Reviews tagging 'Death'

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

53 reviews

ashsupahfire's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

My first SK read. Always been familiar with his work but realized I never read a full book. So of course I was shocked by how often the n word and other slurs were dropped. When I looked it up, his fans proclaimed he HAD to do it to show how the bad guy was really the bad guy. A mass murderer who has a sexual relationship with his mother needs to be racist to show he’s bad? Feels like a weird cop out because SK presents himself as so lib that he can’t be accountable for racist acts. 

Anyway, as far as thrillers go, halfway through is when I got hooked. Took me day to finish the first half as I kept putting the book down. I just finished the second half after work because I couldn’t put the book down. Some predictable turns but entertaining nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Vomit, Hate crime, Murder, Incest, Fatphobia, Death, and Alcoholism

txbonnet's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

I can't recall the last time a character made me as uncomfortable and angry as Brady Hartsfield. I wanted to rage and was rooting for him to be caught the entire time. I was heavily pregnant when I read the book and coming to the opening scene of Brady running the Mercedes through the crowd, killing the baby was difficult to stomach.

King is a master of making you feel his writing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Child death, Child abuse, Violence, Murder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Death, Sexism, Racism, and Gore

honkinggoose's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Addiction, Murder, Racism, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death

retiredepisodian2robloxian's review

tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Mr Mercedes by Stephen King is quite an easy and fun read. The story centres around the retired cop Bill Hodges who is haunted by his unfinished case regarding the Mercedes Killer, AKA Brady Hartsfield.

The main elements of the book I enjoyed was (of course), Holly Gibney. I have read two books with Holly’s character and enjoyed her in both. I also liked Bill’s character, also I am coming for Stephen King for killing off Janey. I was hoping the dog wouldn’t get hurt but instead it was Janelle I was supposed to be worried about. Also liked Jerome and honestly would love a seperate novel for his character exploring more detective work.

As for Brady’s character. Uh. He was definitely a lot. His instances of insest and violent behaviours made me feel especially disgusted by him and his mother. Frankie and their backstory really introduced a platform for all his homicidal behaviours and how his mother somewhat enabled these.

The plot was interesting, I do want to continue and read Finders Keepers. The plot was fast-ish? King’s writing has always been quite easy to get into which allows for an intriguing and captivating read.

Basically Hodges gets back into the case as Brady sends him a note in hopes to make him (Hodges) suicidal. This then make him question the case and how they interacted with Olivia. He employs other characters to complete the case especially to help computer-wise. Ultimately everything was wrapped up nicely with foreshadowed plot points being brought up here and there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, and Suicide

linda_wolf's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Car accident, Cursing, Bullying, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Mental illness, and Murder

michaelavictoria's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Racial slurs, Child death, Child abuse, Racism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

Minor: Medical content, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Torture, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Body shaming, Dementia, Eating disorder, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Slavery, Bullying, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Infidelity

kileyjojo's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Not one of King’s best but I enjoyed this thriller. There were definitely parts that felt overdone and tired but King’s style is amusing and kept me intrigued throughout. I’m thinking of revisiting it just to see if I still can be surprised by it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Violence

alma_lurie_04's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

hailey_alexis's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I’ve heard good things about Stephen King’s new book Holly, thought it would be best to go back to the beginning. The points of view, ideas and some language feels a little dated even if it’s just from 2014. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Child death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Death, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

crystal689's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Violence, Misogyny, Death of parent, Death, Murder, Stalking, and Racial slurs