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A review by watercolorstain
The Bill Hodges Trilogy Boxed Set: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch by Stephen King
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) · ★★★