As many fans of Stephen King may have expected, the author has revealed that we have not seen the last of his character Holly Gibney, the investigator with unique observational skills introduced in Mr. Mercedes and reappeared in The Outsider and its novella sequel. In a recent podcast appearance, the prolific writer has revealed that he has just completed work on an upcoming novel which will simply be called Holly, and will see the character fully fleshed out in her own right. Having already appeared in both the TV series of Mr. Mercedes and The Outsider, it is likely that we will see her latest appearance also heading that way in the not too distant future.
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King appeared on The King cast and revealed that the novel of Holly is already finished, which would likely see the book released sometime early next year after his upcoming novel Fairy Tale. Explaining his obsession with the character of Holly, King said, “I could never let Holly Gibney go, from the Mr. Mercedes books. I mean, she was supposed to be a walk-on character and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart and so… I just finished a novel that’s called Holly, and it’s all here, man.”
Mr. Mercedes ran for three seasons and was based on the trilogy of novels comprising Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch, which charted the story of retired detective Bill Hodges and his determination to bring the psychopathic Brady Hartsfield to justice. Holly Gibney appeared in a supporting role in the trilogy, helping Hodges in his attempts to stop Brady from carrying out more atrocities, which began with him running over a crowd of people in a Mercedes, hence the title of the first book.
On-screen, Mr. Mercedes ran from 2017 to 2019 but has recently moved to streaming on Peacock and has seen a surge in new viewers. In the series, Holly was played by Justine Lupe, while the character was dramatically changed in her appearance in the HBO series based on The Outsider, when she was played by Cynthia Erivo. It was said at the time that The Outsider’s showrunner Richard Price wanted to change the name of the character, as he would not be keeping continuity with Mr. Mercedes, but King insisted that the name remained intact.
Mr. Mercedes and The Outsider Proved Big Hits For King and Leaned More on His Detective Fiction Than Straight Horror
In 2020, King went on record as saying he wished Holly Gibney was a real person and originally stated that the character had stolen his heart. This probably explains both why King did not want her name changing in The Outsider, and also why he has continued to write about her since. Her last appearance was in a solo novella in his If It Bleeds collection, which was a direct sequel to The Outsider.
Mr. Mercedes was adapted for television with David E. Kelley taking on the heavy side of writing duties and Jack Bender directing. Starring Brendan Gleeson in the lead role of Bill Hodges, the series was initially meant to star Anton Yelchin as Brady Hartsfield, but following the actor’s untimely death, the role was taken over by Penny Dreadful’s Harry Treadaway. The series was a hit with critics and having a solid foot in King’s trilogy of novels, it kept its focus through to its conclusion. In many ways, the same could be said of The Outsider, which hit HBO in 2020, which followed King’s novel tightly, and thanks to performances from the likes of Ben Mendelsohn, Jason Bateman and the aforementioned Cynthia Erivo, the show hit a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
With King now bringing Holly Gibney back in a new novel of her own, and the interest in his work still at an all-time high, with his latest novel Billy Summers already having been picked up for a TV adaptation by J.J. Abrams, it is surely a given that we will be seeing the character making another TV appearance in the next few years.
