Mr. Mercedes: A Novel (1) (The Bill Hodges Trilogy) Mass Market Paperback – December 29, 2015

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.

To write this review in a way that gives this book (and its competitors) a fair reading, I need to ignore the fact that Mr King has already published close to 60 world wide best selling novels and that he is one of the biggest selling novelists the world has ever seen. I also need to ignore the fact that he has penned some of the finest supernatural and alternative fantasy stories ever published and that some of his works are at times close to beautiful, moving, pure, literature. So now I can treat this new release as a single, standalone novel and I will pretend that I have never heard of Stephen King. So I sit down, turn on my glorious Kindle DX and I commence reading. The story starts like this...Augie Odenkirk is unemployed, single, with no dependants, but also no short term career prospects. He meets a single mom desperate for work at a small town exposition promoting local employment. Within a scattering of pages and a few hundred words, the reader finds themselves compelled to learn more of these two innocents, struggling daily against the economic forces - and that of fate itself - which have taken such a cruel toll on their lives. And to wish them well. Of course, some of us may want them to find happiness and ride off together into their own sunset. Waiting in line in the pre-dawn darkness, however, they are met and destroyed by the modern day face of evil. The reader is already attached to the characters in question - the trilogy of victims we are introduced to are all so beautifully drawn and created by Mr King that within a handful of pages you are shocked and almost moved to tears by the drama that unfolds before your eyes.We subsequently meet the hero of the tale - Retired Detective Hodges.On a superficial level it is easy to imagine flaws in the book where none exist. The good guys are obvious and the bad guy is, too. One can't call this book a mystery, its more of a totally modern techno thriller update on the eternal battle between good and evil. Mr King's legion of Constant Readers will be very familiar (and comfortable) with this theme. Emotional attachment has always been a strong point of Mr King and this book is no exception. The bad guy is despicably bad and the good guy is so human (ie: flawed) that he is in our hearts by the end of part one. As the story progresses, we get to know the book's characters even more closely and we see the huge mistake Brady has made by taking on Hodges. The plot and pacing are perfect. Mr King has always left traces of addictive caffeine scattered across his pages so that it is almost impossible to stop reading until he says it's ok to stop reading, and this latest thriller is no exception. The suspense builds chapter by chapter. With the increased awareness the reader has of uber-sicko Brady Hartsfield, the more terrified they will become of what his plans for impending chaos he has in store. On a personal level, it appears that he lacks social, moral and even ethical boundaries, which makes him a very dangerous individual.Ret. Det. Hodges, if only you knew what you are up against.But the hero of this tale is retired, as we know. His only child is a fully grown and mature woman. His wife is dead. Being involved in this case again - albeit unofficially - has given his life some direction. One wonders even at an early stage of the book, how the story will end, and who will survive. Selfishly, one hopes for Hodges to live to fight another day, at least for the reason that Mr King will have to give us at least one more book!!!!!The ending to this new age techno thriller is fine. It leaves the reader wanting more, with the potential for a sequel featuring at least one of the charscters. Mr King led the reader a merry dance before the final page, so we were never sure what was going to happen. My heart was in my chest at least once during the final stanza and i am glad that my fears and assumptions were wrong. So once more, the world owes Mr King a huge thank you for providing another strong example of his story telling abilities. The only complaint i have is that there was no mention of his Constant Readers in his afterword.BFN Greggorio!!!!!

Stephen King has again proven he’s the best at weaving a story. I could not put it down, and I highly recommend it.

It was a pleasure to read. Good writing, complex characters. Easy to slip into the world and not be jarred out of it. I'm gonna get the next one, hope it's as enjoyable as this one. Get on the couch, some music and snacks and my kitties and settle down for a good read.

I finally got around to reading Mr Mercedes, the first book in the Bill Hodges trilogy, and I wasn’t disappointed. Although not a horror novel, it opens with a shocking mass murder when a Mercedes plows into a group of early morning job seekers. Enter retired detective Bill Hodges, who is dragged into the case when he receives a letter from the killer. Once again, it’s King’s ability to bring his characters to life that made this book so engaging. Looking forward to reading the next two books in the trilogy.

El único inconveniente y eso gracias a que no vi las medidas, es que el un formato o tamaño extraño para mi, pero de ahí en fuera creo es una buena y económica opción

A la altura de su autor.

J'ai beaucoup aimé ce livre. J'ai trouvé l'histoire intéressante et crédible. Les personnages sont vrais et attachants (sauf 2 d'entre eux !😉) et j'aime beaucoup le style de King. J'ai aussi trouvé "reposant" de ne pas avoir de paranormal. C'est juste un bon petit thriller, que l'on a plaisir à lire, même si la fin est un peu prévisible (puisqu'on sait que c'est une trilogie, et que ça reste du Stephen King!)

Molto bello. Diversi dai libri docKing che ho gia letto, nel senso che non c'è nulla di soprannaturale. Ma come gli altri, molto emozionante e in alcuni passaggi upsetting. Non è mai pesante scorre veloce. Come al solito o personaggi sono tratteggiato così bene che alla fine ti sembra di conoscerli. Lo consiglio.