Author | Stephen King |
---|---|
Language | English |
Series | Bill Hodges Trilogy |
Genre | Crime, Mystery, Thriller |
Published | June 3, 2014 (Scribner) |
Publication place | USA |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 436 |
ISBN | 978-1-4767-5445-1 |
Followed by | Finders Keepers |
Mr. Mercedes is a crime novel by American writer Stephen King. He calls it his first hard-boiled detective book. It was published on June 3, 2014. [1] It is the first volume in a trilogy, followed in 2015 by Finders Keepers , the first draft of which was finished around the time Mr. Mercedes was published, [2] [3] and End of Watch in 2016.
The novel won the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America [4] and Goodreads Choice Awards for 2014 in the "Mystery and Thriller" category. [5]
During his Chancellor's Speaker Series talk at University of Massachusetts Lowell on December 7, 2012, King indicated that he was writing a crime novel about a retired policeman being taunted by a murderer. With a working title Mr. Mercedes and inspired by a true event about a woman driving her car into a McDonald's restaurant, it was originally meant to be a short story just a few pages long. [6] Describing the novel for an interview with USA Today , published on September 18, 2013, King said that while it was started prior to the Boston Marathon bombings, Mr. Mercedes involves a terrorist plot which is "too creepily close for comfort". [7] An excerpt was published in the May 16, 2014 issue of Entertainment Weekly . [8]
The driver of a Mercedes S class plows into the crowd of people at a job fair, killing eight and severely injuring many. The Mercedes has been stolen from a woman named Olivia Trelawney, who later kills herself out of guilt. Bill Hodges, a recently retired detective from the local police department, receives a letter from an individual claiming to be the culprit, referring to himself as "Mr. Mercedes". Hodges is divorced, lonely and fed up with his life, occasionally considering suicide. The letter intrigues Hodges, who investigates the case instead of turning the letter over to his former police colleague, Pete Huntley.
Brady Hartsfield, the man behind the job fair massacre, is an emotionally disturbed psychopath who lost his father at age eight. When he was a young boy, he killed his mentally handicapped brother at the prompting of his alcoholic mother, with whom he has an incestuous relationship. Brady works in an electronics store and sells ice cream from a truck as his second job. Riding in the truck enables him to observe Hodges and his neighbors, among them seventeen-year-old Jerome Robinson, who does small chores for Hodges.
Hodges meets Olivia's sister, Janey Patterson, who hires him to investigate her suicide and the theft of the Mercedes. Hodges and Janey soon begin dating. Hodges finds out, with the help of computer-savvy Jerome, how Mr. Mercedes stole the car and drove Olivia (whom he made contact with through his job at the electronics shop) to suicide by leaving eerie sound files on her computer that were set to go off at unpredictable intervals, which escalated her feelings of guilt.
At the funeral of Janey and Olivia's recently deceased mother, Hodges meets Janey's unpleasant relatives, among them her emotionally unstable cousin Holly. After the funeral, Brady watches as Hodges' car rolls towards the church. He mistakenly thinks Hodges is behind the wheel, when in fact it is Janey. As the car approaches Holly and Hodges, Brady remotely blows up the car, killing Janey. Hodges feels remorse but becomes even more eager to solve the case without the help of the police. Holly joins Hodges and Jerome in the investigation.
Brady accidentally kills his mother with a poisoned hamburger, which he had prepared for Jerome's dog. With her rotting body in their house, he plans to commit suicide by blowing himself up at a concert using explosives hidden inside a wheelchair. Jerome, Hodges and Holly manage to uncover Brady's real identity and search his computer. They eventually deduce Brady's plan and rush to the concert venue to stop him. Hodges begins to suffer a heart attack and is unable to venture into the concert, but urges Holly and Jerome to press on. Holly locates Brady and delivers two harsh blows to his head using Hodges's "Happy Slapper" – a sock filled with ball bearings. Brady is left bleeding and comatose.
Later, Hodges (who had been saved by concert staff), Holly and Jerome have a picnic to discuss the recent events. Hodges has learned that he will not be criminally charged for his actions regarding the Mr. Mercedes investigation. Holly and Jerome have received medals from the city, congratulating them on their work. Meanwhile, Brady awakens from his coma and asks to see his mother.
