Billy Summers

The first half of Stephen King's excellent crime novel Billy Summers ranks with some his best work, as the title character (a 44-year-old hit man who hides his literary intelligence behind a "dumb self" facade) settles into a small Midwestern town in preparation for his next job. These sections have a thoroughly enchanting pace, driven by the extraordinary character development of Billy as well as the tension of what the reader suspects will eventually occur. Unfortunately, the book's second half turns into a standard-issue action thriller with an implausibly-introduced secondary character and a weak resolution.