When the Buckeye City Police Department receives a disturbing letter from a person threatening to kill thirteen innocents and one guilty in an act of atonement for the needless death of an innocent man, Detective Izzy Jaynes has no idea what to think. Are fourteen citizens about to be slaughtered in an unhinged act of retribution? As the investigation unfolds, Izzy realizes that the letter writer is deadly serious, and she turns to her friend Holly Gibney for help.
Meanwhile, controversial and outspoken women's rights activist Kate McKay is embarking on a multi-state lecture tour, drawing packed venues of both fans and detractors. Someone who vehemently opposes Kate's message of female empowerment is targeting her and disrupting her events. At first, no one is hurt, but the stalker is growing bolder, and Holly is hired to be Kate's bodyguard—a challenging task with a headstrong employer and a determined adversary driven by wrath and his belief in his own righteousness.
Featuring a riveting cast of characters both old and new, including world-famous gospel singer Sista Bessie and an unforgettable villain addicted to murder, these twinned narratives converge in a chilling and spectacular conclusion—a feat of storytelling only Stephen King could pull off.
Thrilling, wildly fun, and outrageously engrossing, Never Flinch is one of King's richest and most propulsive novels.
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers.His recent work includesNever Flinch, the short story collectionYou Like It Darker,Holly(aNew York TimesNotable Book of 2023),Fairy Tale,Billy Summers,If It Bleeds,The Institute,Elevation,The Outsider,Sleeping Beauties(cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy:End of Watch,FindersKeepers,andMr. Mercedes(an Edgar Award winnerfor Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel11/22/63was named atop ten book of 2011 byTheNew York TimesBook Reviewand won theLos Angeles TimesBook Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic worksThe Dark Tower,It,Pet Sematary,Doctor Sleep, andFirestarterare the basis formajor motion pictures, withItnow the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipientof the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the2014 National Medal of Arts, and the2003 National Book Foundation Medal forDistinguished Contribution to American Letters.He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife,novelist Tabitha King.