The first in the Bill Hodges trilogy, Mr.Mercedes is a jaw dropping, hard hitting murder mystery from the redoubtable Stephen King. On a misty, fog filled morning in a recession hit United States, a winding line of people is formed waiting for the doors of a job fair to open at a City Centre. The tired and haggard bunch of populace who have beat even the early morning sun to be at the head of the employment queue are in for a nasty shock. An imperial Mercedes with its 12 cylinders gunning at full burst hurtles in unannounced like the messenger of doom. Mowing through the unsuspecting crowd, the death car plows down eight before vanishing into the fog.
Detective Bill Hodges, the chief investigator in the ‘Mercedes massacre’ is left to ruminate on his otherwise distinguished career as he retires from the force. The Mercedes case becomes an invisible noose tightening ever so slowly but surely around his neck. But a life of contemplation takes an unpredictable twist when Hodges receives an email, supposedly sent by the killer himself. ‘Mr.Mercedes (as the author of the letter claims to term himself) challenges Hodges to find him and even creates a user ID for Hodges under a private chat site termed “Debbie’s Umbrella”.
What follows is a nerve racking, sweat staining, heart pumping sequence of moves and counter moves that leaves the reader tearing through the pages swifter than the remorseless Mercedes! Once the book has been raced through, the climax will be read and re-read once again just for the sheer innovation that is to say the least – exquisite!
“Mr.Mercedes” – Sheer Class!
