Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Reviewing the Bill Hodges Trilogy by Stephen King

A Detective Tale

If you have read any of my earlier posts here on Review This Reviews, you know that I am both an avid reader and a fan of  the author Stephen King. He has published 2 out of 3 books in a series known as the Bill Hodges trilogy and that is what I want to review for you today. This series of three books is King's first hard-boiled detective story but I hope it is not his last because I am truly captivated with his ability to take us through a mysterious plot of an evil villain. 

Mr Mercedes book cover
The first book in the series or trilogy is Mr. Mercedes where we meet some of the characters that will be in all three books along with a pretty evil and twisted villain. Bill Hodges is our main protagonist. We first meet him after he has retired as a detective of a midwestern city's police force. He had worked on a case a few years ago where an unknown person drove a car into a crowd of people who were in line waiting for a job fair to open. The police began calling the perpetrator Mr. Mercedes because he was driving a Mercedes when he plowed into the crowd, killing 8 and injuring another 15 more people. Not solving the case, haunts Bill.

Jerome Robinson is another main character in the books. He starts out in the story as Bill Hodges' hired help for mowing the lawn. We see the two become friends as Jerome helps Hodges with some computer knowledge and later with the investigation. Jerome is in the first two books and I would assume will be in the unpublished third book.

The other part of the detective team is Holly Gibney. She is the niece to Olivia Trelawney (Mr. Mercedes stole her car to run the people down). I love Holly's character! She suffers from Asperger's Syndrome and seems lacking in social skills but not at all in deducing what is going on around her. Holly is also in the first two books and I would assume she will be in the third.

In this first book, we learn about the real Mr. Mercedes. In fact, we as readers know his identity before Bill, Jerome and Holly do. We learn all sorts of twisted things about this psycho. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, just suffice it to say Mr. King sure knows how to twist things around so that you can't seem to make yourself put the book down.

Finders Keepers

I just finished reading the second book of the trilogy a few days ago and I thought it was even better than the first one. We have a new villain and a new crime for Bill, Jerome and Holly to become involved with. Our psychotic perpetrator in this story is an obsessed fan of a famous author who doesn't like how he developed a character in one of his books. What this sick man does is almost inconceivable but believable in the way Mr. King tells the tale. What happens over the course of the next thirty years is yet another tale I couldn't put down until the end! Oh, and just so you know the story does keep the original crime of Mr. Mercedes very much in play throughout the second story. 

Right now the working title of the last book in the trilogy is End of Watch. It is scheduled to be released in June of 2016 and I can hardly wait to find out how Stephen King ends this story line. I am assuming that Bill, Jerome and Holly will be involved and maybe even Peter from the second book but I can't be sure. I can see where Mr. Mercedes story will probably continue, also. 

Pretty much at this stage, I am sitting here thinking, "Well done, Stephen King, well done!" Yet again he has taken me into an adventure that I can't stop thinking about. 

You can read both of the first books in hardcover, paperback or digitally by going to Amazon.com with link above or you can choose to shop at Barnes & Noble for the books. If you love a good detective story along with a thriller of a tale, you will really like this new set of books by Stephen King. 



Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


5 comments:

  1. I love the books that hold my attention way into the night! Of course, I am not so thrilled the next day as I am just sort of mindlessly moving through my work. However, these are still the types of books I prefer. That's what naps are for, right?!! lol It sounds like a great series and one several of us in my family would enjoy.

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  2. Ooo, a mystery series by King! How intriguing and what a coincidence to read this review today. I'm currently reading King's 11/22/1963 which my brother gave me for Christmas! :) Thanks for the introduction to Stephen King's mystery trilogy (I LOVE mysteries). I am definitely interested in reading these books.

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    1. Oh Miss Elf, I know you are going to love 11/22/196! It was the first King book that I ever read, I became a fan then.

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  3. I really need to buckle down and read this series. I love a good detective story with twists and turns, as you describe here, so you've piqued my interest for Mr. Mercedes and the series once again. This time, I need to follow through (so many books, so little time). Thanks for the great review, Bev!

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  4. These sound right up my alley. If only i had the time. It's probably better I wait until the third book is out so I can have a reading binge. By that time in my life I might actually have time for one.

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