Mazri Mansor

A great opening to a modern epic saga, highly addictive. I was engaged the whole time. Vivid characters that flew off the pages. Strong and enduring, that I ended up loving some in the end. I truly love this first book, from the get go I get to meet families that are bonded by love and honour, families that are evil, cunning and at times disturbing, also the unlikely heroes that emerged from nothing and came out in the end triumphant. The tapestry of a story is rich in history and alive with prose. Not a dull read in sight. Beautifully written, and brutally set, this is epic fantasy for the ages.

An excellent collection of short stories. Stephen King exemplifies what a short story can do, that is to immerse it's reader in a vivid story in only a short amount of time. The collection ranges from thought provoking to creepy to downright frightening. All of which are excellent in their own outlandish rights. If there ever was a need for a perfect introduction to this author, than this book is it.

My first Jo Nesbo book and it was a meh experience. Surprisingly It wasn't a gripping read like I thought it would be, but dull and somewhat depressing one. The novel operates on anecdotes and reflections from its characters to drive it's story rather than relying on a thunderous plot, which in the end drags the story. There were some good moments though especially the interactions between Harry and Brigitta (the love interest) but that alone couldn't convinced me to rate it higher than two stars. Unfortunately I didn't like the main character Harry Hole enough to make me continue with the series. This wasn't a high octane crime thriller but a dull and somewhat introspective memoir of sort.

Ugh. Didn't know this was going to be a romance-oriented novel. First half reads like a typical YA, with all the tropes: growing up, discovering one's magical self etc. Then it got messy.

Writing was all over the place and character development was non existence. I didn't like any of the characters, some were even unnecessary, since they contributed nothing to the story and the story itself was pretty bland, everything was extremely unbelievable (one moment two of the main protagonists was all about being besties and the next, they were both naked in bed?).

The writing made me lose interest halfway through, and by the time this huge catastrophic event happened near the end I just didn't care anymore. I had high hopes for this one since it was overly hyped all over the interweb, too bad it turned out to be a total dud.

Stephen King's books and I just can't get along. This was my third attempt at his novels and yet I am still not convinced. Albeit entertaining, they somehow lack in the scare department. Personally I am more inclined towards Robert Aickman and his scary weirdness.

Approaching this novel, from the title alone I thought this was going to be a sophisticated thriller with an equally sophisticated villain. A villain who (I'm guessing from the cover art) trots about with his parasol whilst plotting intricate plans for his evil deeds. I was wrong. Instead we get a whinny brat who hates the world. An angry misguided 21st century citizen, like the most of us but with a killing streak. Now Stephen King writes for a variety of genres (not only horror) so this is his offering in the crime and thriller category.

The story follows retired detective Bill Hodges and his unsolved case of the Mercedes killer. After killing a group of job seekers at the unemployment centre by plowing through the line up with a stolen Mercedes-Benz and escapes, the killer returns to haunt Hodges by sending him a mail, taunting him. What follows is a cat and mouse chase with lots of teen angst thrown in the mix. This book contains triggers for descriptive violence, incest and awkward sex scenes just for the heads up.

As a thriller it has all of the right ingredients to pull me into the story and in the end I find myself deeply immersed in it. Although I really like the book I do have some issues with it. In the beginning of the book we get a glimpse of Bill Hodges' life as a retired officer. How he spends his downtime and his interactions with his neighbours and colleague. Mr. Mercedes on the other hand acts as this overarching shadowy figure that echoes behind news reports and introspective moments. However, after a couple of chapters Stephen King decided to give him voice and we then get to know his name, where he works and how he live his life. In my opinion if Stephen King would have kept Mr. Mercedes as the ‘creepy unknown figure' he could have been a terrifying character. Instead we are given all of the information regarding the killer that in the end nothing is left for the imagination anymore. The saving grace however comes in the form of two side characters. One a smart teen by the name of Jerome who also happens to be a close friend of Hodges, the other a jittery computer wiz named Holly. Together along with Hodges they form this unorthodox crime solving team with a sole purpose of catching the elusive Mr. Mercedes.

It is not a fresh take on crime fiction by any means but the book does have its moments and I really had a great time reading them. To me it reminded me of those Sunday afternoon made for TV cop movies that I used to watch when I was a teenager (they were my favourite, so that explains why I like this novel) but with a nod to the classic gum shoe detective tropes (fedora hat, the seductive female client, a steamy love affair). Maybe I went into this with too much expectations considering it's a Stephen King novel, but despite its shortcomings I did enjoy it immensely (due to Stephen King's distinctive writing style) and as of now, preparing myself for the second instalment of the trilogy.