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Bill Hodges Trilogy #3
End of Watch
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Best Mystery & Thriller (2016)The spectacular finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes (winner of the Edgar Award) and Finders Keepers—In End of Watch, the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” drives his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, they’ll be victims themselves.
In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.
Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibney—the woman who delivered the blow to Hartsfield’s head that put him on the brain injury ward. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill’s heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.
In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense. No one does it better than King.
In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.
Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibney—the woman who delivered the blow to Hartsfield’s head that put him on the brain injury ward. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill’s heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city.
In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense. No one does it better than King.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 2016
About the author
Stephen King
2,526 books848k followersStephen Edwin King was born the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his father left them when Stephen was two, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of them. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.
He met Tabitha Spruce in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University, where they both worked as students; they married in January of 1971. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.
Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many were gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.
In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching English at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 10,816 reviews
June 8, 2016
Is it possible that reading the final book of a series made me love the whole series even more? Yep. I gave the first book Mr. Mercedes four stars. I liked that book. Brady was the perfect evil character against Hodges good guy. Then we had Finders Keepers, which I 3 starred. I liked it but it just wasn't going on my favorites list. Now we have this grand finale. End of Watch.
You are getting all five stars.
Former Detective Hodges in now partners with Holly in a firm called "Finders Keepers"..they get a call from Hodges old buddy Pete about a pair of deaths that might have something to do with the Mercedes killer Brady Hartsfield in a way and he would like their insight at the crime scene. A badly injured woman from that day is still alive but paralyzed, she lives with her elderly mom and even though they seemed happy-the mother has killed the woman and committed suicide.
Holly finds a hand held device there at the scene that doesn't fit the rest of the scene. Called the Zappit it holds older versions of games that provide oddly addicting.
I'm leaving a bunch out of this review but I don't want to spoil anything for this book. You get back with some of my favorite characters; Hodges, Holly, Jerome and yes.. even Brady Hartsfield. I love to hate that fucker.
I will say this book takes the thriller want-to- be that the first books were and goes more typical Stephen King.
And it's all good.
I knew that the book was probably going to head off in a way that I didn't want it too and Stephen King didn't let me win on that one. But it did cause me to re-evaluate how I felt about the other books. But damn...
There will be better reviews. There will be reviews that hate the book (They are wrong and I am right)
PS.
I had to wait for him to finish but I knew his review was going here. See Ed's review here. My buddy Ed and I are Stephen King groupies. We have no shame. When he has a new book coming out..you will find the two of us reading it that day. Don't try and interrupt us either. We will cut a bitch.
Ed and I had planned on going and seeing in the flesh the Master King..but alas, life didn't work out that way. I'm still disappointed because I would have met two of my all time favorite people ever. Ed Lorn and Stephen King.
I'm done brown nosing now...but honestly, Ed's King reviews are beyond approach. Go check them out.
You are getting all five stars.
Former Detective Hodges in now partners with Holly in a firm called "Finders Keepers"..they get a call from Hodges old buddy Pete about a pair of deaths that might have something to do with the Mercedes killer Brady Hartsfield in a way and he would like their insight at the crime scene. A badly injured woman from that day is still alive but paralyzed, she lives with her elderly mom and even though they seemed happy-the mother has killed the woman and committed suicide.
Holly finds a hand held device there at the scene that doesn't fit the rest of the scene. Called the Zappit it holds older versions of games that provide oddly addicting.
I'm leaving a bunch out of this review but I don't want to spoil anything for this book. You get back with some of my favorite characters; Hodges, Holly, Jerome and yes.. even Brady Hartsfield. I love to hate that fucker.
I will say this book takes the thriller want-to- be that the first books were and goes more typical Stephen King.
And it's all good.
I knew that the book was probably going to head off in a way that I didn't want it too and Stephen King didn't let me win on that one. But it did cause me to re-evaluate how I felt about the other books. But damn...
There will be better reviews. There will be reviews that hate the book (They are wrong and I am right)
PS.
I had to wait for him to finish but I knew his review was going here. See Ed's review here. My buddy Ed and I are Stephen King groupies. We have no shame. When he has a new book coming out..you will find the two of us reading it that day. Don't try and interrupt us either. We will cut a bitch.
Ed and I had planned on going and seeing in the flesh the Master King..but alas, life didn't work out that way. I'm still disappointed because I would have met two of my all time favorite people ever. Ed Lorn and Stephen King.
I'm done brown nosing now...but honestly, Ed's King reviews are beyond approach. Go check them out.
September 23, 2023
I am so in love with the Bill Hodges Trilogy. Truly an all-time favorite series for me.
