Stephen King‘s next book has been announced and solidifies his biggest universe outside The Dark Tower. Many of Stephen King’s best books are among the eight novels in The Dark Tower series, which, despite ending the main story in 2004, expanded in 2012 with The Wind Through the Keyhole, a story that is set between the fourth and fifth installments. While many of King’s other books are not directly part of this series, they still connect, including The Stand‘s connections to The Dark Tower.

While it is not a Dark Tower book, King’s next novel, Never Flinch, is set for release on May 27, 2025 (via Entertainment Weekly) and has significant implications for the expansive universes he has created. The upcoming novel follows a murderer fixated on revenge and a vigilante stalking a feminist celebrity speaker. The two stories are separate until they eventually intertwine in the book’s thrilling climax. While there are many new characters, there will also be some familiar King characters in Never Flinch.

Stephen King’s 2025 Release Adds Another Book To His Holly Gibney Universe

Holly Gibney Was First Introduced In Mr. Mercedes

One of the familiar King characters in Never Flinch is Holly Gibney, who has appeared in many of King’s previous novels. Holly was first introduced in Mr. Mercedes and was also in its sequels, Finders Keepers and End of Watch. She is also in The Outsider, If It Bleeds, and Holly. The character was played by Nobody Wants This star Justine Lupe in the television series adaptation of Mr. Mercedes and by Wicked star Cynthia Erivo in the HBO adaptation of The Outsider.

Never Flinch will add another book to the growing universe of Holly Gibney stories. In Never Flinch, Detective Izzy Jaynes turns to her friend, Holly, for help after receiving a letter threatening to kill thirteen innocent individuals and one guilty person as an act of revenge. Holly will be part of the storyline that involves the vengeful killer and will not be involved in the storyline of the vigilante stalking the celebrity speaker, although that may change once the two stories converge.

Never Flinch Makes Stephen’s Holly Gibney Universe Almost As Big As The Dark Tower

She Has Nearly As Many Books As Roland Deschain Now

As pointed out on Reddit, Never Flinch will be the seventh Holly Gibney book, making it just one shy of The Dark Tower‘s eight novels. It is important to distinguish that the seven Holly Gibney books are not a single cohesive series like The Dark Tower, with its overarching tale of Roland Deschain and his quest. The Bill Hodges trilogy that begins with Mr. Mercedes and that introduces Holly is a separate story from The Outsider, If It Bleeds, Holly, and now Never Flinch.

Nevertheless, it is impressive that there are now almost as many books featuring Holly as there are in the entire Dark Tower series. This achievement is even more noteworthy when considering that, after Never Flinch‘s release, she will have appeared in seven books over the course of 11 years. As long as Holly survives the threats posed by the killer and vigilante stalker in Never Flinch, she will likely end up appearing in even more Stephen King books, and potentially surpass The Dark Tower in volume.

Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Reddit