Author: Stephen King
Genre: Mystery/Thriller (detective/crime)
Rating: 3/5
Page Count: 436
Publication Date: June 3rd, 2014
Plot: (from Goodreads)
In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.
In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the "perk" and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.
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 wants that rush again.
Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely 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.
Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.
Review:
This book was... good, but just good not great or amazing. And I think the fact that it was just a plain solid detective thriller novel kind of disappointed me, maybe because all of King's other novels, that are my favorite and I adore to pieces. First off, the main character was just plain annoying. I don't know what about him was annoying, but he was just so damn blah, so plain and typical. And some stuff just rubbed me the wrong way.
This next paragraph has some plot spoilers, but it's a well used plot device, after this paragraph, we will get back to spoiler free review. SPOILER There was one particular thing that rubbed me the wrong way - and it was the use of female characters pain and such to enflame the male, make him want to fight, all that man pain. One of the worst tropes in the world in my opinion and I should of expected it but I thought something new and fun would happen. Nope. END SPOILER WARNING
One of the more interesting parts of this book is that you get to hear from the killer, the whole book you're aware of who the kill was, which definitely kills the suspense a bit. And it was interesting at first, and then it just gets of uncomfortable and then just sad, just plain sad. I didn't even feel anything for the guy but just pity.
The one really fantastic thing about this book, though I did like the writing for the most part, was the side characters. There's two characters who end up kind of being Bill's sidekicks and they're both intelligent and sharp and different, and I really enjoyed them.
Overall - if you want this kind of book, this is a good one. If you want a King book, not so much. (Side note that is shallow as hell: the cover is gorgeous. It's so creepy and awesome looking).
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