Mr Mercedes

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Described as 'the best thriller of the year' Sunday Express, the No. 1 bestseller introduces retired cop Bill Hodges in a race against time to apprehend a killer.

A cat-and-mouse suspense thriller featuring Bill Hodges, a retired cop who is tormented by 'the Mercedes massacre', a case he never solved.

Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of that notorious crime, has sent Hodges a taunting letter. Now he's preparing to kill again.

Each starts to close in on the other in a mega-stakes race against time.

©2014 Stephen King (P)2014 Simon & Schuster

King is king

Stephen King can spin a yarn with the best. In fact, his books seem more alive and engaging and than many other authors.

I'm not a huge fan of his strictly horror writing, but if he can continue in this vein I'll read them all!

Great characterisation

Stephen King’s gift of sculpting characters to ignite his stories is once again revealed in this book. I also liked the way he showed the many sides of mental illness and how the sufferer has an element of choice regarding how he or she wishes his or her life to pan out. Holly Gibney was one of my favourites.

"Bloody" awesome

Highly impressed with this latest work from Mr. King. The tale bounces between two main perspectives and the story itself is bleak and dark, but with the occasional rays of hope and warmth shining through. It varies in pace from a slow build up to an action packed climax, and leaves a big cliffhanger for the second follow up novel in the trilogy

The narrator Will Patton does a great job too, he is perfect for Hodges, and at one point I was reduced to tears during the recounting of the death of a young minor character, something I've never done before listening to an audio book.

Some parts are sexually and violently graphic, and very hard to listen to, but you should expect that if you know this author well.

A very good story indeed!

I think that although this is not his usual type of book it is indeed worthy of Stephen King. I am not usually attracted to detective type novels, but this one held my attention from beginning to end. In fact I will actually have to add that over used comment "I could not stop listening" and stayed up several nights to very early mornings. Also the narrator was first class, at no time did I think otherwise and I am picky with that. He told the tale with interest and seeming enjoyment and I was sorry when I came to the last line. I highly recomend this book to not only King fans, but also to the people who usualy would not read his books,.As I said at the beginning it is not the usual thing you expect from him, but you will not be disapointed at all.

Mr Mercedes

Loved the ending of this book, now just want to read the next. Good story and narration

Not one of his best

Well, it's a Stephen King so the way the story is told is interesting. The plot, concepts and characters are archaic. I would not advice anyone to spend a credit on this, even for big fans.

Will Patton is my favourite narrator

Anything Will Patton reads, he makes amazing. The story was great, but I cannot imagine enjoying it as much as I did had anyone else read it.

Pretty Ordinary Book, Pretty Rubbish King Book

Starts of well but soon drops off. There's no mystery, no tension and no real plot. The bad guy is one of King's weakest creations, as is the hero, and the story around them is equally as bland and unmemorable as they are.

One thing Mr Mercedes proves is that King really needs to either get someone who understands how the interwebs work or stop writing stories that feature it as a main plot point. The same goes for computers and car security systems for that matter.

It's all just so disappointing and mediocre. It's not bad so much as wholly unremarkable. There's nothing about it that makes the book feel like a King book.

Will Patton is a quality narrator though but when the best thing about an audiobook is the bloke reading it, something, somewhere, has gone very wrong.