I am loving this book and think it's right up there with any book that King has written. Also, the narrator is excellent and really is bringing this story to life.
If you're a King fan, then don't hesitate to order!
If you're a King fan, then don't hesitate to order!
I've had MR. MERCEDES along with its two sequels on my shelf for a couple of years now and finally got motivated to read them after seeing the first two seasons of the Mr. Mercedes miniseries on the streaming service Peacock. There is a third season of the series but it is not yet available on Peacock. This series was originally made for the AT&T network, Audience, and was only available for DirectTV viewers.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the TV series and of course King's source material was even better! This isn't one of King's supernatural or horror stories but is a more straight forward thriller. The novel opens with a psycho running a Mercedes into a group of people waiting for a job fair to open. The horrendous act kills eight people including a young mother and her baby. Bill Hodges is now and ex-cop and this crime was one that went unsolved before he retired. But the killer is still out there and starts to taunt Hodges with a letter and then ominous chats via a chat room called "Under the Blue Umbrella." Hodges is set on capturing the killer who he feels is out to do more damage. He uses the help of his young friend and yard boy, Jerome, who is adept at computers to help him and later a woman with some psychological problems, Holly Gibney, also helps in his pursuit of the killer. Holly is also skilled using computers and turns out to be a big asset to Hodges. But can they stop the killer before he strikes again?
This was really an engrossing story from King. His character development was as usual top-notch. I especially liked the character Holly Gibney who also appeared in King's novel THE OUTSIDER which I read a few months ago. The novel and the first season of the miniseries follow a pretty close storyline although the miniseries does expand somewhat on the story and gives some of the minor characters in the novel a larger role. But overall, I give both the novel and the TV series high marks and I look forward to reading the remaining two books in King's trilogy, FINDERS KEEPERS and END OF WATCH.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the TV series and of course King's source material was even better! This isn't one of King's supernatural or horror stories but is a more straight forward thriller. The novel opens with a psycho running a Mercedes into a group of people waiting for a job fair to open. The horrendous act kills eight people including a young mother and her baby. Bill Hodges is now and ex-cop and this crime was one that went unsolved before he retired. But the killer is still out there and starts to taunt Hodges with a letter and then ominous chats via a chat room called "Under the Blue Umbrella." Hodges is set on capturing the killer who he feels is out to do more damage. He uses the help of his young friend and yard boy, Jerome, who is adept at computers to help him and later a woman with some psychological problems, Holly Gibney, also helps in his pursuit of the killer. Holly is also skilled using computers and turns out to be a big asset to Hodges. But can they stop the killer before he strikes again?
This was really an engrossing story from King. His character development was as usual top-notch. I especially liked the character Holly Gibney who also appeared in King's novel THE OUTSIDER which I read a few months ago. The novel and the first season of the miniseries follow a pretty close storyline although the miniseries does expand somewhat on the story and gives some of the minor characters in the novel a larger role. But overall, I give both the novel and the TV series high marks and I look forward to reading the remaining two books in King's trilogy, FINDERS KEEPERS and END OF WATCH.
Wow -- that was one great whodunit, even though we knew who did it almost from the outset. Mr. King is a master of characterization, and this one had me from the first page. Most of the characters were pretty likable (and certainly understandable), except, of course, the serial killer. Didn't care much for him, but King has written about much nastier characters.
I really enjoyed this book. I had given up reading King's books because I thought they were just too weird. Well, this one was a departure from that. I found it quite entertaining, easy to read, and I was eager to see how it all got resolved. I'm anxious to read the other two in the trilogy.
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
When you need a great suspense action book, you grab a SK book.
Fast paced, action everywhere in each characters situation, blended seamlessly together to make this a page turner staying up past my bedtime gotta find out what happens book.
Couldn't wait for the second and third so I ordered them both at once. Thank goodness for Amazon!!
Just a great SK book. If you read them you know what I mean, if you haven't well shame on you. ;o)
Love the quirky niece the best!
When you need a great suspense action book, you grab a SK book.
Fast paced, action everywhere in each characters situation, blended seamlessly together to make this a page turner staying up past my bedtime gotta find out what happens book.
Couldn't wait for the second and third so I ordered them both at once. Thank goodness for Amazon!!
Just a great SK book. If you read them you know what I mean, if you haven't well shame on you. ;o)
Love the quirky niece the best!
I so enjoyed this book! It had all the elements of classic King and I couldn't be more pleased. No one does wacko like King. Great characters, the build up was exciting, suspense and humor. On to the next one!
Even though Stephen King has given me hours of enjoyment with so many of his novels, I have to admit that I was a bit peeved when Mr. Mercedes won the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Novel. (I'd been rooting for one or two of the other nominees.) Then I read the book, and I understood why it won. This is the first straight-up mystery thriller of his career-- with no supernatural bits at all-- and it's fantastic. Once I started Mr. Mercedes, i wanted to sink down into the story and not reappear until I finished it. I didn't allow myself to-- but it was difficult.
To me, Stephen King's writing voice has always felt like snuggling my toes down into a pair of comfy slippers. I'm at home listening to that voice of his, and I refuse to stop and wonder if I should be concerned about what that says about my own mind. Once again King brings readers right into the heart and soul of the marginalized, reminding us of what it feels like to have no job, to be hungry, to have no real roof over our heads... and what it feels like to have Death come roaring out of nowhere to plow us into the asphalt.
The killer, Brady Hartsfield, is a Norman Bates-like psychopath whose two jobs will give readers pause, but as well-drawn as he is, it's Bill Hodges and his crew that hog the spotlight and deservedly so. With one crazed letter, Hodges comes out of retirement raring for a rematch, and this time he's determined to win no matter the cost. His two sidekicks-- a young black man named Jerome and Holly, a fortysomething woman with Asperger's and a horrid beast of a mother-- are perfect for helping him find clues, for providing laughs, and creating poignant moments that can bring tears to the eye.
This tightly plotted mystery will have you anxious to reach the end, and when you reach it, you will find a tense, teary, bone-chilling climax that will have you clamoring for the next book in King's trilogy.
To me, Stephen King's writing voice has always felt like snuggling my toes down into a pair of comfy slippers. I'm at home listening to that voice of his, and I refuse to stop and wonder if I should be concerned about what that says about my own mind. Once again King brings readers right into the heart and soul of the marginalized, reminding us of what it feels like to have no job, to be hungry, to have no real roof over our heads... and what it feels like to have Death come roaring out of nowhere to plow us into the asphalt.
The killer, Brady Hartsfield, is a Norman Bates-like psychopath whose two jobs will give readers pause, but as well-drawn as he is, it's Bill Hodges and his crew that hog the spotlight and deservedly so. With one crazed letter, Hodges comes out of retirement raring for a rematch, and this time he's determined to win no matter the cost. His two sidekicks-- a young black man named Jerome and Holly, a fortysomething woman with Asperger's and a horrid beast of a mother-- are perfect for helping him find clues, for providing laughs, and creating poignant moments that can bring tears to the eye.
This tightly plotted mystery will have you anxious to reach the end, and when you reach it, you will find a tense, teary, bone-chilling climax that will have you clamoring for the next book in King's trilogy.
A good read for a beach week end.
