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"In a mega-stakes, high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of 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 Hartfield 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 a couple of highly unlikely 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"--… (more)
A very enjoyable departure from King's scarier works. This mystery felt like something Michael Connelly would write except with a lighter tone than Bosch. The characters were very well-written and the plot kept moving and kept me interested. I will definitely read the other books in the series. ( )
I was disappointed. King is a very experienced writer and this is an Edgar award-winning book.While it had a couple of fresh twists, the killings by car and the driving a person to suicide ( ok Christine and Gaslight, so not completely fresh) , I expected more than a very well done typical suspense story. Killer writes the detective, always a turn off for me ( )
I don't think this was one of his best, and I've read a LOT of S.K. I did appreciate the last hurdle of the book involving Jerome and Holly. Those two really brought better character in to the story. The overall story was okay. The gut punch death, the twisted family dynamic of the guilty and the drive for the retired cop. ( )
(2014) A very good non-monster book by King. Someone drives a Mercedes into a group waiting to get into a job fair and many are killed & wounded. Somehow the driver gets away and begins the quest by a retired police detective to find the bastard and bring him to justice. Along the way he enlists the support of a teenage computer nerd and a 40 year old mental case of a woman who was related to the owner of the stolen Mercedes. They track down the killer's home and find his basement with several computers protected by specific voice command. Hodges manages to get into the computers and learns that the killer is planning on suicide bombing a boy band concert in town. They do manage to find him in the arena and the mentally unbalanced woman takes him out with a blow to the head with a sap provided by Hodges. Stops the bombing and Hodges survives a heart attack at the same time. Great ending. Couldn't put it down in the last 30 pages.KIRKUS REVIEWIn his latest suspenser, the prolific King (Joyland, 2013, etc.) returns to the theme of the scary carĄexcept this one has a scary driver who's as loony but logical unto himself as old Jack Torrance from The Shining.It's an utterly American setup: Over here is a line of dispirited people waiting to get into a job fair, and over there is a psycho licking his chops at the easy target they present; he aims a car into the crowd and mows down a bunch of innocents, killing eight and hurting many more. The car isn't his. The malice most certainly is, and it's up to world-weary ex-cop Bill Hodges to pull himself up from depression and figure out the identity of the author of that heinous act. That author offers help: He sends sometimes-taunting, sometimes?sympathy-courting notes explaining his actions. (?I must say I exceeded my own wildest expectations,? he crows in one, while in another he mourns, ?I grew up in a physically and sexually abusive household.?) With a cadre of investigators in tow, Hodges sets out to avert what is certain to be an even greater trauma, for the object of his cat-and-mouse quest has much larger ambitions, this time involving a fireworks show worthy of Fight Club. And that's not his only crime: He's illegally downloaded ?the whole Anarchist Cookbook from BitTorrent,? and copyright theft just may be the ultimate evil in the King moral universe. King's familiar themes are all here: There's craziness in spades and plenty of alcohol and even a carnival, King being perhaps the most accomplished coulrophobe at work today. The storyline is vintage King, too: In the battle of good and evil, good may prevailĂ‚ÂĄbut never before evil has caused a whole lot of mayhem.The scariest thing of all is to imagine King writing a happy children's book. This isn't it: It's nicely dark, never predictable and altogether entertaining.Pub Date: June 3rd, 2014ISBN: 978-1-4767-5445-1Page count: 448ppPublisher: ScribnerReview Posted Online: May 7th, 2014Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15th, 2014
Augie Odenkirk had a 1997 Datsun that still ran well in spite of high mileage, but gas was expensive, especially for a man with no job, and City Center was on the far side of town, so he decided to take the last bus of the night.
Quotations
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"He says he has a headache. And he's asking for his mother."
"In a mega-stakes, high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of 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 Hartfield 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 a couple of highly unlikely 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"--
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In the predawn hours, in a distressed American city, hundreds of unemployed men and women line up for the opening of a job fair. They are tired and cold and desperate. Emerging from the fog, invisible until it is too late, 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.
Months later, an ex-cop named Bill Hodges, still haunted by the unsolved crime, contemplates suicide. When he gets a crazed letter from "the perk", claiming credit for the murders, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, fearing another even more diabolical attack and hell-bent on preventing it.
Brady Hartfield 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 a couple of eccentric and mis-matched 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.
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