Billy Summers - Stephen King (Review & Summary)

Date of Reading: 15/8/2021

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Scribner

Publication Date: August 3, 2021

Rating: 5/5

About the book:

Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He’s a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he’ll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first, there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?

How about everything.

Review:

        Well, it's official. The king of horror has moved on to newer territories and for fans (like me) who love his strictly-not-horror stories, there could never be better news. And this new addition has definitely gone to the top of my favourite shelf. Whether this is his best or not, I will leave that for the experts to decide; after all, this is only my third. 

        Surely, Stephen King is not the first one to write a story on a hired assassin. But Billy Summers is special. For one, his vast literary knowledge will put many a literature student to shame. Seriously Mr. King? Aren't you projecting a little too much of your personae here? An assassin who reads Emily Zola in his pastime and imitates Faulkner's writing style can never be ordinary. As for his position in the moral spectrum, this journey is also his attempt to understand himself and his choices.

        Be warned. Not everything goes as you expect, especially the ending (there were some hints and a peak to the last chapter confirmed my suspicions). Will I describe it as tragic? Definitely not. This is as perfect as it can be. I cannot possibly finish this review without mentioning Alice. My past experience with James Bond movies had me wary of female characters who are there only for voyeuristic pleasures. But Alice is, by no means, a dead weight. And the story doesn't incline to the romantic side. Hmm, that could be the reason I loved that ending.

        From the stunning cover page that stimulates your brain cells to the gratifying ending, 'Billy Summers' take you through an extraordinary journey that keeps you completely occupied. Ultimately, a person's story is never his own.

Summary:

        Billy Summers is a hired assassin. He is an ex-marine with medals to show for his services in Iraq. In all the jobs he agreed to take, he had always mentioned one condition: the target must be a bad person. Before getting labelled together with the sort of people he deals with, Billy is planning to retire. The present job he took is going to be his last.

        He is asked to kill another hired gun (Joel Allen) who is currently in prison for assault and soon will be charged for murder. He is to be killed since he has information on the client which can be exposed if he goes for trial. Billy is to shoot him before the court steps. The only caveat is that he had to spend several months among the local community pretending to be a writer, till the target is extradited.

        Billy doesn't like it. But the money is good and so he agrees. To perfect his cover, he starts writing about his own life and soon finds it to have a cathartic effect. Since the laptop is probably bugged, he changes his name to Benjy Compson in the writing. To Nick Majarian, the go-between Billy presents his 'dumb self' to, that image needs to be maintained.

        Through his writings, we come to know Billy's back story. When his mother's boyfriend kills his little sister, he shoots him killing the brute instantly. Later he is taken to foster care as his mother gets more involved with drugs and liquor. The care home was not bad, but once he is old enough, he enlists in the army. 

        Billy plans his own escape route using another identity to rent a basement. He pretends to agree with Nick's perfect plan, but something seems fishy. Is he planning to silence him along with all the others involved? The answer turns out to be yes on the day of the mission. He finishes his task and escapes safely to his hideout manoeuvring the watchful eyes of Nick's men. But the rest of the money is not transferred as promised which validates his doubts.

        Billy decides to stay in the basement apartment until the police give up the chase. He uses the time to continue his story, delineating his life as a marine and his first kill there. One night he finds a van dropping a girl on the street near to his apartment. He rescues the girl as it may otherwise invite suspicion on his whereabouts. She has been drugged and brutally raped. 

        Twenty-one year old Alice recognises the wannabe killer but she decides to recuperate there considering Billy's kind gesture. She had come to study in this place against her mother's better judgement and this incident only proves her right. She doesn't want that and thus no one is informed of her predicament. Both form an unlikely relationship.

        Billy punishes the man who raped her and they leave the town together. He goes to Bucky, his agent who brokered the deal. He is also in hiding. People are after Billy and there is a six million offer on his head. As for why the answer can only be given by Nick.

        A trip is planned to Vegas to confront Nick and to get the rest of the money. Bucky advises him to take Alice as the roads are probably monitored and she will make it easy to enter the city. Once there he leaves Alice in a motel. Billy kills two of Nick's henchmen and incapacitates another and finally, Nick is ready to spill the beans.

        The client's name is Roger Klerke. He owns World Wide Entertainment (WWE), one of the four biggest media conglomerates in the world. He hired Joel Allen to kill his own son who blackmailed him with the photos of his liaisons with underage girls. Allen finds his client's identity and uses it as his card to walk out of the prison. And so Billy is hired to kill him. Roger doesn't want to repeat his last mistake and wants Billy to be eliminated once the task is completed.

        Billy spares Nick's life and advises him to live honourably. He sends the remaining money and also informs Roger that Billy is killed. With the help of Giorgio, one of Nick's men, Billy uses Alice as bait to meet Roger. Together they go and confront this paedophile. Alice shoots him in the stomach and Billy finishes the task. But in return, Billy is shot by Marge, the mother of one of Nick's men whom Billy attacked that day. She is killed but Billy succumbs to his injuries eventually.

        Alice goes back to Buck's and finishes Billy's story giving it a happy ending. Billy had left all his savings to her. She decides to study English literature and become a writer, continuing Billy's dreams.

Favourite quotes:

"Any writer who goes public with his work is courting danger. It’s part of the allure. Look at me. I’m showing you what I am. My clothes are off. I’m exposing myself" - 89

"Sooner or later bad people do bad things, even a kid knows that" - 107

"I guess most jokes have some truth in them, and that is what makes them funny" - 114

"There’s no sense worrying about what you can’t control. Doing that is a good way to go crazy" - 190

"Writing is also a kind of war, one you fight with yourself. The story is what you carry and every time you add to it, it gets heavier" - 202

Meet the author:

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1971, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel, Carrie, for publication, providing him with the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 50 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers. King is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to the American Letters and the 2014 National Medal of Arts.

Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to several charities including many libraries and have been honoured locally for their philanthropic activities.