My whole heart swells just thinking about it. I have a huge crush on Bill Hodges and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
He was real to me and I was in love. I felt what he felt. I wanted him to succeed. I was on his side the whole way through.
I also really enjoyed Holly. She added a lot for me, even though I know overall she can be a bit of a divisive character.
The plot of this, the final novel in the trilogy, was super interesting and bizarre.
It built up to a satisfying conclusion. I will most definitely be rereading the entire series again, start to finish, some day.
I don't think it is any secret that I love Stephen King and his books. This trilogy is so unlike his other works, but I loved it all the same!
((continues swooning til the end of time))
My whole heart swells just thinking about it. I have a huge crush on Bill Hodges and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
He was real to me and I was in love. I felt what he felt. I wanted him to succeed. I was on his side the whole way through.
I also really enjoyed Holly. She added a lot for me, even though I know overall she can be a bit of a divisive character.
The plot of this, the final novel in the trilogy, was super interesting and bizarre.
It built up to a satisfying conclusion. I will most definitely be rereading the entire series again, start to finish, some day.
I don't think it is any secret that I love Stephen King and his books. This trilogy is so unlike his other works, but I loved it all the same!
((continues swooning til the end of time))
July 9, 2018
If I look at it as the glass being half-full then this is the best of the books King has done with the Bill Hodges character. On the other hand it’s still pretty much a shoulder shrug of a three star read which tells you how little I thought of this trilogy so I’m pretty sure that cup is half-empty after all.
Uncle Stevie tried his hand at doing a straight up crime thriller with Mr. Mercedes, but I found it to be a painful slog of poor plotting, uneven pacing, and a main character who came across as a reckless and irresponsible jackass. Finders Keepers had a pretty decent concept, but again it’s biggest flaw revolved around Hodges himself because he was almost completely irrelevant to the story which again highlighted that King struggles with mystery novels.
Now here in the third book King has thrown in the towel on trying to write a straight-up action thriller/ detective story and gone back to his roots with a villain who has psychic and telekinetic abilities. By introducing spooky powers King doesn’t have to rely on trying to put together a logical chain of events that depend on characters reasonably deducing things or behaving rationally. Instead, he can have them following hunches and feelings, and the supernatural element keeps him from having to twist the plot into pretzels to make it all work. Like a lot of King novels most of the characters also seem to have an uncanny knack for guessing at what's happening elsewhere which seems more acceptable with all the bizarre stuff going on.
As a Stephen King horror story by itself End of Watch would probably rank somewhere in the middle of his works. The problem is that it builds on the far weaker Mr. Mercedes as a foundation. Finders Keepers can be skipped, but it’s telling that you can bypass one-third of the story and still follow the major narrative. So what you end up with is a trilogy that started as a very flawed crime thriller, had a second book with zero impact on the main story, and then goes paranormal in the third act with only some minor hints dropped in the previous book that it’s coming.
The only reason to like these three books being linked together is if King managed to make you love the main character, Bill Hodges, and his two assistants/friends. I didn’t. I mean, I really didn’t. When he wasn’t hiding critical evidence and inspiring a maniac to seek new levels of carnage Hodges came across as this bland, grandfatherly figure. Mostly he exists to ask tech questions of his younger colleagues who seem to look up to him for some reason. I never really buy him as a tough ex-cop, and he sure as hell isn’t a brilliant detective which is shown yet again here when the major breakthrough in this one comes from Hodges asking a very basic question that he failed to do in an earlier interview. Frankly, it’s a bad sign that my first reaction
King tries desperately to make the reader care about Hodges and his friends, but I’m left thinking that it would have been better for Uncle Stevie to just do this basic story as one book which could have been easily accomplished. Here's how. Finders Keepers also could have been a better stand-alone book without trying to cram it into this narrative.
One other note of complaint: I doubt that King accepts product placement fees for his books, but I was really starting to wonder if MacDonald’s hadn’t paid him off when the first several pages feature an adult EMT completely losing his shit over the prospect of going through the drive-thru. This guy, who a few pages later will be portrayed as a clear headed hero in a crisis, has this gem of a line when he sees the yellow arcs of a MacDonald’s sign: ”The Golden Tits of America!”
Classy. I guess I wouldn't turn down CPR from the guy if I had a heart attack, but I can only hope he's not too busy making boob jokes and doesn't have a hunk of half-chewed Egg McMuffin in his mouth if he gives me mouth-to-mouth.
Overall, I found all three books underwhelming. It really should have been one or two good Stephen King novels vs. two-thirds of a very flawed crime trilogy that Uncle Stevie tried to salvage by going weird in the last one.
