New novel from Stephen King, Joyland, to be released next month

Posted on 15 May 2013
By Sophie Calder
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From one of the most beloved storytellers of all time, Stephen King, comes a breathtaking, heartbreaking new mystery, Joyland.

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland is at once a mystery, a horror story and a bittersweet coming-of-age novel.

College Student Devin Jones took the summer job at Joyland hoping to forget the girl who broke his heart. But he wound up facing something far more terrible: the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child and dark truths about life – and what comes after – that would change his world forever.

Stephen King commented: “I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favourites.”

The award-winning line of pulp-styled crime novels published by Titan Books, Hard Case Crime, boasts an exciting mix of lost pulp masterpieces from some of the most acclaimed crime writers of all time (Mickey Spillane, Cornell Woolrich) and gripping new novels from the next generation of hardboiled authors (Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block).

Stephen King’s last title for Hard Case Crime – The Colorado Kid – netted over 400,000 copies and inspired the TV show Haven, about to go into its fourth season on the SyFy network.

Titan Books will be publishing Joyland in paperback format. Stephen King explained: “ I loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being.”

With the emotional impact of King masterpieces such as The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, Joyland is a whodunit and a heartbreaking tale about love and loss, growing up and growing old, and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time.

Charles Ardai, Edgar- and Shamus Award-winning editor of Hard Case Crime wrote: “When I finished it, I sent a note saying, ‘Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.’ ”

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