from NoveList PlusHill, J. (2007). Heart-shaped box. New York: William Morrow.

ISBN:  9780061147937

Rating: 3Q3P

Readers' Annotation:  Rock star, Judas Coyne, buys a ghost over the Internet.

Summary: Heavy metal rock star, Judas Coyne likes to collect weird things.  His assistant finds a ghost that is available for purchase online.  The ghost arrives in a heart-shaped box with a suit in it.  With that purchase, Judas makes one of the biggest mistakes of his life.  The ghost torments Judas and the people he cares about relentlessly, driving him to abandon his house in hopes of out running the ghost that now belongs to him.

Evaluation:  As an adult, I haven't read horror fiction; I can't say that Heart-Shaped Box made me want to change that behavior.  I thought it was well written, but I can't seem to suspend belief long enough to get into it enough to get scared and feel the emotions of the characters.  The main issue I had with this novel is that the ending seemed to be too neat and tidy for the chaos that was the book.  It had a happy ending, which I am usually all for, but for this book it just didn't seem to fit.

Genre:

• Horror

If you like Heart-Shaped Box try...

• Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker
• Horns by Joe Hill
• Bag of Bones by Stephen King