Mr. Mercedes

Stephen King’s latest novel, “Mr. Mercedes”, invites readers to join protagonist, Retired Detective Kermit Hodges, on a hunt for damaged mass murderer, dubbed by the press as Mr. Mercedes.  The novel opens outside of a large auditorium, set the next morning to host a job fair. The promise of a thousand jobs attracts large numbers of the impoverished city’s unemployed.  Desperate, they begin lining up long before midnight.  After weathering cold temperatures and damp fog, potential applicants are heartened by the slow creep of dawn, until a silver Mercedes emerges from the mist.  It is only at the last moment that members of the queue realize the driver’s intent: to run them down. Having murdered several and injured more, the killer disappears into the fog from which he emerged. Enter detective Kermit Hodges, who began his retirement sometime after the case had gone cold.  Bored and depressed, Hodges spends his time watching cheap television and developing a suicidal fondness for his dead father’s gun.  This spell is broken when Hodges receives a bizarre letter from the killer, the self-titled “perk” of the Mercedes massacre.  Told from the perspective of both detective and “perk,” the novel also provides the reader with an all-access pass into mind of Brady Hartsfield, murderer and secret keeper.  Intelligent, twisted, and at times sympathetic, Brady is baffled and enraged when his plans for Hodges begin to go awry.  A departure from King’s tried-and-true supernatural vein, “Mr. Mercedes” is both fast-paced and engrossing.  This novel should prove to be a favorite amongst old fans and new readers alike.