Never Flinch
By Stephen King
- Release Date: 2025-05-27
- Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Description
Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2025 by The New York Times Book Review, AV Club, Variety, The Boston Globe, The Minnesota Star Tribune, Vulture, Men’s Health, Book Riot, 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.
Reviews
King is still the king
5By nickisasiI fell in love with these characters starting with Mr. Mercedes and Holly continues to be a perfect imperfect character that has me wanting a new story as soon as the newest one is finished. This book is no exception!!Never Flinch
4By holzra68Even Mr. King’s “okay” books are 100 times better than other’s best.Can’t be Stephen King
1By stone crapWorst book I’ve ever had the misery to readLooooove Holly Gibney!
5By Old Pocono guyGreat story (stories) that seem separate but in King fashion, intertwine at tales end. Can’t wait, need my Gibneyfix soon.Mr. King Sir
5By AtomicCougyou done good.Never Flinch
1By apdartavWell, if this were in a format in which I could read the book, the review would be very different. Paid for it, but can’t read it…computer says it’s in a bad format.Never Flinch
3By Say-Say JaneNot his best work, but a good effort; inserting political opinions in his writing is of course, entirely up to him. Still for me, his best works tend to be minus the polemics and to this day I think, because of the age of the protagonists compared to my own as well as the incredibly realistic conversations amongst the characters, Stand by Me, especially when converted to film may be my favorite. One last thing: in his acknowledgments, I appreciate and give him great credit for the last sentence. Great point.Never Flinch
2By GJSaxtonSo-So at best. Too many characters to keep track of. Not a riveting story.Kept me captivated beginning to end
5By Brian McFanI don’t read a lot of fiction. But when I do generally, it’s Stephen King that captures my interest even though I am not familiar with the Holly Gibney storylines. It was fairly easy for me to follow this excellent piece of literary work. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to be entertained by an interesting mystery and murder spree. Highly highly recommended.Steven King
4By ArubabevDoes it agin…I love the Holly character and this one has 2 story lines that converge into one by the end. Good to the last page.Stephen King Never Disappoints
5By SusieMac46Absolute crackerjack story! Fantastic!Terrible
1By Walker/Mr. CoolThis was terrible. Bad plot, bad characters. Just not good. All I could do to finish it. Big SK fan but this was one of his worst.Ho-hum
2By freedomgrenadeConstant reader here. Honestly, getting a bit bored with Holly. SK’s switch to crime is getting played out. The pacing was slow and the characters pretty stock. I’ll read SK till the cows come home but I wish this had more umph.Holly Gibney!
5By EmElleGiGiA wonderful Holly Gibney story. It was lovely to spend time with her, Barbara, Jerome and Izzy again. I feel I know these people. The book kept me interested cover to cover, as King always does. There are two villians and the tension builds as you realize thier evil will eventually converge. It was a fun read (can you say that about a horror novel?) and I would recommend it to any Stephen King fan. (To get the most from this no el, read the Bill Hodges trilogy: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keeprs, End of Watch; then The Outsider, Holly, and Let it Bleed. But it stands alone just as well, in this reader’s opinion.) I hope you like it as well as I did!