Uncle Stevie tried his hand at doing a straight up crime thriller with Mr. Mercedes, but I found it to be a painful slog of poor plotting, uneven pacing, and a main character who came across as a reckless and irresponsible jackass. Finders Keepers had a pretty decent concept, but again it’s biggest flaw revolved around Hodges himself because he was almost completely irrelevant to the story which again highlighted that King struggles with mystery novels.
Now here in the third book King has thrown in the towel on trying to write a straight-up action thriller/ detective story and gone back to his roots with a villain who has psychic and telekinetic abilities. By introducing spooky powers King doesn’t have to rely on trying to put together a logical chain of events that depend on characters reasonably deducing things or behaving rationally. Instead, he can have them following hunches and feelings, and the supernatural element keeps him from having to twist the plot into pretzels to make it all work. Like a lot of King novels most of the characters also seem to have an uncanny knack for guessing at what's happening elsewhere which seems more acceptable with all the bizarre stuff going on.
As a Stephen King horror story by itself End of Watch would probably rank somewhere in the middle of his works. The problem is that it builds on the far weaker Mr. Mercedes as a foundation. Finders Keepers can be skipped, but it’s telling that you can bypass one-third of the story and still follow the major narrative. So what you end up with is a trilogy that started as a very flawed crime thriller, had a second book with zero impact on the main story, and then goes paranormal in the third act with only some minor hints dropped in the previous book that it’s coming.
The only reason to like these three books being linked together is if King managed to make you love the main character, Bill Hodges, and his two assistants/friends. I didn’t. I mean, I really didn’t. When he wasn’t hiding critical evidence and inspiring a maniac to seek new levels of carnage Hodges came across as this bland, grandfatherly figure. Mostly he exists to ask tech questions of his younger colleagues who seem to look up to him for some reason. I never really buy him as a tough ex-cop, and he sure as hell isn’t a brilliant detective which is shown yet again here when the major breakthrough in this one comes from Hodges asking a very basic question that he failed to do in an earlier interview. Frankly, it’s a bad sign that my first reaction
King tries desperately to make the reader care about Hodges and his friends, but I’m left thinking that it would have been better for Uncle Stevie to just do this basic story as one book which could have been easily accomplished. Here's how. Finders Keepers also could have been a better stand-alone book without trying to cram it into this narrative.
One other note of complaint: I doubt that King accepts product placement fees for his books, but I was really starting to wonder if MacDonald’s hadn’t paid him off when the first several pages feature an adult EMT completely losing his shit over the prospect of going through the drive-thru. This guy, who a few pages later will be portrayed as a clear headed hero in a crisis, has this gem of a line when he sees the yellow arcs of a MacDonald’s sign: ”The Golden Tits of America!”
Classy. I guess I wouldn't turn down CPR from the guy if I had a heart attack, but I can only hope he's not too busy making boob jokes and doesn't have a hunk of half-chewed Egg McMuffin in his mouth if he gives me mouth-to-mouth.
Overall, I found all three books underwhelming. It really should have been one or two good Stephen King novels vs. two-thirds of a very flawed crime trilogy that Uncle Stevie tried to salvage by going weird in the last one.
October 5, 2017
From bed on my iPhone at 3:30am ....
It’s OVER .... and I’m a little sad!!! I’m going to miss Bill Hodges - and Holly - and Jerome...and Pete... even pretty gray eyes, Izzy.
“FINDING KEEPERS” was my VERY FAVORITE......the STRONGEST 5 stars - ( for me) ...
But this last one had an interesting ZAPPING-game mystery plot - with a very heartfelt underline love shadow following every page. Business is as usual with THE KING.... and NOT ALWAYS!!
Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers ‘could’ possibly be read as stand alone books ...but End of Watch wouldn’t make any sense unless you read ‘both’ the other two books.
I liked the choices Stephen King made with End of Watch, ......
Parts were killer satisfying and parts were just killer sad .... BECAUSE I MISS THEM!!!
If anyone knows or hears of TV mini series or movie .... please let me know!!!
It’s OVER .... and I’m a little sad!!! I’m going to miss Bill Hodges - and Holly - and Jerome...and Pete... even pretty gray eyes, Izzy.
“FINDING KEEPERS” was my VERY FAVORITE......the STRONGEST 5 stars - ( for me) ...
But this last one had an interesting ZAPPING-game mystery plot - with a very heartfelt underline love shadow following every page. Business is as usual with THE KING.... and NOT ALWAYS!!
Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers ‘could’ possibly be read as stand alone books ...but End of Watch wouldn’t make any sense unless you read ‘both’ the other two books.
I liked the choices Stephen King made with End of Watch, ......
Parts were killer satisfying and parts were just killer sad .... BECAUSE I MISS THEM!!!
