Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

I loved this police procedural/noir book from Stephen King. It was a nice departure from his usual horror genre, and I look forward to reading the entire trilogy. In this novel, we get to know a retired detective Bill Hodges, his friend Jerome, and a few other key characters. He has that one case, like most detectives do, that one case that he never solved that he always has on his mind… The Mercedes Killer. When suddenly out of the blue The Mercedes Killer reaches out to Bill, he sees this as an opportunity as a second chance to find the killer who escaped him the year before. I agree with Karin Slaughter’s assessment that King makes the main character, who is only 61, seem much older with his lack of knowledge of technology in the digital age. Especially when you have people today in their 70’s Skyping and doing things even more advanced than basic computer searches. I also feel that I need to address a topic that one reviewer brought up. Yes, the villain in the novel uses the N-word a Lot. King uses this word in several of his books. In several of them, it is for historical pieces and revolves around context. You have to look at the times and the context in which it is used. In this novel, the character is clearly insane and this adds to his despicable, disgusting, crazy, mentally unstable way of thinking. I have never used this word, or thought this word myself, so I see this as a way to show the absolute nuttiness of the character. You have to look at context. If you are that offended, you totally missed the point. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good crime and mystery book. Five shiny, gold stars!