Imprint

  • Hodder Paperbacks

Billy Summers: An epic thriller from the No. 1 bestseller

Formats & Editions

'A dazzlingly shapeshifting novel . . . equally good at action scenes and in-depth psychology' The Sunday Times

'A thriller with a surprisingly heartfelt and redemptive ending, Billy Summers is a compelling and engrossing read' Sunday Express

From legendary storyteller and No. 1 bestseller Stephen King, whose 'restless imagination is a power that cannot be contained' (The New York Times Book Review), comes a thrilling new novel about a good guy in a bad job.

Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun. He's a killer for hire and the best in the business. But he'll do the job only if the target is a truly bad guy. And now Billy wants out. But first there is one last hit. Billy is among the best snipers in the world, a decorated Iraq war vet, a Houdini when it comes to vanishing after the job is done. So what could possibly go wrong?

How about everything.

This spectacular can't-put-it-down novel is part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there, and it features one of the most compelling and surprising duos in King fiction, who set out to avenge the crimes of an extraordinarily evil man. It's about love, luck, fate, and a complex hero with one last shot at redemption.

You won't put this story down, and you won't forget Billy.

Read More

Praise for Billy Summers

  • A dazzlingly shapeshifting novel that, like its antihero, only pretends to be easy to pigeonhole. Disciplined but adventurous, equally good at action scenes and in-depth psychology - The Sunday Times

  • A thriller with a surprisingly heartfelt and redemptive ending, Billy Summers is a compelling and engrossing read - Sunday Express

  • King's killer instinct hits the mark again... Without abandoning his blood-chilling propensities, he has transformed himself into one of the most adroit and accomplished crime writers in the US. King has negotiated the shifting of gears with the kind of panache that befits the "ultimate storyteller" (for once, publisher hyperbole is justified). - The I

  • His best book in years . . . He may always be considered a horror novelist, but King is doing the best work of his later career when the ghosts are packed away and the monsters are all too human - Guardian

  • Storytelling genius - Telegraph

  • Adventurously shape-shifting yet always disciplined, it's a dazzling return to form - The Sunday Times

  • Devoured it ... it's such a page-turner - Radio Times

  • It's a novel with a heart-stopping, heartfelt conclusion - Daily Express, Books of the Year

Read More

Discover more

Latest Articles Videos
Halloween Haunts | 2025
Halloween Haunts | 2025
Hachette's House of Horror
Hachette's House of Horror
Spooky Stories: Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Spooky Stories: Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2023
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2023
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2022
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2022
Stranger Kings
Stranger Kings
Eight of Stephen King’s scariest tales to terrify you this Halloween
Eight of Stephen King’s scariest tales to terrify you this Halloween
Maximum Sentence: What We're Watching, Reading and Listening to
Maximum Sentence: What We're Watching, Reading and Listening to
The Outsider Trailer | Stephen King
The Outsider Trailer | Stephen King
The Outsider Trailer 2 | Stephen King
The Outsider Trailer 2 | Stephen King
Maximum Sentence: Winter Reading Guide
Maximum Sentence: Winter Reading Guide
The Dark Tower (2017) | Trailer 2
The Dark Tower (2017) | Trailer 2
IT by Stephen King | Movie Trailer
IT by Stephen King | Movie Trailer
Sleeping Beauties | Stephen King & Owen King
Sleeping Beauties | Stephen King & Owen King
The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower
TRAILER: End of Watch by Stephen King
TRAILER: End of Watch by Stephen King
Revival by Stephen King
Revival by Stephen King
Meet Mr Mercedes
Meet Mr Mercedes
Wind through the Keyhole - Stephen King BOOK TRAILER
Wind through the Keyhole - Stephen King BOOK TRAILER
11.22.63 by Stephen King
11.22.63 by Stephen King
Fair Extension - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
Fair Extension - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
1922 - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
1922 - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
A Good Marriage - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
A Good Marriage - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
Big Driver - Stephen King's 'Full Dark, No Stars' | Future Shorts
Big Driver - Stephen King's 'Full Dark, No Stars' | Future Shorts
Halloween Haunts | 2025
Halloween Haunts | 2025
Hachette's House of Horror
Hachette's House of Horror
Spooky Stories: Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Spooky Stories: Fantasy & Sci-Fi
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2023
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2023
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2022
Halloween Book Recommendations | 2022
Stranger Kings
Stranger Kings
Eight of Stephen King’s scariest tales to terrify you this Halloween
Eight of Stephen King’s scariest tales to terrify you this Halloween
Maximum Sentence: What We're Watching, Reading and Listening to
Maximum Sentence: What We're Watching, Reading and Listening to
Maximum Sentence: Winter Reading Guide
Maximum Sentence: Winter Reading Guide
The Outsider Trailer | Stephen King
The Outsider Trailer | Stephen King
The Outsider Trailer 2 | Stephen King
The Outsider Trailer 2 | Stephen King
The Dark Tower (2017) | Trailer 2
The Dark Tower (2017) | Trailer 2
IT by Stephen King | Movie Trailer
IT by Stephen King | Movie Trailer
Sleeping Beauties | Stephen King & Owen King
Sleeping Beauties | Stephen King & Owen King
The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower
TRAILER: End of Watch by Stephen King
TRAILER: End of Watch by Stephen King
Revival by Stephen King
Revival by Stephen King
Meet Mr Mercedes
Meet Mr Mercedes
Wind through the Keyhole - Stephen King BOOK TRAILER
Wind through the Keyhole - Stephen King BOOK TRAILER
11.22.63 by Stephen King
11.22.63 by Stephen King
Fair Extension - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
Fair Extension - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
1922 - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
1922 - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
A Good Marriage - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
A Good Marriage - Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King | Future Shorts
Big Driver - Stephen King's 'Full Dark, No Stars' | Future Shorts
Big Driver - Stephen King's 'Full Dark, No Stars' | Future Shorts
Stephen King

Stephen King

STEPHEN KING is the author of more than seventy books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent titles include Fairy Tale, Holly, and If It Bleeds, all number one Sunday Times bestsellers.

Many of his titles are the basis for major motion pictures including IT, Stand By Me (adapted from The Body) and The Shawshank Redemption, which is IMDb's top-rated movie of all time.

King is the recipient of The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence 2022, the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

More about Stephen King

Related books

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.