If anyone knows or hears of TV mini series or movie .... please let me know!!!
March 9, 2021
Bill Hodges book No. 3: Bill Hodges is getting on, and he has been having pains and not sleeping, he knows his time is coming, the end of his watch. Holly is still working for Finders Keepers, but now as a full partner. Jerome is helping build houses with a charity in Arizona. Meanwhile one of the survivors of Mr Mercedes original rampage commits suicide, and then a few days later another one commits suicide!
Last time we we saw Mr Mercedes he was a semi catatonic Zombie right? Surely this is not his doing? With this being his modus operandi, it has to be him, but how's he doing it? Finders Keepers are on the case, as the hospital, the police and everyone else can't see how Mr Mercedes involved.
One of things I really liked about this series was that it wasn't very Stephen King-ish, and bam... this one's a paranormal thriller, although use of tech by the antagonist is pretty cool. Not as compelling as the previous two volumes, but still a fitting end to the trilogy, and on the very bright side, we'll always have Holly Tibney. 8 out of 12.
Last time we we saw Mr Mercedes he was a semi catatonic Zombie right? Surely this is not his doing? With this being his modus operandi, it has to be him, but how's he doing it? Finders Keepers are on the case, as the hospital, the police and everyone else can't see how Mr Mercedes involved.
One of things I really liked about this series was that it wasn't very Stephen King-ish, and bam... this one's a paranormal thriller, although use of tech by the antagonist is pretty cool. Not as compelling as the previous two volumes, but still a fitting end to the trilogy, and on the very bright side, we'll always have Holly Tibney. 8 out of 12.
June 25, 2016
END. OF. WATCH. is unfortunately the end of the Bill Hodges trilogy. I will miss Detective Kermit William Hodges, (his personal story) and his computer-wiz brainy partner Holly Gibney, but not what's in Room 217 of the Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic at Kiner Memorial.
BOOK 3 begins with a flashback of the horrendous Mercedes rundown of innocents standing in line at a job fair (no spoiler here) and flows right into retired Detective Hodges obsession with the creepy evil maniac, Brady Wilson Hartsfield who he periodically still visits and verbally torments knowing full well he is not completely gone.
END. OF. WATCH. takes the reader from mystery to thriller and straight into the eerie Stephen King world of supernatural forces that will make you wary of little pink swimming fishes and remind you you are reading the master of horror.
SK saved the best for last!
September 1, 2023
“End of Watch” by Stephen King is the conclusion to the famous Bill Hodges Trilogy and truly one of my all-time favorite moments in reading. You see, I haven’t read trilogies in decades and after I finally conquered the Gwendy’s Button Box Trilogy in July, it just made sense to jump into this one, and I’m so glad I did.
Before I begin my review, here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading this novel…
- Suicide
- Cancer
- Incest
- Racism
- Molestation
- Violence against dogs
- Drugs
If any of these trigger you, please don’t read this novel. Moving along, King continues to do what he does best as this entire trilogy revolves around one of the most vile villains he’s ever created in Brady Hartsfield. I have never despised a character as much as Brady and I loved how this novel once again connected with the events of “Mr. Mercedes” to bring everything full circle.
Everything is connected from yet another unique perspective and one thing I enjoyed the most in “End of Watch” is how we get right to Bill Hodges nice and early on. I still greatly enjoyed “Finders Keepers” but I love Hodges, Jerome, and of course, Holly. So to see them right off the bat was great, especially since this is another story within a story within a story yet again.
Just like the other two novels, King does this brilliantly where everything makes sense, nothing is confusing, and once things start to unravel, it is unbelievably good. You know that feeling when everything falls into place and you’re there, just completely blown away and simply in awe? That was me reading “End of Watch” because I could not believe where King took this trilogy and especially what he did with Brady in this one.
Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you but King took this evil character to a whole other level that was so incredibly done, I was making all sorts of faces while reading. It was so creative, insane, and disturbing, it just confirmed what I’ve been saying for decades now that King is the greatest storyteller. Ever. Constant reader here for over two decades and that has never changed. The absolute best.
This was another genuine page-turner and I could not put this down at all as I read deep into the night. My goal is to finish this entire Bill Hodges Trilogy, “The Outsider”, and “If It Bleeds” before “Holly” comes out on 9/5/23. I’m definitely going to finish all these wonderful novels so I’m fully caught up for “Holly” when it’s published. I loved Holly in this novel as she was her usual awesome self in “End of Watch” as her character continues to leave an imprint on me.
I loved all the plot twists and turns in this novel and as always, King rocks with his references. He literally rocks since he was able to mention Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Marshawn Lynch, and even Judas Priest. Major points in my book since I’m a huge metalhead and love my sports (BEAST MODE!).
