BOOK REVIEW: Horns

After hearing that Harry Potter star - Daniel Radcliffe would be staring as Ig Perrish in the film of this novel, I felt I should have a read.

 Blurb from book:

 "Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things. He woke up the next morning with one hell of a hangover, a raging headache . . . and a pair of horns growing from his temples.

 Once, Ig lived the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned American musician, and the younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, Ig had security and wealth and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more - he had the love of Merrin Williams, a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

 Then beautiful, vivacious Merrin was gone - raped and murdered, under inexplicable circumstances - with Ig the only suspect. He was never tried for the crime, but in the court of public opinion, Ig was and always would be guilty.

 Now Ig is possessed with a terrible new power - with just a touch he can see peoples' darkest desires - to go with his terrible new look, and he means to use it to find the man who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It's time for a little revenge; it's time the devil had his due."

 What I loved about this book was Joe Hill's style of writing. I have read some of his work before such as the Locke and Key comic book series. Let's just say I loved this book so much that I went out and bought Hill's collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, which I will review after I finish it.

 This novel has a lot going for it: unusual protagonist name, strange goings-on and imperfect character relationships. Hill manages to get in the head of characters surrounding Ig, having his mother and father saying things to him which they wouldn't have said otherwise. Ig is a ordinary american guy whose girlfriend is killed and all suspicion points towards him; everyone around him is hypocritical, two-faced and all thinking one thing - he did it. The originality of the plot was something else I enjoyed, having never come across a hero with horns before in the horror genre (yet, I'm still young!) and found the plot gripping as well as fluid, despite flashbacks being frequent throughout the novel.

 Finding out the killer halfway through the novel was also an interesting twist. It then became more about Ig trying to get to him, instead of trying to figure who it is which sometimes can drag out a novel and leave you a bit hopeless. You could say it was inevitable for him to find out who it was quickly due to his ability to make other people speak their deepest darkest wants. It's been a while since I have found a book I want to finish immediately because it's that good! 

 Overall I found the novel very interesting and an excellent read. So I would give it a 9 out of 10.