Billy Summers by Stephen King

Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?

How about everything.

More than a mystery, more of a character study. Billy Summers is a hit man who only kills “bad men.” But does that make Billy a good man? That’s the conundrum he tries to solve when he’s forced to explore his past, and how it led him onto the path he now follows.

Where does that path lead? And who is Billy Summers, really? It isn’t just Billy who’s faced with these questions. So are the readers.

I could have done with a few less characters, especially those that so little time was given to. Yes, they added to Billy’s journey, but not by much, and the words could have been given over to those characters who had more to do with Billy’s journey. Chief amount those are Alice and Bucky, who, unfortunately, don’t show up until well into the story.

Which was my only problem with the book, why I only really liked it, rather than loved it. I felt the build up was too slow. Maybe more action, and less study?

Still, I did really enjoy reading the book. Not as much as some of his horror story, but good enough. King sans horror might be your cup of tea, so this might be the book for you, though a certain hotel does make a cameo.