History Literature / MrMercedes

* TheParanoiac: While not spelt out in the book, this is the condition Brady most likely suffers from. He is secretly [[{{Narcissist}} grandiose]] and utterly self-centred, yet by his own standards he has amounted to nothing and is afraid of having to survive on his own with his mother, whom he hates but is neurotically dependant upon; he is [[NeverMyFault unable to accept responsibility for anything]] and blames all of his failures on other people and circumstances beyond his control- it is implied his murderous rage stems from guilt and confusion over his role in [[spoiler: the death of his brother and his mother blaming him for it]]; he thinks that [[JadeColoredGlasses the world is a cruel and harsh place]] as evident by [[InsaneTrollLogic the fact that he could kill all those people without repercussions in the first place]]; he wants to commit another big crime but his failure to act is less out of conscience and more [[DirtyCoward out of fear of getting caught]]; he is CrazyPrepared and a ControlFreak when it comes to covering his tracks and hiding his various [[EvilPlan evil plans]] even though almost none of them amount to anything; he pretends to be a nice guy [[BitchInSheepsClothing but is secretly filled with contempt for everyone around him]]; and his final act of attempted mass murder is prompted by [[spoiler: accidentally killing his mother]], the police catching up to him, and feeling both that the jig is up and that he has nobody to depend on anymore.

* TheParanoiac: While not spelt out in the book, this is the condition Brady most likely suffers from. He is secretly [[{{Narcissist}} grandiose]] and utterly self-centred, yet by his own standards he has amounted to nothing and is afraid of having to survive on his own with his mother, whom he hates but is neurotically dependant upon; he is [[NeverMyFault unable to accept responsibility for anything]] and blames all of his failures on other people and circumstances beyond his control- it is implied his murderous rage stems from guilt and confusion over his role in [[spoiler: the death of his brother and his mother blaming him for it]]; he wants to commit another big crime but his failure to act is less out of conscience and more [[DirtyCoward out of fear of getting caught]]; he is CrazyPrepared and a ControlFreak when it comes to covering his tracks and hiding his various [[EvilPlan evil plans]] even though almost none of them amount to anything; he pretends to be a nice guy [[BitchInSheepsClothing but is secretly filled with contempt for everyone around him]]; and his final act of attempted mass murder is prompted by [[spoiler: accidentally killing his mother]], the police catching up to him, and feeling both that the jig is up and that he has nobody to depend on anymore.

* TheParanoiac: While not spelt out in the book, this is the condition Brady most likely suffers from. He is secretly [[{{Narcissist}} grandiose]] and utterly self-centred, yet by his own standards he has amounted to nothing and is afraid of having to survive on his own with his mother, whom he hates but is neurotically dependant upon; he is [[NeverMyFault unable to accept responsibility for anything]] and blames all of his failures on other people and circumstances beyond his control- it is implied his murderous rage stems from guilt and confusion over his role in [[spoiler: the death of his brother and his mother blaming him for it]]; he wants to commit another big crime but his failure to act is less out of conscience and more [[DirtyCoward out of fear of getting caught]]; he is CrazyPrepared and a ControlFreak when it comes to covering his tracks and hiding his various [[EvilPlan evil plans]] even though almost none of them amount to anything; he pretends to be a nice guy [[BitchInSheepsClothing but is secretly filled with contempt for everyone around him]]; and his final act of attempted mass murder is prompted by [[spoiler: accidentally killing his mother]], the police catching up to him, and feeling both that the jig is up and that he has nobody to depend on anymore.

* BadHumorTruck: Brady drives an ice cream truck as one of his jobs. He considers poisoning children but ultimately decides against it.

** Bill's former partner on the police force and ''his'' new partner. While Bill is chasing Brady, they manage to solve ''two'' of Bill's other outstanding cases, one that of a serial killer at least as depraved as Mr Mercedes himself, albeit in a very different way. This also acts as something of an antidote to the idea that PoliceAreUseless: they're both very good cops (though maybe not as good as Bill), but are too swamped with another major case to pay close attention to Bill's investigation.

* PoliceAreUseless: In general throughout the book but near the end they're distracted with the results of a major bust, leaving it up to the heroes to stop Brady on their own.

''Mr. Mercedes'' is the first installment in a planned trilogy. The second volume, ''Literature/FindersKeepers'', was released in 2015.

* WouldHarmAChild: Brady has no problem with kids being killed in his attacks. [[spoiler:His final intended attack takes place at a music concert mostly attended by young girls.]]

* PragmaticVillainy: Brady repeatedly considers the idea of poisoning his ice cream supply and has even researched it. But he refrains from actually doing it due to knowing he'd be pinpointed and arrested.

''Mr. Mercedes'' is the first installment in a planned trilogy. The second volume, ''Finders Keepers'', was released in 2015.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Brady has no qualms about killing people [[spoiler: including his little brother]], but when it comes to his [[ParentalIncest relationship]] with his mother, both had some major heavy shades to them, but kept a distance. Even if his mother posed for some sexy pictures for him or she 'helped' him [{{Pun}} beat away]] bad headaches, both vehemently opposed the idea of actually having sex with each other.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Or not so ambiguous, because Holly is presented as fairly clearly autistic on top of her lifelong sheltering, with a not-insignificant helping of severe anxiety on the side. The sequel makes the former even less ambiguous, with one narration addressing her tics as "Asperger's-like".

''Mr. Mercedes'' is the first installment in a planned trilogy. The second volume, ''Finders Keepers'', is due out in 2015.

** It should be noted this isn't King's first continuity MindScrew: as far back as ''TheTommyknockers'' characters were referencing having seen the movie version of ''IT'', only to later visit Derry and briefly encounter the ''real'' Pennywise in-universe, so the lack of supernatural elements in ''Mr Mercedes'' is not necessarily the culprit of the aforementioned weirdness.

* VillainBall: Brady sends the letter to Bill taunting him about his failure to catch him hoping to spurn him into committing suicide. Instead, it gives Hodges (who ''had'' been contemplating killing himself) reason to live in tracking him down.

** The first chapter focuses on Augie Odenkirk, down-on-his-lucky, but very likeable. [[In a huge GutPunch, the chapter ends with him, the woman he befriends and her baby all getting killed by the title villain]]

** The 'Round Here boy band is also mentioned in ''Literature/DrSleep'', which may put this in the same universe as ''Literature/TheShining''.