By Wayne C. Rogers
Nitric oxide synthase 4A2 is Joe Hill’s third novel. Heart-shaped box and trumpet. This novel is absolutely Joe’s masterpiece. It shows me that this young man is now ready to take up the mantle of his father (Stephen King) when the time comes.
The central character of the novel is Charlie Manx, who is approximately 116 years old but appears much younger due to the classic Rolls-Royce Ghost he drives when hunting for children. While this evil car helps destroy his family, it also makes Manx look like a middle-aged man, injecting him with energy and striving to make his pranks more malicious.
Victoria McQueen is Charlie’s arch nemesis.
Ever since she was given a Raleigh bike as a little girl and rode it around town, her totem has been an old bridge that takes her wherever she wants to go. It was on this bridge that she first encountered Manx and the evil he was wreaking with his mysterious car.
Victoria, aka Vic, nearly died during her first encounter with a creature that took human form and whose sole mission was to take children to Christmasland. It was said that here, children never experienced bad luck and every day was like Christmas. Charlie Manx nearly killed Vic during his first outing and he made a terrible mistake to go after her for revenge. You see, Manx doesn’t like people getting in his way. Because of this mistake, he was captured by the police and spent the next twenty years in prison.
Needless to say, Manx’s condition deteriorated while in prison and he eventually died.
As his body is placed in the morgue and his heart removed, good old Manx is somehow resurrected and escapes, armed with a bone crushing hammer which he plans to use against poor Victoria when he finally captures her.
After reuniting with the Ghost, Charlie Manx begins to recover and become young again. He wants to teach Victoria, who is now a woman with her own children, to stay out of other people’s business. Manx begins to teach her to kidnap her only son Wayne and forces her to go after him. She must somehow find her child before Manx and the car harm the little boy’s soul, and she is determined to save Wayne from this transformation at all costs. She even carries a backpack full of explosives, ready to blow Christmasland to pieces. This is definitely a lady on a mission, and even Rambo needs to avoid her as she hunts Manx with extreme prejudice.
Nitric oxide synthase 4A2 I was amazed by its originality. Joe Hill dug deep and came up with a whole new kind of vampire mythology. It’s not easy to deal with a subject like this and create a whole new concept. I feel like Joe did it very successfully. It’s certainly the same roots as his father.
Even better, both Charles Manx and Vic are convincingly written and described. I wouldn’t be surprised if Charlie wasn’t based on someone Joe met on his journey through life. Furthermore, the good and evil in Charlie and Victoria come to life on the page. You’ll find yourself drawn to Manx like a magnet, and he deftly lures you into his dark, evil world. However, Victoria McQueen is Hell on Wheels, and you don’t mess with a mother and her cubs.
The pace of the story was pretty slow until the last 125 pages. Then the pace slowed down and the story moved quickly towards the shocking ending. I loved how the story ended neatly. It felt satisfying and complete.
Of course, Joe Hill pays tribute to his family throughout the book. For me, it was like returning home after decades away. Old memories were brought up and mixed with new ones, making it hard to tell which was which.
So if you want to read a great horror novel, check it out Nitric oxide synthase 4A2. This may be the best horror novel of 2013. I won’t make a final decision until I’ve read his dad’s novel. Sleep Doctor and Damn By Dan Simmons.
Highly recommended! Order yours here.
grade:5/5
