Reviews with content warning for Incest - Mr. Mercedes

For some reason I had completely missed the fact that this is a thriller instead of the horror I usually read from Stephen King. Not that I don’t enjoy thrillers, but they can be a bit hit or miss, especially police thrillers like this one turned out to be. Luckily we also got the POV of the villain of the piece, which made all the difference. If we had only stuck with Hodges, I might not have enjoyed it as much. I did miss King’s usually horror writing a bit but I had a good time with this one and might continue the series later.

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malpal9's review against another edition

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4.75

My new fav from SK and possibly new fav book??? It also had legitimately the best opening of a novel I’ve ever read.
Can’t wait to read the rest of the installments I love these characters, esp hope Jerome makes an appearance <3 literally not a 5 bc of Jerome’s Feel Good voice 🥴

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reeltomi's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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aspenleaf23's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

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celina246's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

if you came here looking for a SK book because you're familiar with his work, you probably know what to expect. if you aren't - it's an excellent crime thriller, grabs you and doesn't let go til the end. but it's a veeery dark ride, full of gore and hatred and some racism and shock value (only thing stopping me from giving it a 5), so proceed with caution.

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wynplus1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

SUCH a fun read. I've loved Holly and Jerome since reading "Holly" earlier this year, so it was so fun to revisit these characters. I've also come to really love Bill and am excited to read more about him in the next two books! This novel was super fast-paced and had a REALLY good villain. Twists were built upon and didn't feel out of no where when they were revealed

(Janie's and Brady's mom's deaths)

Everything FELT very deserved and I had a good time with this book.

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idk_indigo's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

1.0

Okay, guys... hear me out but... I think the character Jerome might be black... I could be wrong though, please don't cancel me

Mr Mercedes was my first finished Stephen King novel, and I think maybe a combination of the very white author constantly using racial slurs and the very white narrator constantly saying them, just turned me off so much. I felt like Jerome could not be mentioned once in the entire book without reference to the fact that, yes, he's black. But wait, guys, it's okay that he's black cause he's applying to Harvard and Yale. Like, everyone who meets him points this out and it's constantly brought up as, like, part of his character and I genuinely don't think "Jerome" was ever alone in a sentence without "black." Like, girl...

Sort of similar to Hodges being fat, though there weren't so many comments about weight, but like I don't think I've heard so many fat jokes in a single book before. Like, Hodges fucking hates himself and cannot even talk to his girlfriend without being like "Woe is me, I'm so fat, how could you ever love me?" Or to his neighbor Jerome without a couple self-deprecating jokes about needing to lose 50 pounds. And like how old he is, too, but then he mentions being 62 at some point and I'm like, where is the old?? I felt sort of like Hodges was meant to be a grumpy old man character-turned heartfelt fatherly figure bc of the love from his community, which we all know I love <3 Maybe this trope doesn't work too well with the genre because I was like, girl shut up, you're ugly. And fat too, apparently. Don't care. I hated his character, he drove me nuts & was hella sexist and even openly admits to not taking women seriously because they're "crazy" and women. Then at the end he

fucking has a heart attack, probs because he's so fat

The villain/antagonist/perp (not too familiar with the genre, so what's the correct term here?) was I think influenced by like Ted Bundy and other serial killer types, complete with killer Freudian mommy issues. He was very unlikable, which I guess is one thing King did right bc I am sick and tired of these characters being "undercover misunderstood good guys."

Overall.... idk what to tell you. I'm glad I tried out a King novel. However, I believe I will stick to girly horror from now on.

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