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The Bill Hodges Trilogy Boxed Set: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch by Stephen King
watercolorstain's review
3.0
When Mr. Mercedes first came out, it was already known that it would be the first book in a projected trilogy, and I never start an unfinished series if I can help it. After it was completed, I still put it off for years, because somewhere deep down, I suspected that it wouldn't really be my thing.
The non-or-only-slightly-supernatural stories are generally my favorites by King, but I just don't think he's very good at crime fiction... and yet, here we are. I'm a completist (now that this is over, I'm only missing a handful), and he just seems to keep piling on on this one. I was pretty miffed when I couldn't read The Outsider when that came out (it sounded much more appealing, but it references and spoils this trilogy, which would've put me off reading it even more), and with If It Bleeds containing a novella centered around yet another recurring character who first appears in the Bill Hodges series, I decided that it was time to bite the bullet.
It went pretty much as I expected it would, but considering that I wasn't expecting much from this series in the first place, it still managed to surprise me with a pretty great second book. The other two also had their moments, and I'd say the trilogy is worth picking up if you're already a King fan, but it should be nowhere near the top of your list if you're new to his works. While I think that it's among his weaker output as a whole, it's still nice to see an established author experiment with genres outside of his comfort zone so far into his career.
My individual reviews can be found here:
Mr. Mercedes (2014) · ★★
Finders Keepers (2015) · ★★★★
End of Watch (2016) · ★★★
The non-or-only-slightly-supernatural stories are generally my favorites by King, but I just don't think he's very good at crime fiction... and yet, here we are. I'm a completist (now that this is over, I'm only missing a handful), and he just seems to keep piling on on this one. I was pretty miffed when I couldn't read The Outsider when that came out (it sounded much more appealing, but it references and spoils this trilogy, which would've put me off reading it even more), and with If It Bleeds containing a novella centered around yet another recurring character who first appears in the Bill Hodges series, I decided that it was time to bite the bullet.
It went pretty much as I expected it would, but considering that I wasn't expecting much from this series in the first place, it still managed to surprise me with a pretty great second book. The other two also had their moments, and I'd say the trilogy is worth picking up if you're already a King fan, but it should be nowhere near the top of your list if you're new to his works. While I think that it's among his weaker output as a whole, it's still nice to see an established author experiment with genres outside of his comfort zone so far into his career.
My individual reviews can be found here:
Mr. Mercedes (2014) · ★★
Finders Keepers (2015) · ★★★★
End of Watch (2016) · ★★★
romireads's review against another edition
5.0
End of Watch is the third and last book in the Bill Hodges trilogy and let me just tell you: it was the perfect ending. Because of the first two books you really got to know the three (four?) main characters and I really came to care for all three of them. I just didn’t want anything to happen to them! King managed to build a strong friendship between three people from three different generations, from different families and with different personalities. Although it doesn’t happen that often in real life, their friendship and care for each other felt very real to me. King really is the king of creating friendships in his stories – friendships that you just want to be a part of!
Now about the fourth main character: Brady Hartsfield. I absolutely loved him as the villain. Although he *spoiler for Mr. Mercedes* ends up in the hospital, in coma, in Mr. Mercedes, he still creeps through the second and final book. You just know that he’ll come back eventually, and so he does. In this third book King introduces a supernatural side, which already popped up its head at the end of Mr. Mercedes, so it doesn’t come as a surprise. It was still something to get used to, because the first two books were so real. But of course, as King does, he totally rocked it.
Series are not exactly my favourite thing to read, because it seems like most authors tend to throw in twenty new characters with every book for whom I have to open my heart. So, what I also liked about this trilogy was the small club of characters, which didn’t really get bigger over time. This way I could just enjoy each one, and their growth in personality, without getting used to new relations and personalities. This trilogy was just a whole and yes, I liked it very much!
Now I can finally read The Outsider without the ending of this trilogy being spoiled! Can’t wait!
Now about the fourth main character: Brady Hartsfield. I absolutely loved him as the villain. Although he *spoiler for Mr. Mercedes* ends up in the hospital, in coma, in Mr. Mercedes, he still creeps through the second and final book. You just know that he’ll come back eventually, and so he does. In this third book King introduces a supernatural side, which already popped up its head at the end of Mr. Mercedes, so it doesn’t come as a surprise. It was still something to get used to, because the first two books were so real. But of course, as King does, he totally rocked it.
Series are not exactly my favourite thing to read, because it seems like most authors tend to throw in twenty new characters with every book for whom I have to open my heart. So, what I also liked about this trilogy was the small club of characters, which didn’t really get bigger over time. This way I could just enjoy each one, and their growth in personality, without getting used to new relations and personalities. This trilogy was just a whole and yes, I liked it very much!
Now I can finally read The Outsider without the ending of this trilogy being spoiled! Can’t wait!
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