End of Watch by Stephen King

Note: You'll have to go a few pages back to read my review of Finders Keepers, book 2 of this trilogy.  I did not review Mr. Mercedes, book 1, on this blog.

I have been waiting pretty much all summer to read End of Watch, the final book in the Bill Hodges trilogy.  I pre-ordered it, and it sat on my living room ottoman awaiting the day I finished reviewing the summer Nutmeg contenders.  Weirdly, I had to read the "math" book first to satisfy my curiosity on a few data lit. topics first.  But I started reading this Friday afternoon and read non-stop except to sleep and eat (it being 96 degrees or so outside meant I was inside in the AC).

Stephen King does not disappoint (does he ever?).  Mr. Mercedes, aka Brady, is in a seemingly vegetative state in the mental ward of a hospital while Bill, Holly, and Jerome have gone on with their lives.  Jerome is building homes for Habitat for Humanity, Holly still cyber-sleuths, and it is clear Bill has some time of serious intestinal illness (it won't take much for the reader to figure out it's pancreatic cancer).

Secretly, Brady's brain injury seems to have triggered all kinds of telekinetic and telepathic powers, which is pretty scary considering how screwed up he is psychologically (you really do need to have read Mr. Mercedes to understand End of Watch; you could skip Finders Keepers and be fairly OK).  Brady has developed methods of taking over minds and bodies, including using out-of-date video game consoles to get into the minds of teenagers.  I won't spoil too much of Brady's twisted plot here, but he's out for revenge and it seems like he's going to get it!

King is never one to leave out societal commentary.  Sometimes it's subtle.  Sometimes it's blatant.  I do think there is a message here about having your nose buried in your phone (HELLO POKEMON?!?!).  There have been numerous studies/incidents of video game hypnotics, and King plays those up to bring home the message about being aware of one's surroundings AND getting off the tech for a while (granted, how many of you are reading this on a phone or tablet?).  In addition, King makes several references to getting help for depression and suicide prevention.  The number given to a character for help is the actual suicide prevention line.  #itgetsbetter

As I said above, I could not put this down.  Fans of King's horror with like the supernatural elements (Carrie, anyone?).  He also brings in the drama ala Joyland.  This will be added to the LMC collection sometime after the start of the school year!  

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*All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.