King as always brought the horror in this novel with all sorts of horrific and creepy situations leading up to an insanely climactic build-up to the end. I was super anxious to see what would ultimately transpire and as always, King did not disappoint. That ending… WOW! It was perfect and one I will always remember.
I give “End of Watch” by Stephen King a 5/5 and what a prominent way to end the Bill Hodges Trilogy. It was everything I could ask for and then some. It just checked all the boxes and left me beyond satisfied. Overall, this was one hell of a trilogy I will never, ever forget. Incredible characters, situations, events, horror, gore, plot twists, and sheer violence all led to an epic conclusion. One that has left me in awe by such a powerhouse of a trilogy
Before I let you go, there is a heavy amount of suicide talk and actual suicides that take place in “End of Watch” which touches on a very real subject across the globe. If you ever, ever feel suicidal, please talk to someone. Ask for help. Hell, you can even come to me and I’ll find help for you. Just please, get help. I know my horror book reviews are read all over the world but I know at least here in the United States, you can call or text “988” for free 24/7 professional help from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you live outside the US, please Google “International Association for Suicide Prevention” and you can also find free professional help, resources, and so much more on the official IASP website no matter where you live.
In the immortal words of King: “Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do.”
Before I begin my review, here are all the trigger warnings I found while reading this novel…
- Suicide
- Cancer
- Incest
- Racism
- Molestation
- Violence against dogs
- Drugs
If any of these trigger you, please don’t read this novel. Moving along, King continues to do what he does best as this entire trilogy revolves around one of the most vile villains he’s ever created in Brady Hartsfield. I have never despised a character as much as Brady and I loved how this novel once again connected with the events of “Mr. Mercedes” to bring everything full circle.
Everything is connected from yet another unique perspective and one thing I enjoyed the most in “End of Watch” is how we get right to Bill Hodges nice and early on. I still greatly enjoyed “Finders Keepers” but I love Hodges, Jerome, and of course, Holly. So to see them right off the bat was great, especially since this is another story within a story within a story yet again.
Just like the other two novels, King does this brilliantly where everything makes sense, nothing is confusing, and once things start to unravel, it is unbelievably good. You know that feeling when everything falls into place and you’re there, just completely blown away and simply in awe? That was me reading “End of Watch” because I could not believe where King took this trilogy and especially what he did with Brady in this one.
Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you but King took this evil character to a whole other level that was so incredibly done, I was making all sorts of faces while reading. It was so creative, insane, and disturbing, it just confirmed what I’ve been saying for decades now that King is the greatest storyteller. Ever. Constant reader here for over two decades and that has never changed. The absolute best.
This was another genuine page-turner and I could not put this down at all as I read deep into the night. My goal is to finish this entire Bill Hodges Trilogy, “The Outsider”, and “If It Bleeds” before “Holly” comes out on 9/5/23. I’m definitely going to finish all these wonderful novels so I’m fully caught up for “Holly” when it’s published. I loved Holly in this novel as she was her usual awesome self in “End of Watch” as her character continues to leave an imprint on me.
I loved all the plot twists and turns in this novel and as always, King rocks with his references. He literally rocks since he was able to mention Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Marshawn Lynch, and even Judas Priest. Major points in my book since I’m a huge metalhead and love my sports (BEAST MODE!).
King as always brought the horror in this novel with all sorts of horrific and creepy situations leading up to an insanely climactic build-up to the end. I was super anxious to see what would ultimately transpire and as always, King did not disappoint. That ending… WOW! It was perfect and one I will always remember.
I give “End of Watch” by Stephen King a 5/5 and what a prominent way to end the Bill Hodges Trilogy. It was everything I could ask for and then some. It just checked all the boxes and left me beyond satisfied. Overall, this was one hell of a trilogy I will never, ever forget. Incredible characters, situations, events, horror, gore, plot twists, and sheer violence all led to an epic conclusion. One that has left me in awe by such a powerhouse of a trilogy
Before I let you go, there is a heavy amount of suicide talk and actual suicides that take place in “End of Watch” which touches on a very real subject across the globe. If you ever, ever feel suicidal, please talk to someone. Ask for help. Hell, you can even come to me and I’ll find help for you. Just please, get help. I know my horror book reviews are read all over the world but I know at least here in the United States, you can call or text “988” for free 24/7 professional help from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. If you live outside the US, please Google “International Association for Suicide Prevention” and you can also find free professional help, resources, and so much more on the official IASP website no matter where you live.
In the immortal words of King: “Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do.”
September 8, 2023
Oh my "frak", this book left me with a lump in my throat. It finishes off the Bill Hodges trilogy and left me reeling. This book was fantastic bringing that element of fantasy that we love from King's books. Holly is definitely my favorite character and she is absolutely delightful.
