Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

One morning, a crowd gathers outside a job fair hoping for a break in the struggling economy. Out of the quiet fog that morning comes a stolen Mercedes and an awful massacre that no one saw coming. Months later Bill Hodges, the retired detective who had once tried to solve the case gets a mysterious letter in the mail. A person claiming to be the driver is taunting Hodges, goading him into using his father’s service weapon one final time to take his own life. Instead, Hodges sets out using the letter and an unlikely group of people personally involved with the "perk" in various ways to begin hunting down the Mercedes Killer. They better hurry though, what he’s planning next makes his last stunt look like just a Sunday drive.

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors and I thought this book was a pretty good fit among the others. In his later novels, King has steered away from his movie monster villains like Pennywise and Christine. Aside from Flagg, he tends to stick with villains that are normal everyday people hiding severe emotional and mental problems. He has gone from creating monsters for us to be afraid of to pointing out the monsters that already walk among us. Brady (not a spoiler) was a very typical character in this way. Not especially charming, he’s exactly what one imagines now when they ask themselves what a typical serial killer is like. He has an unhealthy relationship with his mother and is oddly intelligent; it’s just misdirected.

Hodges is a very interesting role for King since his protagonists usually rise from everyday people. It’s refreshing for him to create a detective thriller. It’s nice to watch Hodges go from a very low point to being a character happy and on the chase. It gives the reader a glimpse into what Hodges might have been like in his prime. King also carefully navigates the typical detective thriller tropes. Early on he establishes that Hodges gets no pleasure from drinking, even though he thought retirement might give him the opportunity to embrace alcoholism. Hodges also mentions his previous divorce and his estrangement without dwelling on it and causing an unnecessary side plot.

One of my favorite parts of reading King is the fantastic talent he has to create strong female characters with weaknesses. Janey is a very strong woman for being able to say what she wants and what her limitations are. Holly is also wonderful for being able to start as such a twisted character and grow into well-rounded and likable person (having seen her parents, this is actually impressive).

Mr. Mercedes is well-paced and is a book that you genuinely are disappointed to put down when real life demands it. I would not say this is one of Stephen King’s best works but it’s definitely one a King fan should check out, if only for the little Easter eggs that King always leaves us.