So, the award for first book read from start-to-finish on the Kindle goes to Joe Hill’s Horns. Don’t know why I picked up on this – combination of Joe being very good at Twitter, and reading his blog on the day the Kindle arrived. This is how marketing works, in these digital days.
The book is excellent, a lovely combination of fast-paced thriller with beautiful poetic moments which, I think, help to distinguish Joe from his rather august and well-known father. I tried not to think about that (and about how oddly familiar he looks, like a pre-echo of his Dad), and nor should you. Since it came out over a year ago, I won’t even try to review it here. You can find dozens of ’em online, and it’s hardly an underground book. Suffice to say if you want a good story, craftily told with more than a hint of literary texture, Horns will do the business.
And if like me you’ve got a mortal fear of snakes, I suggest checking under the blankets before going to sleep, if you’ve been reading this first.
As I finished the book, a friend tweeted me with the news that Shia LaBeouf had been attached to the film version, as the main character, Ig Perrish. The friend hadn’t read the book, and thought I’d be disappointed with the casting (this followed a pub conversation about the mystifying success of LaBeouf in movies, despite his awkward angularity and apparent ability to perform in only one register). Wasn’t disappointed at all: LaBeouf is perfect for Ig Perrish. Hope they get a decent director attached, because if they do it’ll be a great project.
