I love detective novels. Always have always will. I love the mystery and the twists that go into them. So to continue on my journey of Stephen King I thought I would give Mr. Mercedes a chance and I am so glad that I did. First, let me preface this and say this book is not PG-13, it would land a hard R rating and it really deserves it. Let me be very clear at the beginning, this book is fucked up and you get no time to settle in before it becomes fucked up. Within the first few pages a baby, along with others, is murdered by someone driving a Mercedes into a group of people waiting in line for a job fair. So yeah, that’s how the book STARTS.

The murder happens at the end of Bill Hodges career and they never caught the guy who did it. A couple months later, our hero is now retired and haunted by that case. Until one day he receives a letter from someone who claims they are Mr. Mercedes, the guy who drove the car, and is planning an even bigger attack. This makes Hodges delve right back into the case. He is helped along the way by some very unlikely allies.

If that’s not enough to draw you into this book perhaps knowing that our murderer has an Oedipus complex, or the idea of several more shocking deaths, or maybe an actual “OH SHIT” moment at the end (in the best possible way) will do the trick for you.

I absolutely loved this book. Like I said before it is completely fucked up and it is horrifying. Delving into the psyche of our killer, Brady Hartsfield, is extremely fascinating, just wait until you find out some of his back story and how he alleviates his headaches. It’s truly a book about good vs. evil. This being Stephen King’s first detective novel I think he absolutely knocked it out of the park. This book is heartbreaking, exciting, and scary as hell. Definitely check this one out.

If you are a fan of the book be sure to check out my coverage of the show when it starts August 9, 2017. They recently released the trailer for it and it looks very good. Brendan Gleeson stars as Bill Hodges, with Harry Treadaway plays the sadistic Brady Hartsfield.

Photo Source: goodreads

Rating: 5/5

Length : 448 pages

Favorite Quote: “Life is a crap carnival with shit prizes.”

Niles’ rankings of Stephen King books:

  1. 11.22.63
  2. Mercedes