It's always darkest before the dawn.

- first sentence

 

Bill, Holly, and Jerome are all back and so is Brady. Despite traumatic brain injuries and spending the past 5 years in a vegetative state (or maybe because of it), Brady has developed deadly mental powers. He can take over other people's bodies (and minds) and use them to do his bidding. He wants revenge, not only on Bill but on the entire city. Brady was dangerous enough walking around, but now he is even worse, especially because no one thinks he is capable of doing anything. 

 

The thing I loved best about this book is the focus on Brady's paranormal abilities. Compared to the other two books in the series (which I enjoyed btw), this book more closely resembled King's previous works of supernatural suspense. This was an amazing end to a surprisingly good series. 

 

I read a few other reviews that complained about the book being unrealistic and not providing a believable explanation for Brady's abilities. Being a huge Stephen King fan, I am thrilled with Brady's powers and I definitely wasn't looking for realism in this book. King's ability to take typically benign things/people/animals and turn them into supernaturally terrifying threats is part of his charm. I loved this book and highly recommend it.

SWEDISH REVIEW

Mercedesmördaren är tillbaka

För sju år sedan körde den ökände "Mercedesmördaren" Brady Hartsfield rakt in i en folkmassa. Åtta människor dog och långt fler fick men för livet. Den pensionerade kriminalpolisen Bill Hodges har inte kunnat lägga vansinnesdådet bakom sig, och när han nås av den oroande nyheten att en efter en av de överlevande efter Mercedesmassakern försökt ta sina liv under mystiska omständigheter, inser han att mardrömmen är långt ifrån över.

Hodges blir allt mer övertygad om att Brady Hartsfield har ett finger med i spelet i det som börjar likna en självmordsepidemi. Men hur kan det vara möjligt, när Hartsfield som är dömd till psykiatrisk vård, sitter i rullstol och knappt kan prata? Vad döljer sig bakom Mercedesmördarens tomma blick?

Sista vakten avslutar Stephen Kings hyllade thrillertrilogi om Bill Hodges och hans ständiga medhjälpare Holly och Jerome. Den första boken i serien, Mr Mercedes, tilldelades 2015 års Edgar Award för bästa spänningsroman. 

Thanks to Albert Bonniers Förlag for the review copy!

Well this was a great conclusion to the trilogy. I really enjoyed book one, see Death Comes in a Car... Again and felt underwhelmed by book two, see If Misery and Carrie Had a Baby. The final book found it's footing and I was happy to see that the fabulous trio of Bill, Holly, and Jerome rode off into battle once again. That said, the reason why I only gave this four stars was the pacing problems of the book. Anytime the book transitioned over to Brady Hartsfield (still hate him, he's up there with It for me for most loathed villain in the Stephen King book) the book slowed down. I also felt like King took way too much time to show what happened to Brady and what he did. I wanted to get back to Bill, Holly, and Jerome.

This book begins with another perspective of what happened when the Mercedes Killer drove and killed several people at a job fair. The perspectives that we get are of the emergency responders to the scene. I have to say that my stomach turned all over again. We then transition to the present time with Bill going to the doctor's waiting on an appointment. Bill is happy with his investigation agency (Finders Keepers) and with his new partner Holly. Though he still thinks about Brady Hartsfield, he has put him behind him for the most part. Brady rushes back into the forefront though when Bill and Holly are called to a scene of a murder suicide by Bill's ex-partner Pete.

I liked Bill a lot more in this one. Probably because he was pretty much absent for book #2 since that one chose to focus more on Pete and his family. We have Bill in the driver's seat for most of this except when we transition to secondary characters and to Brady Hartsfield. I think Bill is content, happy with where he is, and glad to have Holly and Jerome. There is also something also going on with Bill, and I am glad that King didn't feel the need to drag that out at all. It gave more poignancy to the story and honestly, I thought that King was going to end the book differently, but was thrilled with how he chose to end it.

I do like Holly as a character, but her need to say "fracking" and "fracking poopy" started to wear thin on me about halfway through. I started having flashbacks to "The Stand" and Tom Cullen and that was not a place I wanted to think too hard about at this point. Holly is still the smartest person in the room, and I loved how her and Bill's relationship has grown. I also love that King didn't have them be a couple, they are just a true partnership/friendship.

Jerome comes in late to the story, but still an integral piece and I love the way that he worked seamlessly with Holly and Bill. Though Jerome is off to college, he's still a core member of the group and he and his family were the ones I was most worried about while reading.

