Holly Gibney Books in Order: How to read Stephen King’s stories?
Originally appearing in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels (known as Mr. Mercedes Trilogy), Holly Gibney is a character created by horror master Stephen King-and she’s one of his favorite creations.
Introduced as a side character in Mr. Mercedes, Holly Gibney suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), synesthesia, sensory processing disorder, and she’s somewhere on the autism spectrum. Retired police Detective Bill Hodges took her under his wing and she became a partner for the new private investigation firm. Now, she’s working as a private investigator immersing herself in supernatural mysteries.
How to read the Holly Gibney Series in Order?
As she was introduced in the Bill Hodges Series, you’ll need to read this trilogy of books first.
The Mr. Mercedes Trilogy
- Mr. Mercedes (2014) – In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.
- Finders Keepers (2015) – John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.
- End of Watch (2016) – Retired police detective Bill Hodges and his partner, Holly Gibney are called to a murder-suicide with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put not only their lives at risk but those of Hodges’s friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Because Brady Hartsfield is back and planning revenge not just on Bill Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.
Holly Gibney After Mr. Mercedes
- The Outsider (2018) – An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
- If It Bleeds (Novella, 2020) – Holly Gibney investigates a horrific school bombing in Pennsylvania and a TV newsman who has an uncanny knack for covering major tragedies.
- Holly (2023) – When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.
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