Author: Stephen King
Year: 2016
End of Watch is the third and final book of the Bill Hodges trilogy, the other two being Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers. Only the middle book is worth much to King fans; the other two are a little boring. Being one of the biggest King fans in the world (hyperbole), I feel comfortable making that statement, because I love everything he does, just some more than others. This series of books is a slight variation on the regular King theme, and perhaps that’s why it’s simply not as good as his regular stuff. Regardless, Hodges can be put to bed …until Holly returns…
After facing off against Mr. Mercedes and stopping him from blowing up a concert venue, and after becoming private investigators and stopping a madman from killing a family, the team is back on another case, this time related again to the Mercedes killer, who was captured but is only half dead. Bill & Holly try to puzzle out a series of suicides that all link back to their infamous catch who is comatose in the hospital. Or is he? It seems he’s developed a serious power, one that could put him back in the driver’s seat to mass murder.
Mr. Mercedes was interesting, but not super compelling, like a book that starts you off at the end of a story you didn’t read. It wasn’t sci-fi/horror/supernatural at all, which was fine, but I missed the regular King bit, I guess I simply don’t like his cop stories quite as much. Finders Keepers was better, King writes kids spectacularly, and the new lead was pretty awesome, with Hodges as a backup almost. And now End of Watch, which finally brings a creepy unnatural element, but a little too late. Also, it’s a book without much to say, like a short story rather than a novel. These three books should have been pulp novellas like King has been releasing, that would have worked better. Maybe they were for a broader, less-discerning audience, since they keep being made into TV shows, I don’t know. I’m just glad to be on to other things.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