Brady Hartsfield still can go kick a lot of rocks. I think one of the reasons why I hate this character so much is because he feels so familiar in this day in age in America. We are dealing with daily reminders of Brady Hartsfield stand-ins who think like Brady that all black people are disgusting, are awful, are "n" the fact that he started that talk up again made me grind my teeth. He is also the most entitled character I can recall coming across in a King book since the Crimson King. Hartsfield shows no remorse for anything he has done and wants to cause more havoc because how dare some shitty cop and some black boy be behind taking him down. I have never rooted so hard for a bad end to a fictional character before.

King is a master at getting you to care about his characters and also feeling leery cause you know he loves making you weep like a lost child when a bad end comes there way (looking at you The Dark Tower),

The secondary characters introduced or revisited in this one are done well too. I wish that we hadn't spent as much time with some like Doctor Babineau and Library Al because I really didn't like how much time they were taking away from the fabulous trio (what I call Bill, Holly, and Jerome in my head). It was great though to see how King worked in Jerome's sister Barbara and others like Bill's ex-partner. This whole book circles back in a lovely way to book #1.

I thought the writing was great per usual. I loved the dialogue between characters. I was not thrilled with the repetitiveness with Holly's language though (see above). I will say that I thought the whole way that King tied technology with Brady just didn't quite pass the smell test for me. The same issue that I had with that is the same issue I had while reading "Cell", meaning I don't think that works the way that you think it works. For the purposes of the story I just hand-waved it away because I wasn't in the mood to work out why what King was proposing could never happen. It was easier to just go with it.

The flow as I already said wasn't great. It only got wonky (don't care if it's not a word) when we revisited what happened to Brady or shifted the focus over to him to present day doings. He's also a repugnant little shit so there was some distaste happening for me that had me rushing through his scenes as much as possible.

The setting of "End of Watch" doesn't really have one core place. The book goes from place to place and back again. I think since King focused so much on the technology aspect something was bound to give and it was that for this book. King is a master of describing places and setting the scene for readers. So I wish we had more of that in this book.

The ending. Man oh man, let's just say I cried. Like bawled like a baby around 2 a.m. I sniffed and went and read some Tom Hardy and decided I didn't hate myself quite that much and went to bed. King guts you and if you are a Constant Reader like me, you keep coming back for it, even though you know it's not going to end well for you. I really hope that we get to see more of these characters in future King books. What am I saying, of course we will. King is great about that. All in all, what a great conclusion to this trilogy.

Synopsis: The spectacular finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes (winner of the Edgar Award) and Finders Keepers—In End of Watch, the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” drives his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, they’ll be victims themselves.

In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.

Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibney—the woman who delivered the blow to Hartsfield’s head that put him on the brain injury ward. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill’s heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.

In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense. No one does it better than King.

 

*****

 

Stephen King's latest novel, End of Watch, is out now. The third book in the Bill Hodges trilogy (the previous books in the cycle are Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers), this fast-paced thriller aptly wraps everything up, tying all loose ends and answering any remaining questions. Like the first two books in the series, this is a crime novel at its core — however, unlike the two books that came before it, this one features King adding a generous helping of psi abilities, thus giving the villain an extra boost. This book features King returning to his wheelhouse, and dealing in strengths that made his earlier novels so gripping. Think Carrie and Firestarter, but with the special talents being used for evil instead of good. It's some scary stuff.

 

I must say the scenes in which Brady Hartsfield began wielding his new powers (thanks to a serious head injury dealt to him in the first novel) reminded me of old-school King which was delightful. The idea of Brady, this psychopath bent on revenge, taking control of a person's cognitive abilities and driving him or her to suicide (as he does many times throughout, each time more gleeful than the last) is one of King's wackier — and more brilliant — concepts. The magnitude of the writing skill displayed here is what sells the idea. It was nice to see some good, old-fashioned horror added to the mix here, but it never gets in the way of what End of Watch truly is: a suspense story, with a small, but lovely cast: an aging former detective quickly running out of time, his neurotic partner, and the guy they've been trying to catch for seven years — who now has new, frightening mental abilities. Needless to say, this is one of King's most gripping tales yet, and I had to force myself to take it slowly so I wouldn't rush through it all on release day.

 

While I'm sad this trilogy is now over, I'm glad it was given such an epic, frightening, beautiful, and fitting 'end'. End of Watch is a compact tale that grapples with a lot of big ideas — letting go and moving on, growing old, closure, hope, and redemption. It's a capable, quick, and smart story that fires on all cylinders, never letting the reader down. While Finders Keepers is probably my favorite novel to emerge from this cycle, this one certainly comes in a close second. Highly recommended to all King fans, and/or fans of excellent thrillers.