Looking forward to Holly, King's newest book.
Looking forward to Holly, King's newest book.
June 6, 2018
"Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do."
Retired Detective Bill Hodges and his sidekick Holly find themselves investigating a recent spree of suicides. But all of the dead are connected by a common thread: each of them had been in previous contact with Brady Hartsfield, the notorious Mercedes Killer.
Reviewing this book brings up an internal debate about how one should rate a book using the standard star system. If a book is given a 5 star rating by myself, usually it will mean that I LOVED it, and the book was particularly special or unique, or just offered something different. But I do not think you can directly compare 5 star books to each other. For example, I gave Charlie the Choo Choo 5 stars, because it was such a cool, unique idea and I couldn't fault it, for what IT was, but by no means is Charlie the Choo in the same league as Pet Sematary or 11/22/63 (both of which I also gave 5 stars). You get me? I think the genre, or even what the book is intending to be, also comes into play.
Another factor for me, is how it makes me FEEL. If a book can rip my heart out and stomp all over it, and if it does so in such an effective way, then yes, that book will be 5 stars for me. I'm admittedly quite an emotional person, I'll cry at the drop of a hat, but it takes something special for me to produce literal tears when reading a book. And this is the reason why Stephen King is my favourite author - on numerous occasions he has been able to unlock that part of my heart and trigger the terrifying sight that is me ugly crying. End of Watch was one of those books. I'll discuss why at the end of this review, as I need to get a bit spoilery in order to do so (but I WILL have a spoiler warning before this final part).
End of Watch was the most KING book of the trilogy. He's a pro when it comes to crossing genres and throwing them all together into one big pot. The most obvious example of this is the Dark Tower series. It is very hard to simply categorise a lot of King books, as he likes to throw in a bit of horror with a bit of fantasy, adding in a dash of family drama, perhaps some romance too? Mr Mercedes and Finders Keepers were almost like King's take on a detective/crime series, it had good story telling, with great character building (typical King, eh?) but then End of Watch comes and King is unable to unleash all the traits that we know and love him for. He goes back to his roots! It becomes UNPREDICTABLE - I thought the previous two books in the series felt a bit more generic and formulaic. So I really welcomed this shift in genre!
I had found Holly a tad irritating at the beginning of the trilogy and really wasn't understanding why most people seemed to be a part of her fan club, but by the end I was a huge Holly fan. She had really grown on me, and her relationship with Hodges, as well as Jerome, was just so heartwarming. The father/daughter dynamic between Hodges and Holly felt very natural and was a bit of an emotional trigger for me. I really enjoyed the story itself in this one too, some bits were possibly a bit drawn out, I didn't need all the technical details.
And that ending. Oh boy. King gets a lot of flack for his endings - which I don't think is always deserved - but this one was absolutely perfect. I was so fucking nervous reading those last 50 pages or so, I really had no clue what twists and turns King was going to pull on me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Hodges trilogy. I don't necessarily think it's his strongest work, but it has a lot of great themes in there, and some unforgettable characters. It's just so nice to see King take risks and do something different so late in his career. End of Watch gets 5 stars from me!
Now for the SPOILERY part.
LOOK AWAY if you haven't finished the trilogy…
Hodges' death was just one of the most soul-crushing experiences I've ever had reading a book. We knew it was coming from quite early on in the final book, but it really didn't lessen the blow. And that's true in real life as well unfortunately. I was quite literally bawling my eyes out over those final pages. Then I set the book down, got myself together… started crying again minutes later. And then again. King manages to build these characters that we can really connect with and stay with you long after you close the book. And if King can build a story and introduce me to characters that have that much of an impact on me, then that book is getting a 5 star rating (even if it wasn't perfect for me). Bill Hodges has cemented his place in my top King characters <3
Retired Detective Bill Hodges and his sidekick Holly find themselves investigating a recent spree of suicides. But all of the dead are connected by a common thread: each of them had been in previous contact with Brady Hartsfield, the notorious Mercedes Killer.
Reviewing this book brings up an internal debate about how one should rate a book using the standard star system. If a book is given a 5 star rating by myself, usually it will mean that I LOVED it, and the book was particularly special or unique, or just offered something different. But I do not think you can directly compare 5 star books to each other. For example, I gave Charlie the Choo Choo 5 stars, because it was such a cool, unique idea and I couldn't fault it, for what IT was, but by no means is Charlie the Choo in the same league as Pet Sematary or 11/22/63 (both of which I also gave 5 stars). You get me? I think the genre, or even what the book is intending to be, also comes into play.