Mr. Mercedes received positive reviews, with many critics responding well to the book being different from King's "standard horror stories" and being a "compelling crime novel." It received a 4.07/5 score on Goodreads, dropping to 3.87 as of 19 January with 43,562 ratings [9] and a 4/5 on Barnes & Noble. [10]
Michael Marshall Smith of The Guardian noted the novel "is firmly positioned in suspense-thriller territory and the non-supernatural world – somewhere King evidently feels increasingly at home. … At its heart, Mr Mercedes is a traditional cat-and-mouse story about a psychopathic killer and the renegade cop who makes it his mission to bring him down." Considering three levels of evaluation – quality per se, expectations of King's "readers who return for his distinctively unstoppable storytelling engine, his particular and hugely dependable voice", and rules of "whichever genre" King increasingly departs to, he sums up: "Good book? Hell, yes. Good Stephen King book? Absolutely." [11] Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the novel 3 and 1/2 stars: "With an accidental gumshoe and a freaky serial killer, … Mr. Mercedes takes the old detective genre in an excellent, modern direction". He commended "a fascinating look at what makes a serial killer in a post-9/11 context", adding that King also "really succeeds with Hodges' companions". [12] Sheryll Connelly of The New York Daily News stated the novel is "telling a story that could almost be characterized as sweet except of course for the sociopath on a bloody rampage. King will be King, and he’s never less than scary. Who in their right mind would want him to be?" and noted that this is one of his books where instead of it being "horrific, King expresses outright tenderness and it’s evident here." [13]
Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club was more reserved, writing that the novel opens with its best moment and "sags significantly in the middle, but it barrels toward a memorable conclusion … his tense, propulsive, ultra-fast-paced climax here seems like it was written with the movie in mind". Her main complaint was "a collection of laughably creaky old tropes at the center … a halfhearted stop at Señor Lazy’s Bargain Cliché Bin … predictable King-isms … a cutout character following a well-worn path". But she praised the novel for being "unusual in its dedication to surprising readers" and found it "a major step up from his previous book, Doctor Sleep ". [14]
In January 2015, it was announced that Mr. Mercedes would be turned into a limited television series. David E. Kelley was slated to write the project and Jack Bender would direct. Kelley and Stephen King serve as executive producers. [15] On October 10, 2017, the Audience network announced that the series would be renewed for season 2, and conclude the story from the original Mr. Mercedes novel. [16] The third season was broadcast between September and November 2019.
Christine is a horror novel by American writer Stephen King, published in 1983. It tells the story of a car apparently possessed by malevolent supernatural forces. In April 2013, PS Publishing released Christine in a limited 30th Anniversary Edition.
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Harry John Newman Treadaway is an English actor. His credits include Control (2007), City of Ember (2008), Fish Tank (2009), Pelican Blood (2010), Flight of the Storks (2012), Mr. Mercedes (2017-2018), The Crown (2019), Star Trek: Picard (2020), Deceit (2021), and The Chemistry of Death (2023).
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The Secret Place is a 2014 novel by Tana French set in Ireland. The Washington Post named the book one of the five best thrillers of 2014. Amazon.com named it one of the best books of 2014 in the mystery, thriller and suspense category.
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Career of Evil is a 2015 crime fiction novel written by Robert Galbraith, a pseudonym for J. K. Rowling. It is the third novel in the Cormoran Strike series of detective novels and is followed by Lethal White in 2018, Troubled Blood in 2020 and The Running Grave in 2023.
Social Suicide is a 2015 British romantic drama and psychological thriller film starring India Eisley and Jackson Bews. Inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the film reunited Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting for the first time since the 1968 film adaptation.
Mr. Mercedes is an American crime drama television series based on the Bill Hodges novel trilogy by Stephen King, which consists of Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch. The series premiered on Audience on August 9, 2017. It was developed by David E. Kelley, and stars Brendan Gleeson and Harry Treadaway. In November 2018, it was announced that Audience had renewed the series for a ten-episode third season, which premiered on September 10, 2019. In May 2020, the show was discontinued, with no indication of whether the show had been officially canceled or that it would return for a fourth season. Its existing three seasons were later picked up in September 2020 by streaming service Peacock.
The Outsider (2018) is a horror novel by the American author Stephen King. The novel was published by Scribner.The Outsider
The Outsider is an American psychological thriller-horror crime drama television series based on the 2018 novel of the same name by Stephen King, adapted for television by Richard Price. It was ordered to series on December 3, 2018, after being optioned as a miniseries by MRC in June 2018. It premiered on HBO on January 12, 2020. It stars Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Bill Camp, Paddy Considine, Julianne Nicholson, and Jason Bateman.
If It Bleeds is a collection of four previously unpublished novellas by American writer Stephen King. The stories in the collection are titled "Mr. Harrigan's Phone", "The Life of Chuck", "If It Bleeds", and "Rat". It was released on April 28, 2020.
Holly Rachel Gibney is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King. Originally appearing in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels, she later appears as a major supporting character in The Outsider and as the main character in If It Bleeds, a novella included in the collection of the same name, and the novel Holly.
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a young adult mystery crime debut novel by Holly Jackson. The novel is the first in a series of three novels and one novella: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2019); Good Girl, Bad Blood (2020); As Good As Dead (2021); and Kill Joy (2021). All books were published by Electric Monkey in the United Kingdom and by Delacorte Press in the United States.
Holly is a 2023 crime novel by American author Stephen King. It was published on September 5, 2023, by Scribner. The novel follows Holly Gibney, who made her first appearance in Mr. Mercedes (2014). She also appeared in Finders Keepers (2015) and End of Watch (2016), and later was a major supporting character in The Outsider. She was also the central character in If It Bleeds, a novella in the 2020 collection of the same name. An excerpt from Holly was published in Entertainment Weekly on January 23, 2023. King has confirmed plans for another novel featuring Holly Gibney, titled We Think Not.
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