By Matthew McConkey
I’ve got to say something here: This is one of King’s best stories that isn’t predicated on the supernatural. Usually, King is really good in this sandbox, writing a straight drama. And that’s pretty much what Billy Summers is.
I didn’t read it when it was released in 2021. I bought it and put it on my bookshelf because I had a backlog of books at the time. Around Thanksgiving of 2024, I was finally able to get this book down from the shelf and read it. It was a little slow getting it going, King’s fault, not mine, but that is typical Stephen King in most cases. As a Constant Reader, we know that the storyteller is eventually going to get us to the story. His tried-and-true recipe applies here.
The novel has a fairly straightforward plot: a hitman is hired to eliminate someone. What’s different about this job is that it’s going to be Billy’s final hit. However, we all know nothing is that simple in the world of Stephen King.
When I finished the novel, I was emotional and exhausted. Tears welled up in my eyes. I felt as though I had been on this journey with Billy. In some respects, I had. That is what King does really well when he’s on his game. I haven’t felt this way reading a King story since 11/22/63 and more recently, The Life of Chuck. Those two had the same emotional punch in the feels.
Going into this book, I knew that King had been writing more crime-style books since Mr. Mercedes, a sharp departure from his bread-and-butter horror/supernatural plots. If you’re a Constant Reader, then you know that King can write really good dramatic fiction as well. Billy Summers is one of those who will, over time, stand on a Top 10 list of dramatic fiction in his library…eventually. I know that it will be on mine when I compose one.
Why does Billy Summers work?
Billy Summers works because King is able to rein in his power of deep and sometimes cumbersome descriptions of people, places, and things. He keeps the story tight and concise. Something that King did in this novel was that he used a lot of Ernest Hemingway-style short sentences, which I loved. It’s not new for King because he’s used them in the past, but to me, it seemed that he evoked Hemingway’s style more here in spurts.
Billy Summers works because, reading this story, you get the feeling that you are with Billy the entire way. He’s a hitman, yes, that is true, but he only kills people who have done bad things. Chances are, if he kills you, you’ve deserved it. King writes a compelling anti-hero and a well-fleshed-out character that develops throughout the book. I really enjoyed the parts of the book where we are privy to Billy’s past as he writes about how his life was and the events that led him to become a hitman.
Billy Summers works because of the relationship that is forged between Alice and Billy. That was such a key component for the story and a driver that sets up the flow and plot. King does a great job of building tension and eventually love between the two characters. I got total buy-in from those two characters and liked them both very well. I got attached. But in typical King fashion, someone is going to lose here and lose badly.
Billy Summers works because you think, as you read the novel, you kinda have an idea where it’s going to go. Well, you don’t. I was thinking one way, and King does a magic trick and has us looking in one direction while bringing us to where he’s going. You never see the last 40 pages coming, especially the last 15. The final 40 pages are some of the best storytelling King has ever written. And when you finished the last page, you sit there, at least I did, with tears welling up in your eyes, not believing what you just read.
Billy Summers gets the job done- 4/5