Before we begin, I feel I need to state a few things. Over the course of the next few months you will see reviews from people who thought this book was "just okay". You will see reviews from people who are only reading it so that they will be able to hate-review it and they want a clean conscience, so they will finish it even though the experience will be on par with stomach swelling and labor pains when not pregnant. Then you will read fan reviews wherein this is touted as the mostest bestest thing since Adam and Eve finally realized what that swelling between Adam's legs was good for. Every one of those reviews will be correct. From the one-star to the five-but-wish-they-could-give-it-a-million-stars reviews. Because they will be those people's subjective opinions. Let's all try and respect each other, because the last time, when I reviewed Mr. Mercedes, motherfuckers went crazy trying to tell me how wrong I was to give it five stars. I gave it five stars because I fucking loved that book. (Read my review for why.) Do I care if you thought it was tedious or cliched or predictable? Probably not. It's your party and you can cry if you want to. I had fun. Fucking sue me. If you want to have a respectable discussion about this book's flaws, by all means, let's do that, but don't come into my house and bitch about the carpet. Motherfucker, it's my carpet. You don't have to walk on it.

Now comes the subjective opinion. Are we cool? Good. Let's do this.

Underneath the thriller plot, Finders Keepers is a nod to book lovers. King delves into his own history to create John Rothstein, right down to the moleskin ledgers King wrote in after his accident in 1999. Dreamcatcher was written entirely by longhand in such ledgers because it hurt King too badly to sit at his desk and type. There are other parallels between King and Rothstein, such as, King has said in interviews that he can see himself retiring from the public eye and no longer publishing books and stories, but goes on to say that he will never stop writing. I'm afraid that King is also giving us a hint with his own trilogy. Be prepared, folks. Just like the make-believe John Rothstein dropped out of the public eye after the Jimmy Gold trilogy, we might see King simply take a bow and step off stage. "Been fun, Constant Reader, now kindly take a long fuck off a short pier." I wouldn't put it past Uncle Stevie. He's been playing this game for over four decades. The only hope I hold out is that King and Straub have promised a third Jack Sawyer novel, so we still have that to look forward to after the conclusion of this series. Just theories, folks. I'm a nerd, it's what I do.

Now, about the book. Finders Keepers is a mixed bag of awesome and awful. You will encounter everything you love and everything you hate about Stephen King. If you're looking for horror, there are several scenes that will jiggle and arouse your tender bits. These scenes are at times subtle and creepy, and at other times bloody and brutal. If you want character development, Pete and Morris will wet your whistle, but the rest of the gang is as static as cryogenically-frozen concrete statues. Bill, Holly, and Jerome play their roles, and that's it. Holly is still my fave of the bunch, but only because I'm a bit OCD. (Have you seen my book collection?)

Most thrillers mix character building, the setting up of plot, and action in equal amounts. King didn't get this memo. The book starts with character development on par with some of King's best work, then devolves into tedious plot setup with little to no action. You can feel King trying to make the shit in the middle interesting, but there's not much going on. He has to get certain characters into the path of other characters and, honestly, it's just fucking boring to read about. The same set-up occurs in Mr. Mercedes, down to the car ride to the showdown.

But, despite the heavy, languid middle, the book does pick up speed again, and ends quite satisfactorily for my tastes. Plenty of "Oh shit!" and "Holy fuck!" moments for me.

If you're an audiobook fan, you should know that WIll Patton is as terrific as always. I hopped back and forth between ebook and audio, but I think I prefered the audio to the text. Something about Patton, man. He just does it for me. Love how he reads Holly.

One final note: Does anyone else not give a single fuck about Hodges? Like, I actually started disliking the book when he was reintroduced, and I can't think of one of his chapters that I actually liked. I thought Pete was awesome and Morris was disturbing and Holly was epic, but Hodges... Man, I don't give a squirt of piss for him and I hope he dies in the final book. Let that pacemaker give out. Whatever. The worst part is, friends and neighbors, I have no idea why I feel this way. I simply do not like the guy.

In summation: I give the book five stars for the first 35%, three stars for the middle 30%, and four stars for the race to the finish. Overall, four stars. I didn't enjoy it as much as Mr Mercedes, and I do not believe the ending ratcheted up the stakes far enough.

Final Judgment: Better than a hatchet to the ass and worse than a trunk fulla booty.