I love this new and improved Stephen King 2.0. I am not going to rehash the publisher's summary or go too deep into the plot as some consider writing about ANY plot points as spoilers. There are no spoilers here, just my opinion of the type of readers that would enjoy Mr. Mercedes as much as I did.
In my opinion, there are three major buckets of Stephen King fans,
A) Readers that love his earlier works that featured densely written supernatural stories that kindled the type of mental terrorism that innovated the genre. Novels that are deep in character and plot line development to the point they easily reach the level of an 800+ page epic. (See:
The Stand
)
B) Readers that love his lighter works that loan themselves to the psychological thrillers of the physical and mortal world that are so terrorizing, they wish it was due to a supernatural entity. Novels that don't have as much depth (relatively speaking) or number of characters, but still great reads. (See:
Misery
)
C) Readers who just enjoy to be entertained and terrorized by the master of horror, regardless of the believability of the plot's premise or source of the fear.
For the hardcore fans that reside in segment A, I think they will feel Mr. Mercedes is a well written novel, but a rare miss by the author they have grown to love. That would be an unfortunate mis-characterization if readers think Mr. Mercedes is a miss due to the lack of page turning details developing voluminous characters and minuscule details of their surroundings. The development of the main characters in Mr. Mercedes was more that enough to keep us engaged and on our toes with a truly unpredictable plot.
Protagonist Bill Hodges is definitely not a sympathetic character nor a character that can be simply introduced to the reader. We are taken through his very tough existence to see him as a loathing underdog and the city's only hope to stop the sadistic plans of the antagonist, Brady Hartsfield. Also, King does a great job still making use and giving depth to the small supporting cast which includes Hodges sidekick, Jermome, Brady's mother Deborah, and Jannelle Patterson - the sister of the woman whose Mercedes was used by Brady in the attack that starts it all.
Fans in segments B and C will definitely feel the same heart-racing thrill that they have come to know from Stephen King. Mr. Mercedes is totally unpredictable, fast starting, and interlaced with many newer 21st century references that many will find refreshing. Mr. Mercedes lends more to a thriller where a lot of the plot plays out through the web - a new twist that makes me love Stephen King 2.0 even more.
This was a great novel that is much easier to read than many of Stephen King's earlier works. It will definitely not be a disappointment for fans who are open to Kin's expanding range of finding new, and more 21st century ways to keep us horrified, entertained, and guessing. I definitely recommend this to all King fans and those who may be new to his books.
This review was of an advanced reading copy.
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From the Publisher
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Reviews with images
Definitely hard to put down.
Book Review: Mr Mercedes by Stephen KingPeople are gathered in the early morning fog at a job fair event, waiting for the doors to open in a few hours. While they wait, a man in a stolen gray Mercedes runs over many of these waiting people, killing several and injuring many. Detective Hodges who has worked on the case eventually retires a while after no one finds who the perp is, but after receiving a note in his mail slot from the Mercedes Killer he decides to begin investigating on his own again to find this "Mr Mercedes". With the help of tech-savvy 17-year-old Jerome and a couple of other people along the way, will Det-Ret Hodges find Mr Mercedes before something else devastating happens, or will many more people die?This book is a total adventure. It had me on the edge of my seat and I read it all within about 24 hours because I couldn't put it down. I kept wondering if Mr Mercedes would do this or do that. Throughout the book, I knew who Mr Mercedes is but Det-Ret Hodges did not so he had to follow many clues to find who it was and to nab him and stop him. This is the first book in a trilogy. I definitely give this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! Check it out and happy reading!!
Top reviews from other countries
Debbie Curtis
Mr. Mercedes is a sick man. Only a retired detective can stop him
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 9, 2024