Description:

WINNER OF THE 2015 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL

1 New York Times bestseller! In a high-suspense race against time, three of the most unlikely heroes Stephen King has ever created try to stop a lone killer from blowing up thousands. “Mr. Mercedes is a rich, resonant, exceptionally readable accomplishment by a man who can write in whatever genre he chooses” (The Washington Post).

The stolen Mercedes emerges from the pre-dawn fog and plows through a crowd of men and women on line for a job fair in a distressed American city. Then the lone driver backs up, charges again, and speeds off, leaving eight dead and more wounded. The case goes unsolved and ex-cop Bill Hodges is out of hope when he gets a letter from a man who loved the feel of death under the Mercedes’s wheels…

Brady Hartsfield wants that rush again, but this time he’s going big, with an attack that would take down thousands—unless Hodges and two new unusual allies he picks up along the way can throw a wrench in Hartsfield’s diabolical plans. Stephen King takes off on a “nerve-shredding, pulse-pounding race against time” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) with this acclaimed #1 bestselling thriller.

From Booklist

King’s interest in crime fiction was evident from his work for the Hard Case Crime imprint—The Colorado Kid (2005) and Joyland (2013)—but this is the most straight-up mystery-thriller of his career. Retired Detective Bill Hodges is overweight, directionless, and toying with the idea of ending it all when he receives a jeering letter from the Mercedes Killer, who ran down 23 people with a stolen car but evaded Hodges’ capture. With the help of a 17-year-old neighbor and one victim’s sister (who, in proper gumshoe style, Hodges quickly beds), Hodges begins to play cat-and-mouse with the killer through a chat site called Under Debbie’s Blue Umbrella. Hodges’ POV alternates with that of the troubled murderer, a Norman Bates–like ice-cream-truck driver named Brady Hartfield. Both Hodges and Hartfield make mistakes, big ones, leaving this a compelling, small-scale slugfest that plays out in cheery suburban settings. This exists outside of the usual Kingverse (Pennywise the Clown is referred to as fictive); add that to the atypical present-tense prose, and this feels pretty darn fresh. Big, smashing climax, too. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: No need to rev the engine here; this baby will rocket itself out of libraries with a loud squeal of the tires. --Daniel Kraus

Review

The greatest popular storyteller of his generation returned to his finest form with this superb evocation of a psychopath who kills by driving an enormous Mercedes into hundreds of people queuing for the chance of a job. -- Geoffrey Wansell Daily Mail With John Updike dead and Philip Roth retired, Stephen King might just be America's greatest living novelist ... THE BEST THRILLER OF THE YEAR ... It is by far his best and it is recommended to crime buffs and King fans alike. Sunday Express When it comes to grabbing an audience by the throat and giving them no choice but to keep reading, King has no equal Guardian A thrilling cat and mouse game Mail on Sunday, Ireland Rrichly layered, technologically savvy story ... is uncomfortable, yet riveting, to read ... A creepy, ripped-from-the headlines climax, a showdown between good and evil that characterizes the best of King's work ... Excellent addition to King's growing list of mystery-thriller titles; there's even a small hint that the Mr. Mercedes show may go on - a scary thought indeed. L. A. Times A tightly plotted crime novel that retains that essential, instantly recognizable flavor that has distinguished King's fiction for more than 40 years ... On one level, MR MERCEDES is an expertly crafted example of the classic race-against-the-clock thriller. On another, it is a novel of depth and character enriched throughout by the grace notes King provides in such seemingly effortless profusion. It is a rich, resonant, exceptionally readable accomplishment by a man who can write in whatever genre he chooses. Washington Post