Another factor for me, is how it makes me FEEL. If a book can rip my heart out and stomp all over it, and if it does so in such an effective way, then yes, that book will be 5 stars for me. I'm admittedly quite an emotional person, I'll cry at the drop of a hat, but it takes something special for me to produce literal tears when reading a book. And this is the reason why Stephen King is my favourite author - on numerous occasions he has been able to unlock that part of my heart and trigger the terrifying sight that is me ugly crying. End of Watch was one of those books. I'll discuss why at the end of this review, as I need to get a bit spoilery in order to do so (but I WILL have a spoiler warning before this final part).
End of Watch was the most KING book of the trilogy. He's a pro when it comes to crossing genres and throwing them all together into one big pot. The most obvious example of this is the Dark Tower series. It is very hard to simply categorise a lot of King books, as he likes to throw in a bit of horror with a bit of fantasy, adding in a dash of family drama, perhaps some romance too? Mr Mercedes and Finders Keepers were almost like King's take on a detective/crime series, it had good story telling, with great character building (typical King, eh?) but then End of Watch comes and King is unable to unleash all the traits that we know and love him for. He goes back to his roots! It becomes UNPREDICTABLE - I thought the previous two books in the series felt a bit more generic and formulaic. So I really welcomed this shift in genre!
I had found Holly a tad irritating at the beginning of the trilogy and really wasn't understanding why most people seemed to be a part of her fan club, but by the end I was a huge Holly fan. She had really grown on me, and her relationship with Hodges, as well as Jerome, was just so heartwarming. The father/daughter dynamic between Hodges and Holly felt very natural and was a bit of an emotional trigger for me. I really enjoyed the story itself in this one too, some bits were possibly a bit drawn out, I didn't need all the technical details.
And that ending. Oh boy. King gets a lot of flack for his endings - which I don't think is always deserved - but this one was absolutely perfect. I was so fucking nervous reading those last 50 pages or so, I really had no clue what twists and turns King was going to pull on me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Hodges trilogy. I don't necessarily think it's his strongest work, but it has a lot of great themes in there, and some unforgettable characters. It's just so nice to see King take risks and do something different so late in his career. End of Watch gets 5 stars from me!
Now for the SPOILERY part.
LOOK AWAY if you haven't finished the trilogy…
Hodges' death was just one of the most soul-crushing experiences I've ever had reading a book. We knew it was coming from quite early on in the final book, but it really didn't lessen the blow. And that's true in real life as well unfortunately. I was quite literally bawling my eyes out over those final pages. Then I set the book down, got myself together… started crying again minutes later. And then again. King manages to build these characters that we can really connect with and stay with you long after you close the book. And if King can build a story and introduce me to characters that have that much of an impact on me, then that book is getting a 5 star rating (even if it wasn't perfect for me). Bill Hodges has cemented his place in my top King characters <3
October 7, 2022
“By the time Rob arrived in the [City Center] parking lot, the panic was abating. Some people were leaving at a walk; others were trying to help those who had been struck by the gray car; a few, the assholes present in every crowd, were snapping photos or making movies with their phones. Hoping to go viral on YouTube, Rob assumed. Chrome posts with yellow DO NOT CROSS tape trailing from them lay on the pavement…The police car that had passed them was parked close to the building, near a sleeping bag with a slim white hand protruding. A man lay sprawled crossways on top of the bag, which was in the center of a spreading bloodpuddle. The cop motioned the ambo forward, his beckoning arm seeming to stutter in the swinging glare of the lightbar atop his cruiser…”
- Stephen King, End of Watch
End of Watch, the concluding volume of Stephen King’s so-called Bill Hodges Trilogy, begins at the same place as volumes one and two: the City Center parking lot. There, a psychotic young man in a gray Mercedes has intentionally plowed his vehicle into a crowd of job seekers waiting in line. The massacre, portrayed from different perspectives in Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, provides the bloody lodestar for these three books, the reverberations from the act always in the background, never quite dissipating.
King’s decision to keep returning to the scene of this crime is surprisingly effective. In Mr. Mercedes, the opening vehicular homicides seemed an especially-horrific way to jumpstart an otherwise formulaic game of cat-and-mouse between a deranged killer and a retired detective. By revisiting City Center from different angles, though, he turns the murderous event (which has been mimicked by real-life events subsequent to the first book) from a plot-instigator into something deeper, a psychic wound felt by all of King’s characters.
Opening End of Watch with one last City Center scene was a good idea.
It is, unfortunately, the last good idea King had in writing this book. As soon as the opening scene is over, the novel falls off a cliff. This is a breaking news, footage at eleven, trail derailment.
(Before I go any further, I should mention that there are minor spoilers ahead, both for this book and the two that preceded it).
