outsider had a spoiler for Mr. Mercedes but I don't think it will take away from loving the books, I might be reading this trilogy sooner than later, everyone always says such good things about it!

Dan wrote: "I’ll likely pop in to comment at some point. My copy is coming via Amazon."

Same, waiting on it impatiently :P and nice to see you here Dan :)

Felina wrote: "I did read The Outsider but that’s it for those connections. I always enjoy King’s Easter eggs."

Oh yes, I love how his characters or places bump into each other across the whole map of his stories.

Felina wrote: "Cool! I preordered on audible. I’ll be starting it as soon as I finished my current audiobook. I’m excited. I was just thinking it had been a while since I read a King."

Here's one thing I find awesome. The narrator played Holly in the tv show Mr Mercedes...

@Kasia The Outsider is definitely my favorite book with Holly in it.

Chris wrote: "Felina wrote: "Cool! I preordered on audible. I’ll be starting it as soon as I finished my current audiobook. I’m excited. I was just thinking it had been a while since I read a King."

Here's one ..."

That’s fun!!

I enjoyed The Outsider but had a hard time with the original victim being (view spoiler)[a mother of a boy roughly the same age. I found the cause of death to be very disturbing and kinda wished I hadn’t read it. (hide spoiler)]

Dan wrote: "@Kasia The Outsider is definitely my favorite book with Holly in it."

Ahh, interesting! Yes I adored her in it, she really added to the whole story, King crafts brilliant characters from time to time :P

Was just checking when my copy arrives, says 10pm tomorrow 😢

Felina wrote: "I enjoyed The Outsider but had a hard time with the original victim being [spoilers removed]"

I hear you (view spoiler)[ being a parent or an animal lover can be tough on horror readers, as a mom to an almost 3 year old it took me a long time to be able to get through some things I read in books the past 3 years and not get affected to the point of feeling sick or angry. I think that stuff must take an emotional toll on King too, as a father and dog owner, but I get why he does it too (hide spoiler)].

My kindle copy arrived this morning. I'll start tonight.

Graeme wrote: "My kindle copy arrived this morning. I'll start tonight."

Sweet, and yes it's already Tuesday for you :)

Indeed. Living in the future... 😀😉😎

This will be the first King novel I've read since I read Rose Madder when it was released in 1995.

Graeme wrote: "This will be the first King novel I've read since I read Rose Madder when it was released in 1995."

Wow! It has been a long time since you read King! You have some catching up to do! 😍

Graeme wrote: "This will be the first King novel I've read since I read Rose Madder when it was released in 1995."

Wow! It’s been a spell. I hope you enjoy this one and glad you’re reading some King again.

Graeme wrote: "This will be the first King novel I've read since I read Rose Madder when it was released in 1995."

Oh wow! Rose Madder was going to by my next King read but I kinda ran out of time before Holly comes out. This is my 3rd year in a row reading a King book on release date, really enjoying this new ritual. (Billy Summers in 2021, Fairy Tale in 2022, and now Holly in 2023).

Graeme wrote: "This will be the first King novel I've read since I read Rose Madder when it was released in 1995."

Wow, what a stretch! I do find myself accidentally reading one of his almost annually. He just puts out good books!

@Kasia: Wow, look at that! I got back into reading after a 10+ year break and did the same with King novels! I feel it's a huge celebration because everything he writes is just golden for me. Very similar to whenever one of my favorite metal bands releases a new album after decades of making music.

LoL it makes me sad sometimes. SLAYER is my all-time favorite band and they officially retired after 30+ years of metal. Ever since I got into them back in 2003, I treated a new release just like I do a new King release. It's special, unique, and just makes me happy. LoL I am VERY close to finishing If It Bleeds to be ready for Holly on my lunch break on Tuesday, I am BEYOND excited :-D

9% in. July 23, 2021...

I'm pretty sure SK has changed his writing style from past to present tense... Not sure if I'm investing in the characters yet. Will continue on.

Hi all, re the reading gap, I think (if I remember correctly) I was more into fantasy through the 1990s-2020.

The key books of King I remember and love are Salem's Lot, The Dead Zone, The Shining, Needful Things, It and The Stand. They are the ones that struck me as memorable.

My reading calendar is clear and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my book. I've seen so many people on Instagram get their copy WEEKS early. Mine says it isn't due to arrive until Thursday! 😥 Don't they know I'm Stephen King's BIGGEST FAN??? 😂 I'll try to be patient. That's not so easy when it comes to Stephen King preorders. They were late with Billy Summers as well. I'm starting to take this personally.