4.5 Stars
Vic McQueen has been taking the Shortaway Bridge her whole life – finding misplaced items. Sometimes it’s a bracelet, sometimes it’s an answer to a question. Sometimes she only has to go down the street, sometimes she goes across the country. Charlie Manx doesn’t have access to the Shortaway and he certainly doesn’t have much interest in helping people. Instead, he uses a 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith with vanity plates stating "NOS4A2" which he uses to whisk children away to "Christmasland". When Manx gets a hold of Vic’s son, will she be able to use the rickety old bridge one last time to save him????
Joe Hill has done what I am finding few new authors are capable of doing – he’s completed a trifecta of amazing tales. I was surprised how quickly I breezed through this novel since real life kept getting in the way and I actually put it away a couple of times to protect my own sanity. The suspense that Hill created had me on the edge of my seat through a giant chunk of the book. The only thing I think I loved more than the dangling carrot of terror that he constantly held in front of me were the massive shout-outs to nerds everywhere. References to superheroes, Firefly, Game of Thrones, and a fat dude leading man made me love him a little bit more.