Stephen King is known to write hard-core criminal novels. In fact meticulously he describes crime and criminal makes many wonder whether he is an expert in studying criminal minds. Well Mr. Mercedes his newly released book on 3rd June, 2014 is no different and has all the expertise of the author.
The title of the novel Mr Mercedes is a bit strange, as it gave me an impression that the car will be having a very vital role in the plot and it could be a killer car. But there is nothing like that. This name is given to the psychotic driver who was driving this stolen Mercedes and took great pleasure in crushing and killing 8 people and injuring several.
Stephen has taken ample time to efficiently portray the negative mental frame of the psychic. In fact, the author has quite successful shown how barbaric and inhuman these psychics could be and they could go to any extend to quench their thirst for pleasure which comes by inflicting pain to others. In this case, the so called psychic Mr Mercedes extracts immense pleasure in killing people. In fact, Stephen has very successfully managed to instill a feeling of fear and hatred for Mr. Mercedes in the mind of readers.
The story for sometime runs in flash back, when Retired Detective Bill Hodges recalls how fruitlessly he along with his partner tried to track down the killer. It is all about the cat and mouse chase which always seems that Brady Hartsfield, better known as Mr. Mercedes, has won. It was written in the the typical King’s style, fast and pacy.
The character of Bill Hodges also develops as a solid cop who was in no way surrender to the sadistic plans of the antagonist, Brady Hartsfield.
There are also some supporting characters into the plot whose sub-stories keeps the story going. These sub plots were a bit of distraction and a drag.
What I particularly liked was the cover of the book. It has a very significance indication to give. While Mercedes car has not much to do in the story but definitely Blue Umbrella will help Bill Hodges to crack this case and track down whats playing in the mind of Mr. Mercedes. Under Debbie’s Blue Umbrella is a site where Bill Hodges and Brady Hartsfield chats which leads the book to become a physiological thriller. It is from here the book becomes unputdownable.
The Verdict:
We know that the killer won’t be able to outshine Bill Hodges in his second attempt to mass murder. But it is just how Bill Hodges will stop him from doing so makes the book a worth a read. It is not exactly a typical Stephen King’s book as there is no supernaturals elements in the book.
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