63 pages • 2-hour read
Never Flinch
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Background
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of gender discrimination, antigay bias, and pregnancy termination.
Series Context: Holly Gibney and Bill Hodges
Holly Gibney first appears in King’s novel Mr. Mercedes, which is the first of the Bill Hodges trilogy, including Finders Keepers and End of Watch. Mr. Mercedes is a crime novel focusing on Bill Hodges, a retired policeman, who tracks down Brady Hartsfield, who killed a group of people at a job fair. Through characters connected to the investigation, Bill meets Holly, who joins him. Across the Bill Hodges trilogy, Holly helps Bill in operating Finders Keepers, a private investigation agency, which leads into The Outsider, If It Bleeds, Holly, and Never Flinch, which continue to follow Holly as she grows and faces new challenges as a private investigator. Starting with If It Bleeds, Holly becomes the main character of the series, and Never Flinch is the newest addition to Holly’s story. The ending of Never Flinch, in which Trig’s ghost speaks to Jerry Allison through Trig’s ceramic horse, implies that Trig’s story may not be over.
In an interview with NPR’s Terry Gross, King said, “I just love Holly. And I wish she were a real person and that she were my friend because I’m so crazy about her,” adding, “She just walked on in the first book that she was in, Mr. Mercedes, […] And she stole my heart” (Gross, Terry. “Stephen King is Sorry You Feel Like You’re Stuck in a Stephen King Novel.” Fresh Air, 2020). King’s interest in Holly, even at the beginning of the Bill Hodges trilogy, shows how critical the character is to King’s conception of the crime genre. He values Holly’s almost supernatural powers of recall and observation, but he also notes her “inferiority complex,” which drives her character. Though Holly’s background is not the focus on Never Flinch, her internal discussions with her mother, her constant self-doubt, and her ability to overcome these challenges to save the day mark her as a unique heroine in the crime genre.
Cultural Context: Activism, Social Justice, and Women’s Rights
One of the main characters of Never Flinch is Kate McKay, a feminist icon touring the country to combat misogyny and sexism, specifically focusing on women’s reproductive rights. McKay notes a specific, real-life court decision that influences her arguments and activism in the novel: Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. The Supreme Court case decided that the United States Constitution does not guarantee a fundamental right to abortion access, overturning the assumed meaning of Roe v. Wade in 1973 and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. The case began in 2018 in Mississippi, where Jackson Women’s Health Organization sued a state health officer, Thomas Dobbs, over a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In 2021, the Supreme Court heard the case, siding with Dobbs in a 6-3 decision. The case had an immediate impact on American reproductive rights, as 16 states passed legislation to restrict abortion access.
Stephen King is a notable public figure, and he has often been involved in activism and political activity on behalf of the Democratic Party and for progressive causes. King’s stances on social justice and contemporary social and legal issues, including his support women’s and reproductive rights, for LGBTQ+ rights, and for gun control, shed light on his perspectives regarding characters in Never Flinch. For example, the fictional Real Christ Holy Church stands in for real-life religious organizations that, in King’s view, deploy religion as a justification for repression. King notes that Real Christ Holy opposes sexual freedom, reproductive rights, and gun control, and it thus stands as a reactionary antagonist to Kate McKay’s progressive activism, which aligns much more closely with King’s own stated views. At the same time, McKay is not portrayed as a morally perfect hero. She is vain, self-aggrandizing, and frequently dismissive toward the women who work for her. By making this imperfect figure the spokesperson for his own views, King emphasizes the distinction between personal goodness and political morality. Though Kate is often unpleasant toward the people closest to her, she does a great deal to make the wider world a more equitable place.
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