Mr Mercedes took me a bit to fully finish, as the story beginning after the horror opening of the event of the titular Mercedes Killer can be a bit slow and uneventful.
The story is simple. The retired Detective Hodges gets a laserprinted letter from the Mercedes Killer in which he mocks him, relishing in the memory of his big killing and entices the detective to commit suicide. Contrary to the killer's intent, Hodges is now determined to find the guy and make him pay.
It's overall a rather enjoyable story to read, suspenseful where it needs to be and, due to the character of the killer, even has moments that are quite unpleasant to read through. The killer's identity is known to the reader for majority of the time, so it's not a 'Who dunnit' but more a 'Can ya figure him out before it's too late' kind of thing.
As good as the story is, I feel like one particular death in the story served no purpose, other than to attempt to strike at the reader's heart - while actually striking an absolutely personal note with the detective protagonist. There were also moments here and there, particularly toward the end, when the detective figured something out, despite the implication of exactly that having happened being more than obvious to the reader. Even without the story switching between Killer and Detective perspective.
Overall, an enjoyable King novel and a decent detective story. The ending felt a bit empty, short and left me feeling a bit unsettled, but perhaps this is simply a style of King's that appears in several of his novels and is hard to give up on.
Literature Good, But With Its Flaws
Mr Mercedes took me a bit to fully finish, as the story beginning after the horror opening of the event of the titular Mercedes Killer can be a bit slow and uneventful.
The story is simple. The retired Detective Hodges gets a laserprinted letter from the Mercedes Killer in which he mocks him, relishing in the memory of his big killing and entices the detective to commit suicide. Contrary to the killer's intent, Hodges is now determined to find the guy and make him pay.
It's overall a rather enjoyable story to read, suspenseful where it needs to be and, due to the character of the killer, even has moments that are quite unpleasant to read through. The killer's identity is known to the reader for majority of the time, so it's not a 'Who dunnit' but more a 'Can ya figure him out before it's too late' kind of thing.
As good as the story is, I feel like one particular death in the story served no purpose, other than to attempt to strike at the reader's heart - while actually striking an absolutely personal note with the detective protagonist. There were also moments here and there, particularly toward the end, when the detective figured something out, despite the implication of exactly that having happened being more than obvious to the reader. Even without the story switching between Killer and Detective perspective.
Overall, an enjoyable King novel and a decent detective story. The ending felt a bit empty, short and left me feeling a bit unsettled, but perhaps this is simply a style of King's that appears in several of his novels and is hard to give up on.