Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King
If you've spent any time reading this blog, you know of my all-encompassing and neverending love for one Monsieur King. I started reading him as a young kid and while I'm sure most of his stories went a bit over my head at that time, I instantly fell in love with his writing and the worlds he is so well known for creating.
Mr. Mercedes is one of King's newest and I was so excited to pick it up. While it's not his best, it was thoroughly entertaining (which is what I always expect from a Stephen King novel). I didn't even realize how engrossed and stressed out I was during the height of the action until Husband pointed out that I was moving my feet constantly as I read. I didn't even realize it! Always a sign of a good page-turner... when your body is doing things involuntarily in reaction to the situation in the book.
My favorite part of Mr. Mercedes was the King-related Easter eggs he placed throughout the story. Identifying references to some of his more famous works made you feel like you were part of a secret society. And just continued to prove Stephen King's self-deprecating nature.
Synopsis:
#1 "New York Times "bestseller In a high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. ""Mr. Mercedes" is a rich, resonant, exceptionally readable accomplishment by a man who can write in whatever genre he chooses" ("The Washington Post"). In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes. In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the "perk" and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy. Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with two new, unusual allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands. "Mr. Mercedes" is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.