Mr. Mercedes

Bill Hodges is a retired detective, bored with his retirement, facing the question "why kill time when you can kill yourself" when a letter drops into his mail box, claiming to me from the perpetrator of one of his biggest unsolved cases, a mass murder in which a stolen car was driven into a queue of job seekers.

Bill knows he should take the letter to his old colleagues in the police, but the letter invites him to an internet chat site, where the killer taunts him, and he turns private detective, seriously seeking to catch the killer before he kills again. And the closer he gets, they more it becomes clear that only he, and his associates, a young black student and a middle-aged woman with mental health problems, will be in a position to stop the killer before he kills again.

It's not a whodunit, since the reader knows who that is all along, but rather the story of a race against time to find where the killer is going to strike next, and to stop him.

I hate myself a little for that title.

Every time I read a King novel, I'm somehow freshly reminded at how good he is at writing characters. Each one is incredibly unique, and frankly I don't know how he continues to do it despite his astoundingly prolific career that's now several decades long.

Mr. Mercedes is a departure from my normal King read. I usually pick out a classic horror every October to read, but my step-mother-in-law (I know, it's the best I can come up with), said I absolutely had to read this series. Without any spoilers I can confidently say that she has a severely, and wonderfully, twisted mind. This is roughly the equivalent of a an incredibly well down Netflix adaptation of a true crime story.

There are no bumps or jumps in the night, no creepy crawlies, or murderous clowns. The accuracy and...probability of this story is what chills me to my bones. The growth of Detective Hodges, and even his failure in growth and recognition thereof, is such a beautiful depiction of someone struggling to come to terms with the failures in their life.

Everything I want to say about this book is a spoiler, but suffice to say King's characters, emotions, and brutality are all present, and in a decidedly unique (from my experience with his novels) manner.

My first King novel in 24 years (not counting 'On Writing', which I read last year). Having read almost all of his books religiously as a teenager, I decided to part ways with King when he killed Mattie in 'Bag of Bones', which I found unforgivable. I've had some time to forgive and forget now, particularly forget.

I enjoyed Mr. Mercedes, despite not liking the villain, and look forward to reading the next book in the series. I may even have a look at some of the other books I missed in the past 20 odd years.

I'm not yet sure about Mr. Mercedes. 3 stars? 4? I don't know. The team is unconventional and diverse, which I like, the killer not so much. He has a very strong been there, done that feel to him.
I do like the unpredictable victims. Often in books it's quite clear that no established character is going to die, but here anyone can die at any time (or at least almost, since the trilogy is named after the retired cop).
I always connected Stephen King with horror, so I was honestly surprised to find a crime novel. Probably should have read the description 😃

I thought this book dragged on way longer than it really should of. Detective like novels aren't really ones I'm all that familiar with, but I do know that you don't mention the who done it in the first few chapters. The first half of the book dragged on and on, and I was like "Come on, King, I don't care about all these details." The second half did pick up some, and I liked when Bill started to work with Holly, but I'm not sure I'd read another King wanna be detective novel.

Le King de l’année, le voici ! Le Maître nous entraîne dans une intrigue rondement menée et peuplée de personnages attachants. Le suspens reste au rendez-vous même si l’identité du tueur n’est plus un mystère dès les premiers chapitres, le principal intérêt résidant dans le jeu établi entre le tueur et le policier à la retraite, hanté par cette enquête jamais résolue. Le tueur à la Mercedes est un champion du vice, sa façon de tuer nous laisserait presque admiratif devant tant d’ingéniosité. Esprit retors, manipulateur surdoué, mais également fils très attaché à sa mômôn, il prend un malin et démoniaque plaisir à provoquer Bill Hodges, pour le pousser à bout. Mais c’est sans compter le talent et la perspicacité de ce dernier, qui, bien qu’au bord du gouffre, retrouve un sens à sa vie de retraité divorcé et un peu alcoolique. Les personnages secondaires ne manquent pas d’intérêt non plus, comme d’habitude chez King tout le monde a son rôle à jouer et on s’attache vite au moindre protagoniste. La résolution de l’enquête mène à un final où la tension ne cesse de monter au fil des pages. Que dire de plus, si ce n’est qu’il s’agit à mon sens d’un très bon cru, bien noir et torturé comme je les aime.

I really enjoyed this book. I like Stephen king, but I find other books of his can be too gory for me. This one, however, was really one I enjoyed. I will look for more of his recent works

When I picked up Stephen King’s new novel Mr Mercedes, I felt anxious and nervous. This novel has been billed as King’s first hard-boiled detective novel and it reminded me of his past attempts at pulp fiction. Joyland was billed as a pulp novel and by all accounts it had the makings of a good dime-store novel but the end result felt like King stuck to what he does best and only paying homage to the genre. Mr Mercedes has all the hallmarks of a hard-boiled novel, a brooding and jaded detective, a femme fatale and mysterious villain but this read more like a cat and mouse suspense thriller. Don’t get me wrong, this novel is a homage to detective fiction; Philip Marlow gets a mention and a fedora even makes an appearance. Though the third person narrative and chapters focusing solely on the killer meant we are in a thriller and I had to adjust my expectations.

Bill Hodges is a retired cop with not much to do; when he was on the force he was highly decorated but now he is left alone with the thoughts of all his unsolved cases. One of those cases was the psycho-loner who ploughed down a crowd of people in a stolen Mercedes. One day Hodges receives a letter from this killer taunting him into a little game of cat and mouse. This is a high-stakes race against time; can Hodges catch the Mercedes Killer before he strikes again?

I found it interesting that Stephen King picked the fundamental character archetypes found in hard-boiled fiction, in particular to Bill Hodges, and made it his own. On the other hand the plot felt into the typical tropes found in suspense thrillers. So we have a book that is walking a fine line between homage and cliché. When it comes to hard-boiled detectives, there has been a great evolution in the genre and character archetype; it was felt a little dated to see an old white guy again. I felt it to be unnecessary, in fact I am struggling to think of any ethnicity within the book that didn’t come across as stereotypical. It was a shame because you can do so much with a hard-boiled detective and still keep him as a homage to 1940’s crime novels.

I get the impression that maybe Stephen King is the kind of writer that sticks to the tried and true methods of writing within a genre. As prolific author, I’m beginning to question if he ever takes a risk in his writing. I am not one to judge King’s work, I’ve only read a few of his books (I think five) but they all seem to follow the typical tropes found within their genres. Does he take risks?

It is starting to bug me this whole ‘old white guy’ category of novels all feature non-multicultural characters and if we do have some ethnicity, they all feel a little too stereotypical. It isn’t necessary in today’s novels; there is room to explore some diversity within a book. I won’t go into anything about feminism because I fear I would give spoilers with what I want to say but we need more strong/independent women in novels like this.

Having had a bit of a rant, I found that I’ve managed to talk about the novel and not give any spoilers. I did in fact enjoy the ride this took me on, it was predictable and typical of the genre but sometimes it is fun to go on that journey again. In fact (with the exception of On Writing) I think this is the first Stephen King novel that I have actually enjoyed. I find some parts of his other books entertaining but on a whole they do not work for me. Maybe I’ve just read the wrong King novels. Bill Hodges is returning in another two more novels and I will be picking them up and using the books as a little entertaining read when I need them.

This review originally appeared on my blog: literary-exploration.com/2014/08/21/mr-mercedes-by-stephen-king/