books

Book Review – Mr Mercedes

BY EMMANUEL SURENDRA
July 07, 2014

Stephen King’s ‘Mr Mercedes’ is is available in hardcover at RM95.90. – The Malaysian Insider pic, July 7, 2014. Stephen King in 2002 announced he was retiring. He was 54. He told the Los Angeles Times he was not going to "finish up like Harold Robbins".

Robbins, who shot to fame with “The Carpetbaggers”, was still churning out copies before his death at 81. He died with diminishing sales, a wrecked hip due to a stroke and an editor who was not favourable with his manuscript.

But King didn’t retire after that interview. He continued doing what he does best. In the span of 12 years, he published 10 novels, one of which has turned into a TV-series ("Under the Dome"), and two more long reads are in the pipeline. "Revival" will be out in November this year and "Finders Keepers" the following year.

That's certainly a lot of stamina for a 66-year-old. Much like the sixty-something protagonist in his latest novel "Mr Mercedes". The novel revolves around a cop named Bill Hodges who comes out of retirement to stop Brady Hartsfield, the man who drove a stolen Mercedes-Benz into a job fair leaving eight people dead and fifteen wounded.

It’s a straight-up chaser, unlike the usual horror fiction King is renowned for. A good break for a 57th novel. And it's the usual race-against-time plot, not a whodunit, which makes it very linear.

Early on, readers learn that Hartsfield is the man who stole and drove a Mercedes into a group of jobseekers trying to make a living in times of economic decline. Detective Bill Hodges, who wasn't able to complete the case due to retirement, is on the brink of suicide – until he receives a letter supposedly from the Mercedes killer.

Then a psychological battle begins with Hodges and Hartsfield trying to outdo each other with a lot riding on Hodges's shoulders since he is, after all, the hero. 

The book is pacey, thanks to the present tense used throughout. King says initially it was only 12 pages long, but that it grew to the 400-ish page novel that it is today. Thankfully it didn't grow to a Goliath-sized one like "The Stand".

The inspiration for the book, King says, is based on a real scenario he saw on the news where a lady drove her car into a group of jobseekers lining up at a McDonalds restaurant. That’s available on YouTube, and he tells of it in a freakishly candid manner. But he also comes to terms with aging and retirement and how he dealt with it on a personal basis.

Undoubtedly, King is a writer in a league of his own. But this title draws mixed reactions, partly due to the fact that the crime genre is very saturated. The book sags midway and the real adrenaline rush kicks in, typically like all crime novels, at the end where Hartsfield is close to being captured.

Also, the design of Hartsfield and Hodges is clichéd. Hartsfield the psycho with an unhealthy relationship with his mother and Hodges the detective who is forced to take matters into his own hands. Hartsfield blames the world around him and his circumstances for how he turned out; Hodges is Sherlock Holmes still trying to be Holmes.

Then there's the motley crew that helps Hodges crack the case in a very unrealistic manner – as usual they are tech geeks with very quirky personas.

Put it this way: We have become so accustomed to all kinds of fiendish characters that the key now in writing a killer-thriller is simply to come up with a character that pushes the boundaries of what society can stomach, and we can stomach quite a bit. "Mr Mercedes" doesn't fit that bill.

Certainly not the best the King has dished out over the years. Maybe the fact that he keeps writing novels like a man possessed is getting the better of him. But then again, the world still needs King. We need him to keep going. Just like his character Bill Hodges.

The UK version of Stephen King’s “Mr Mercedes” is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is priced at RM95.90. The book is available in hardcover with no news of a paperback anytime soon. – July 7, 2014.