Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

July 17, 2023

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King | Book Review

☠ ☠ ☠ ☠

While hundreds of unemployed men and women line up for the opening of a job fair a driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.

Months later, an ex-cop named Bill Hodges, still haunted by the unsolved crime, contemplates suicide. When he gets a crazed letter from "the perk," claiming credit for the murders, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, fearing another even more diabolical attack and hell-bent on preventing it.

Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wanted that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of eccentric and mismatched allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.

In this first book of the Bill Hodges trilogy, we are introduced to the key characters we will come to love in this series, but also the ones we won't. Stephen King's take on crime fiction is quite the ride. It's gruesome, shocking, and disturbing. This plot follows the life story of Brady Hartfields and why he is the way he is. Meanwhile, we see what has become of Bill and his life, which is also quite sad. This read jumps POV between Bill and Brady giving you the insight of a detective's mind and the criminal's mind. I enjoyed that aspect but also wonder if I would've liked to read more in the dark and try to solve the "who did it" reveal. It's a super entertaining book that also covers grief, trauma, abuse, and many more things that could be super triggering to some. If you like intense crime shows/books I think you will love this read. It was a great one for me but I have to say I missed the weird horror themes that are normally present in his books. All that to say it worked for me but I still prefer his other work over the crime fiction.

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Crime, Thriller, Adult, Mystery

Goodreads Choice Awards: Winner for Best Mystery & Thriller (2014)

“Creepy as hell. You ever see that TV movie about the clown in the sewer?”

“How cruel would a supreme being have to be to make a world as fucked-up as this one?”