Reviews

Billy Summers by Stephen King

avackkkkkkk's review

Billy Summers was kind of creepy as a character (especially with his first interaction with Alice). Additionally, the storytelling just seemed very one-dimensional and Billy's writing was really not all that he thought it was. 

aj_humphreys's review

4.0

It was good (3.5), King can write, there's no question there. But the problem with BS is that it's an amalgamation of a characters story in a way that takes away from the drama of the A plot. The revenge plot.

Consider it a watered-down Razorblade Tears. I enjoyed the story overall, but in the end, it wasn't anything that I hadn't read before.

becky_m8's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

pslatten's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

4.0

jenlbaker44's review

4.0

I was expecting just a bit more action in the middle. What I wasn’t expecting was to shed a few tears at the ending. Highly recommend giving this a go!

anniegarrard's review

idk it wasn’t a bad book it just didn’t really keep my attention like i wish it would have. i probably wont read Stephen King anymore because he added too much unnecessary politics but overall it was okay

libri_e_cappuccini's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Solo Stephen King può farmi piangere per la morte di un killer a pagamento. 
E io lo ringrazio anche per questo. Billy Summers ha tutti gli elementi tipici di King: piccola città, vicini carini che si impicciano dei fatti, protagonista disilluso, giovane da salvare e proteggere, critica sociale e quelle vibes da America che non c'è più. In questo caso c'è da aggiungere omicidi, intrighi, ricatti, roadtrip e un finale che lascia davvero col cuore spezzato. Una delle caratteristiche che più mi hanno colpito di questo libro è la presenza di tre diverse storie, tre diversi protagonisti praticamente. C'è Billy, la sua trama, l'omicidio che è pagato per fare; poi c'è Dave, lo scrittore appena arrivato nel quartiere che gioca a Monopoly coi bambini e poi c'è Benjy che racconta la sua infanzia, la guerra, il trauma. 
E Billy è tutte queste persone contemporaneamente e probabilmente molte di più. Ho amato ogni parte di questo libro e il finale, per quanto mi abbia distrutta, è stato perfetto.

hellonursej's review

3.0

This one took a lot of time for the story to take off, and even then, I wasn’t intrigued by it overall. I never developed an attachment or empathy towards any of the characters either which makes a big difference in a book for me. Not my favorite of King’s works.

debbiecollectsbooks's review against another edition

Wonderful story!

I gave this wonderful Stephen King story a rating of five stars.I have always loved reading Stephen King stories, this one is now my favorite. Billy Summers came alive in the story and I didn't want the story to end.

lamianoctalis's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Wie immer ein interessanter Roman von Stephen King.
Ich muss sagen, am Anfang war ich nicht überzeugt von Billy, aber im Laufe der Zeit ist er mir ans Herz gewachsen und die Minuten flogen nur dahin. Ich glaube, das war der erste von Kings Romanen, wo ich nicht zwischendurch überlegt hab, ob ich nachts einschlafen können werde, was aber absolut nicht negatives ist. Ich habe gelacht, Tränen vergossen, mit gefiebert und war entsetzt und entrüstet. Die subtile Einbindung anderer Bücher hat mir auch gefallen, sodass ich mich echt fragte, ob noch mehr aus den vergangenen Geschichten übernommen wird.

(Das war nicht der Fall, aber das Hotel hat mich echt schaudern lassen)

Das was mir in der Vergangenheit bei Büchern von King nie gefallen und mich stets aus der Geschichte gerissen hat, waren die vulgären Ausdrücke und Objektifizierungen, die Frauen beschrieben haben (ich verstehe, dass sie ein Ziel verfolgten und natürlich die Geschichten aus einer Zeit stammen, wo noch nicht so viel darüber nachgedacht wurde), das war jedoch in Billy Summers nicht der Fall. Man merkt, dass sich Kings Schreibstil (oder der der Übersetzer) geändert hat und ich würde sagen nur zum Besseren. Personen, die man hassen sollte, hat man gehasst. Personen, die einen anekeln sollten, haben einen angeekelt und Personen, die man mögen oder sogar lieben sollte, hat man geliebt. 
Und überhaupt nicht Nebenbei bemerkt, hat David Nathan sich selbst übertroffen in der Vertonung.

Ich kann Billy Summers (insbesondere als Hörbuch) nur jedem wärmstens empfehlen, egal ob King Fan oder Neuling (oder Überwältigter von der Dicke seiner Bücher).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Death, War, Rape, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Medical content

Minor: Domestic abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit

Die Protagonistin wird von mehreren Personen vergewaltigt, was der Protagonist den Tätern heimzahlt

So wie zu erwarten in einem Buch über einen Auftragsmörder, werden Personen ermordet. Der Protagonist war Soldat im Mittleren Osten. Die Corona-Pandemie wird erwähnt, aber nicht weiter ausgeführt, was auf die Zeit hinweist, zu der King das Buch schrieb.