I don't know why I hadn't read this one sooner. This may be my favorite 2020s King novel.
It somewhat has [b:11.22.63|10866286|11.22.63|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327878078l/10866286._SY75_.jpg|15553789] vibes (which is one of my all-time favorites), but it's also quite different. I love that this is in the same universe as [b:The Shining|11588|The Shining (The Shining, #1)|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353277730l/11588._SY75_.jpg|849585] (all things serve the beam, am I right).
Never thought I'd care so much about an assassin but here we are. And Billy is different after all, I don't care what he thought of himself at the end, he wasn't a bad person, he's complex, probably lost, but not evil; far from that.
(If only we had some Billy Summers in the world)
Speaking of the ending, that was a dirty trick, Steve. I fell for it, even though I should know better at this point, but I wanted to believe. That final chapter... that final scene... they broke me.