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Never Flinch to be published in May 2025

November 19, 2024

From master storyteller Stephen King comes an extraordinary new novel with intertwining storylines – one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission, and another about a vigilante targeting a feminist celebrity speaker – featuring the beloved Holly Gibney and a dynamic new cast of characters.

Hodder & Stoughton will publish Never Flinch in hardback, eBook and audiobook, and in trade paperback for Australia and New Zealand, on 27th May 2025.

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 realises 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 unhinged 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.

Philippa Pride, Editor for Stephen King, says, “I was held captive from the first page of this brilliantly suspenseful crime thriller. King offers readers both a fascinating exploration of justice and a glimpse into the world of an author on promotional tour, and his description of a woman’s singing comeback is matched only by his brilliant observation of dance in his story ‘The Life of Chuck’, soon to be a major movie. Never Flinch is the perfect entry point to readers new to Stephen King and offers and enticing reunion for fans of Holly Gibney.”

Pre-order your copy now!

UK Independent Book Edition