Mr. Mercedes
Published: 3, June 2014
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Action, American, Crime, Drama, Fiction, Hard-Boiled, Horror, Media Tie-In, Murder, Mystery, Police Procedurals, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller
Book 1 of 3: The Bill Hodges Trilogy
Check out the review of this book here:
Summary
When a Mercedes slams into a crowd of jobless people waiting in line for a job fair, sixteen people are killed and many more are injured. Bill Hodges, a recently retired detective from the local police department who is enjoying his retirement, receives a letter from someone claiming to be the person in charge of the employment fair and calling himself as "Mr. Mercedes."
Hodges is divorced, lonely, and unsatisfied with his life to the point of suicidal ideation. When Hodges retired, the incident had occurred at the end of his tenure and remained unresolved.
Mr. Mercedes is aware of the facts surrounding the murder and refers to Olivia Trelawney, from whom he took the Mercedes.
Olivia committed herself shortly after the incident as a result of her remorse. Instead of handing the letter on to his former police colleague, Pete Huntley, Hodges becomes fascinated and begins to examine the matter.
Mr. Mercedes is revealed to be Brady Hartsfield, an emotionally unstable psychopath in his late twenties who lost his father when he was eight years old. At his mother's request, he killed his mentally challenged sibling when he was a little lad. He currently lives with his alcoholic mother, with whom he has an incestuous connection, and works at an electronics store and as an ice-cream vendor. This second employment allows him to study Hodges and his neighbors, including seventeen-year-old Jerome Robinson, who helps Hodges with modest tasks.
Hodges meets Olivia Trelawney's sister Janey while conducting research on the rich Olivia Trelawney, and she engages him to investigate Olivia's suicide and the theft of the Mercedes.
Janey and Hodges start dating shortly after Hodges starts working for her. With the aid of brilliant, computer-savvy Jerome, Hodges discovers how Mr. Mercedes stole the automobile and then drove Olivia (whom he met through his employment at the electronics shop) to suicide by putting unsettling sound files on her computer that was rigged to go off at random intervals, exacerbating her guilt. When Olivia first heard these sounds, she mistook them for the ghosts of the Mercedes Massacre victims.
Hodges meets Janey's unsavory family, including Janey's emotionally disturbed niece Holly, at the burial of Janey and Olivia's recently deceased mother.
Mr. Mercedes stands by as Janey drives Hodges' vehicle to the church steps after the funeral. As the automobile approaches Holly and Hodges, he uses his remote gadget to contact a mobile phone on the car seat to blow up the car with Janey inside.
Janey is killed as a result of the explosion. Hodges is remorseful, but he is even more determined to solve the crime without the assistance of the cops. In the inquiry, Holly joins Hodges and Jerome.
Hartsfield murders his mother by inadvertently poisoning her with a poisoned cheeseburger he had cooked for Jerome's dog.
He planned to kill himself by pretending the need for a wheelchair and using explosives stashed within the wheelchair at a large concert for young girls, with her decaying body in their house.
Hartsfield's true identity is discovered and his computer hard drives are searched by Jerome, Hodges, and Holly.
They determine that Hartsfield's target is at the concert and race to the venue to intercept him.
Hodges had a heart attack and is unable to join Holly and Jerome in the concert, but encourages them to continue.
Holly tracks down Hartsfield and slams him in the face numerous times. Holly tracks down Hartsfield and uses Hodges' "Happy Slapper," a sock stuffed with ball bearings, to give several hard punches to his skull. On the concert floor, Hartsfield is bleeding and unresponsive.
Hodges who had been rescued by concert personnel, Holly, and Jerome get together for a picnic to talk about the previous happenings.
Hodges has heard that he will not face criminal charges as a result of his activities in the Hartsfield case. Instead they were given medals by the city as a thank you for their efforts. Hartsfield, meantime, emerges from his coma and requests to visit his mother.
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