 |
| Published in 2014: A new twist for King |
Stephen King has a way of writing about the mundane and the
extraordinary, juxtaposing the two in a way that defies easy comparisons. In Mr. Mercedes, published in 2014, King enters
the field of the hard-boiled detective novel, while both bowing to the past and
updating the genre. In this book, King pits a retired, bored (almost to death)
detective and a psychopathic young man, which America seems to produce far too
often in recent times. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt the crazy cause that we
allow almost unlimited armaments to anyone who wants to buy some.)
It’s a cliché, but I can’t help saying that King is a master
storyteller. He draws in the reader by alternating between the twisted mind and
world of a killer and more normal folks. I don’t know how accurate his portrait
of a warped, young American male is compared to actual deviants of this type,
but it sure seems real. And he creates ordinary, mostly good people who work to
stop these evil deeds and restore some justice to the world. The main
character, Bill Hodges, the retired cop, is a good, if flawed guy, who, like many
of us, displays his best when engaged in doing what he knows best. And as in
many a good detective story, the persons helping the detective provide contrast
and aids to the hero-detective, in this case a bright young black man, a
slightly crazy forty-something woman, and an attractive divorcee. King brings
all of them to life, as persons you might meet in the course of day. Not
extraordinary, but capable, sometimes in surprising ways when called upon to
rise to a challenge.
King also provides a clean, well-connected plot and brisk
pacing that gains tension and moves to thriller status as the story progresses.
No wonder this guy sells millions and millions of books (not to mention the
screen versions that they spawn). In this novel King has created an outstanding
addition to the American version of the detective story, one that will
certainly support more appearances of Mr. Hodges and his friends.
