Stephen King to Publish New Novel With Hard Case Crime

Posted on June 2, 2012

Stephen King is publishing a new novel with Hard Case Crime. Joyland will be published in Jne, 2013. It will only be available in paperback. The novel is set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973. It tells the story of college student Devin Jones. Jones comes to work as a carny at the amusement park and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

Stephen King says, "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 favorites. I also 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. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book."

Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai says, "Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book. It's a whodunit, it's a carny novel, it's a story about growing up and growing old, and about those who don't get to do either because death comes for them before their time. Even the most hardboiled readers will find themselves moved. When I finished it, I sent a note saying, 'Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.'"

King's previous Hard Case Crime novel, The Colorado Kid, became a national bestseller and inspired the TV series Haven. Joyland will feature a painted cover art by Robert McGinnis, the artist behind the posters for the original Sean Connery James Bond movies and Breakfast At Tiffany's and by Glen Orbik, the painter of more than a dozen of Hard Case Crime's most popular covers, including the cover for The Colorado Kid.