Instead, he also allows readers to see from the perspective of Brady Hartsfield, the Mercedes killer. What makes King’s approach to his first grounded detective novel, however, is that he doesn’t just stay in the perspective of the detective. While Hodges considers calling up the station and handing over the evidence, he decides-in one last attempt to reclaim the life he felt while on the force-to independently investigate the Mercedes killer. Mercedes.” The letter mentions details of the case kept from the public, things only law enforcement or the killer himself would know. As, during one of his regular days as a retiree, Hodges receives a letter in the mail from someone claiming to be the Mercedes killer, going under the moniker “Mr. Hodges, however, appears to be of special interest to the perpetrator. Nothing for the police to trace the massacre back to any one individual. There was no DNA there were no hairs there were no fingerprints and the Mercedes itself had been a stolen vehicle. Hodges had once been part of the investigation into the Mercedes massacre, though after six months of retirement, not even the people who were left the case in his absence have yet to solve it.

The book then cuts to retired detective Bill Hodges, a lonesome divorcee whose day consists of ample time staring at both his TV screen and his gun. The people milling about in the morning waiting for the job fair to begin are suddenly and violently interrupted by a Mercedes that rams into the crowd, killing eight and injuring many others. Mercedes begins at an early-morning job fair in a small town, a location is never specified.

And those unique elements are what makes it stand out. A self-described “hard-boiled detective book,” this novel differs vastly from many of the more fantastical elements found in King’s earlier works.

And, true to that reality, there is the first book in King’s Bill Hodges’ Trilogy, titled Mr. His novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption remained grounded in reality, lacking the supernatural qualities that often identify with King’s tales. Instead, those events were more elevated in how the unnatural can impact reality or our perceptions of the world. His serial novel The Green Mile utilized some elements of supernatural events, but for the most part did so without elements of horror invoked. Not all of King’s works are focused on paranormal terrors, however. Many of his books feature elements of supernatural terror, often bringing dysphoria to fictional towns in Maine like Castle Rock and Derry.

If you’re big on the horror genre-or just big on books in general-chance is you’ve heard of Stephen King.

Stephen king mercedes killer