This is a very intense, exciting novel by one of the best writers out there!
A bit surprising is that this novel does not involve any kind of supernatural or telekinetic powers, or any such things.
Instead, this book reads like suspense, with a race against the proverbial clock by a retired ex-cop - Bill Kermit Hodges, to stop a serial killer from striking out again, and taking as many people as he possibly can with him.
The book opens with a massacre, as an unknown killer, who would become known as "Mr. Mercedes", plows into a crowd waiting outside for a job fair in the very early morning hours before the doors actually open. He does so with a stolen Mercedes, and kills eight, injuring a ton more.
The case becomes a hue, unsolved mystery for the police department of this Ohio city, and the fact that it remains unsolved haunts soon to be retired Detective Hodges. He retires with all of the accolades, yet he is haunted by this one glaring failure, as well as some shortcomings in his own life, such as a divorce, and a child that seems to only want to keep her distance from him.
So, he has fallen into a depressing routine of watching endless, mind-numbing television programs, such as the Jerry Springer show, and gaining wait. Never far from his mind is the possibility of suicide. To that end, he takes the gun that his father first gave him out as his only company while watching endless hours of television. He even puts it in his mouth once, but does not quite pull the trigger. Still, it is never far from his mind.
It is probably fair to say that Hodges has lost his sense of purpose.
But things change, and those changes begin with a letter that he receives from Mr Mercedes himself. It is a taunting letter, as the killer relishes in reliving the crime that he got away with, running all of those people over. He reveals that he has been watching Hodges, and cleverly brings up the topic of Hodges committing suicide. Mr. Mercedes taunted the woman that he stole the Mercedes from in order to kill all of those people, and she indeed wound up committing suicide as a result, so he is hoping to do the same thing with Hodges. What he does not count on, surely, is that the letter has the opposite effect on the retired detective. Suddenly, Hodges comes alive, and rediscovers his sense of purpose.
Perhaps more importantly, he gets involved with a woman, and we see him beginning to really enjoy his life again. And in the meantime, he renews his aim to pursue Mr. Mercedes, more determined not than ever before to find him.
In the meantime, Hodges finds himself playing a psychological chess match with the mysterious Mr. Mercedes through a very secretive online chat exchange site known as "The Blue Umbrella". Hodges wants to do everything possible to irritate Mr. Mercedes, hoping to force him into a mistake, while also hoping that he unwittingly reveals enough himself that Hodges might have a chance to figure out who he is.
Without giving away the ending, what happens next is a back and forth between the retired detective and Mr. Mercedes, who is actually a troubled young man quite infatuated with his own mother, and with an unshakable desire to kill and inflict as much pain and suffering as possible on others.
Hodges figures that Mr. Mercedes, who's real name is Brady Hartsfield, fully intends to strike again, but realizes before long that he not only intends to strike, but to do so very soon, as the world around Brady begins to deteriorate. Brady may appear normal to the outside world, but that is something that he actively fostered to disguise the very real monster that he has become. With a bloody past, and with some seriously disturbing and inappropriate relations with his mom, Brady realizes that there is something wrong with him, and even hates this. Yet, he wants to lash out at everyone else, addicted to thoughts of mass murder and bombs and such as he is. And also, he is both extremely bright and extremely lucky, things that have allowed him to maintain the illusion of normalcy while, in reality, getting away with murder!
But Brady may have bitten off more than he can chew when he tries to engage the former detective in mind games. He figured that Hodges would be a relative pushover, much like the woman that he haunted and played mind games with after he stole her Mercedes to kill all of those people. But Hodges manages to get the better of Brady time and again, pushing him further and further from his usual self-control, until Brady absolutely explodes with deadly and murderous rage!
Suddenly, Hodges not only has to act quickly to find out who Mr. Mercedes is, but also to find him before he can fulfill his dream of another mass murder, this time even bigger than his previous mass murdering episode!
Aiding Hodges is Jeremy, an exceptionally bright high school kid who is trying to get into the best colleges for a future that seems boundless with possibilities. Also helping him is Holly, a forty-something year old woman with all sorts of personal and psychological problems. With some serious initial reservations about pulling either one into this situation, he comes to rely more and more on them over time, as their help becomes invaluable to him.
Stephen King always has great characters in his books, and this one is certainly no exception! Both Hodges and Brady Hartfield, the young Mr.Mercedes, are believable characters, as are the others in this book.
This is a highly intense page turner, one that even those who claim not to be able to get into "typical" King books about ghosts and monsters and such can easily get into. This is a realistic book, if that is the right word for it, with very human characters driving all of the events that transpire on these pages. This book is fiction, yet the events that it depicts are based on a very realistic possibility, with damaged and explosive minds bent on venting out their life's frustrations in the most explosive way possible, and trying to exact some measure of revenge upon a happy world that they were always denied access to. There are no monsters or ghosts on these pages, yet in some ways, Brady Hartsfield is even more frightening precisely because he feels so real!
Another great novel by Stephen King, and one that I would recommend to almost anyone!
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