End of Watch

Starred review from April 25, 2016
After two straightforward crime thrillers, MWA Grand Master King (Finders Keepers) torques this third and final novel featuring retired detective Bill Hodges into his trademark terror territory. Hodges has long suspected that Brady Hartsfield, the brain-damaged mass murderer captured at the end of Mr. Mercedes, has been faking his catatonia, and his suspicions are reinforced by rumors circulating in Brady’s hospital ward (in what may be a Midwestern state) that he can move objects telekinetically. The truth is actually worse: with the help of secretly administered experimental drugs and skillfully hacked computer technology, Brady has found a way to project his personality into others and commandeer them as his “organic wheelchairs.” The stage is set for Brady to compel mass suicide among users of a handheld gaming device whose interface he’s hijacked, and to draw out Hodges to settle a personal score. King has dealt before with this novel’s different themes—endowment with dangerous supernatural powers, the zombifying effect of modern consumer electronics—but he finds fresh approaches to them and inventive ways to introduce them in the lives of his recurring cast of sympathetic characters, whose pains and triumphs the reader feels. King’s legion of fans will find this splice of mystery and horror a fitting finale to his Bill Hodges trilogy. Agent: Chuck Verrill, Darhansoff & Verrill Literary Agents.

In the fascinating final book in King's Bill Hodges Trilogy, narrator Will Patton leads listeners along a dark path to a satisfying conclusion. His sometimes breathless delivery is perfect for this story, among King's creepiest. Each audiobook in the series spins off one incident--the murder of job seekers mowed down by a Mercedes-Benz. Now, as the comatose Mercedes driver is somehow forcing the survivors to kill themselves, detectives Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney must overcome their skepticism and stop the killer. Patton uses a broken speech pattern to communicate Holly's speech problems. She struggles with monumental emotional and mental difficulties to keep her sanity in check, though a nervous breakdown always seems just a step away. Yet through her pain, she demonstrates a connection that can break the case. M.S. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine