Eli’s Reviews > If It Bleeds > Status Update

If It Bleeds
The fact that the title of the book is this one, is very fitting.
It is thorough, suspenseful, gory, and just perfect. I also realized that it forms a trilogy of its own. A trilogy of “outsiders”.
Brady Hartsfield, the entity they actually called The Outsider, and this shape shifter version.
I also like how Ralph Anderson was “off screen” the whole time, and how often Bill Hodges was mentioned.

If It Bleeds
First off - this is coined “Holly Gibney #5.
How great is that!!
Secondly - it begins as if it is a direct continuation of The Outsider. Starting the story with an update on Ralph Robertson and a link to Finders Keepers. Awesome.

The Life of Chuck
First off - telling it in three acts was great. The fact that it was told in reverse chronological order, was excellent.
I also enjoyed how King explored the concept of “there are multitudes within us”.

Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
A great spirit from beyond the grave storyline. I like the integration of the iPhone into it, and the idea of a young teen teaching an old man how he can benefit from this new tech.
It reminded me of the time Aharon Tzvi taught the older men in Shul how to access any prayer they need through a smart phone app.

Rat was great. Just a fun version of an old theme. I did not think, however, that the story was going to go the direction it did. I was picturing a classic King style grotesque type of story, just because of what I associate with the word Rat.
Again Stephen King surprised me by taking it more to the fairytale style. Very entertaining and enjoyable.

So far Rat is grabbing my attention. Lots of insinuations and foreshadowing of great things to come.
At this point the main character just said that “everything is eventual” as part of his thought process.
Now I’m going to have to read Everything’s Eventual again. Haha. Looking forward to it.

I feel this was such an interesting novella. It stood on its own as a great story. However, it was also The Outsider part 2, and Finders Keepers part 5.
Excellent opening, fantastic ending. Altogether my favourite of the 3 stories so far.
Now let’s see what Rat is all about.

It’s amazing to me how engaging the stories with Holly Gibney are. She’s such a fascinating character and the growth and development from Mr. Mercedes to this story is fantastic.
A great moment showing how she’s still Holly is when she sits down to watch her show, and lines up 6 Sneakers Bar Cubes in front of her - one for each commercial break. Love it.

King presents an interesting concept here. The idea of an evil spirit in the form of a gray translucent bird flying in and out of certain humans is fascinating me. It explains the presence of total inner evil in some, while missing in others with the same past/genetic/present circumstances. Love the example of it flowing in and out of famous evil men.

Jerome, Holly and Finders Keepers have arrived. So happy to hear more from them. And it continues shortly after End of Watch.
Such a happy moment for a Constant Reader in King’s kingdom.