Mr. Mercedes

Okay, so going into Mr Mercedes, I was very excited. I'd read more good reviews than bad and, well it's Stephen King, so it was bound to be great right?

Well it most certainly was.

I loved every second of this read and loved the characters especially. I wasn't quite ready for it to end. But at least there are another two books in the series for me to read.

Bill Hodges is a retired police detective and sits at home every day watching bad afternoon TV and contemplating suicide while playing with his fathers old gun. He only has one regret from his entire 40 year police career and that's not being to catch the Mercedes Killer - a lunatic who stole some lady's Mercedes and drove it into a crowd of people outside a job convention, early one morning. He killed 8 people - including a baby - and injured many more. Bill gets a letter in the mail one afternoon from the Mercedes Killer and makes it his life's ambition to catch him.

My favourite thing about Mr Mercedes, was getting into the head of the killer. Brady Hartsfield, is one the creepiest, most disturbing characters I've read. I've read books before where certain chapters are from the killers point of view, but this one was just downright disturbing. And I love every second of it.

My favourite character was Holly. I loved her personality and her willingness and determination to help catch Mr Mercedes, even though she has so many things holding her back. She is severely mentally ill and that's obviously a challenge for her and Bill to overcome but her obsessive tendencies end up working out for her.

Over all, I really enjoyed Mr Mercedes and can't wait to read the next in the series, Finder Keepers.
Stephen King did what Stephen King does best. He had a great plot, a very realistic bunch of characters and the writing skills to pull off his first detective/crime novel.