Nos4A2 by Joe Hill

Nos4a2 might have the single coolest cover an any novel I have ever seen. And although you may not be able to judge a book by its cover, it certainly got me wanting to read it. When I first saw the title, I figured the novel would be about vampires, but there are no vampires residing inside—at least not in the traditional sense of the word. I suppose that the story’s villain, Charles Manx, is a type of vampire. He doesn’t drink blood, but he does feed off the emotions of children, who keep him alive far longer than any person would expect to live, living in Christmasland—a fantasy world of his own making.

The foil in this story for Charles Manx is Victoria McQueen. Since she was a small child, Victoria had the ability to get on her bike and find things. She, along with others like her, have talents similar to Manx, but they don’t use their ability to abduct children. As a teen, she runs into Manx, and he is arrested for abducting her. Later in her messed up life, after she has a child of her own, Manx and his Rolls Royce get out of his confinement and return to Christmasland after taking Victoria’s son captive.

This was an imaginative and enjoyable novel. The world of the story is richly built. The writing is captivating. For the most part, the characterization is strong, although I wasn’t so enamored with Victoria McQueen. She was a bit hard to root for as a protagonist. The story was overly long and could have been trimmed, especially the second third of the novel. But I think what really stood out for me was the story’s villain, who, although he is a despicable character, is the hero of his own story and truly believes that what he is doing is good. I think villains are hard to get right and Joe Hill nails it.