I knew I was in for a rough ride almost immediately, as we are reintroduced to Ex-Detective Bill Hodges as soon as the prologue is over. This is a matter of perspective, of course, but I find (and have found) Hodges to be a tiresome character. A saggy, uninteresting, uninspired focal point, a collection of clichés, bad choices, and periodic bursts of prophetic genius. His whole shtick is that he’s old school. You know he’s old school because King has informed us of this fact in myriad ways, in every book.
The characters around him are not much better. Holly Gibney is back again as Hodges’ assistant. She has a mild mental illness and a fondness for old movies, all the better so that she can indulge in one of King’s more irritating tics: spewing a gush of tired pop cultural references. Jerome, the third member of this traveling circus is mostly redundant (his skills are the exact same as Holly’s, which leads me to wonder how much King actually planned this out in advance). The rest of the cast, is utterly forgettable. I’m forgetting them as I type.
The villain of the piece is an old friend from Mr. Mercedes. His return is no surprise, as King brought up the possibility at the end of Mr. Mercedes, and spelled it out in big block letters throughout Finders Keepers. Essentially, we have a Michael Meyers situation on our hands (after a fashion), except that Kiner Memorial Hospital manages to make Smith’s Grove Sanitarium appear a tip-top facility.
(Picking out the plot holes in this series is as difficult as counting ants swarming over a fallen scoop of ice cream. For me, one of the huge ones is the notion that an accused murderer and suspected terrorist, under indictment for a bevy of crimes, would be housed in the city’s top hospital, rather than a secure regional center; that not only would he be housed in the city’s top hospital, but that he would not be under guard; and that not only would he not be under guard, there would not be a single surveillance camera on him).
Hodges versus his old nemesis does not provide a lot of grist for the mill. Accordingly, there is a lot of flashbacking and over-explanations to pad out the story (End of Watch is like a parody of a Bond villain, wherein every single aspect of the baddie's plan is thoroughly explained). This creates an odd sensation, as a totally nonsensical plot is over-explicated in mind-numbingly literal fashion.
Part of my dislike of this novel, bordering on disgust, is that I feel like I was tricked. And not in a good way.
This series began as a grounded, real life police procedural. It was always more macabre than hardboiled, and we can quibble about the verisimilitude, but the first two books stuck to the basic realities of life here on earth. But then, without warning, King changed the rules. Suddenly, we’re in a world of Jedi mind tricks, psychic projection, and warging. Throughout the series, I’ve complained about all the times when common sense (and the law) cried out for Hodges to call the police. Finally, there is a good reason for his reticence. They wouldn’t believe him. I would not blame them. There is nothing believable about the direction this storyline takes. Probably the most unbelievable thing at all is how quickly Hodges and Holly and Jerome are able to dispense with their accumulated wisdom and experience and accept that they have been transported to the movie Fallen. (The 1998 film, with Denzel).
In the first two entries, King seemed to struggle with plot. The pieces fit into place with precision, but that precision was achieved through incredible coincidences, absurdly bad decisions by some characters, and amazingly prescient decisions by others. King solves the problem by throwing worry out the window and going full preposterous.
At this point, you are probably reaching for a brick, which you intend to throw through my window. And on that brick, will be a message. That message, I have no doubt, will say: This is a Stephen King novel. What the hell did you expect?
Yeah, I get it. It’s Stephen King. The master of supernatural horror. He wrote It and The Shining and The Tommyknockers. Here’s the difference, though. When I pick up a book like Under the Dome, I know the genre going in. I know that I have to accept the conceit of an impermeable dome enclosing a city. That is the “world” in which the novel exists. The world of the Bill Hodges Trilogy, up until End of Watch, has not been a place where the supernatural coexists with the natural. Furthermore, while King teased the return of the third book’s villain, he did not prepare me for the eventual path he was going to take.
(There is a slight chance that better warning might have heightened my enjoyment. For example, I knew before starting The Outsider that it would meld genres, and I have enjoyed it so far, on those terms).
King’s novels have always been filled with grace notes. There is usually a scene, or a character, or a back-story that I remember, even when nothing else is working. Those grace notes are almost nonexistent in End of Watch. King has always been an author who used his material to grapple with his own life. Clearly, he is thinking about aging, and the end of the road, because early on, he saddles 69 year-old Hodges with pancreatic cancer. In a better novel, this might have jumpstarted a meaningful meditation on old age and life’s glimmering twilight. Unfortunately, King never makes this fully real. The disease, while causing him physical pain, never really slows Hodges down. Instead, it acts more as a plot-amplifier, a play on the ticking time bomb scenario. In light of the utter ridiculousness all around, Hodges’ diagnosis has little impact.
Instead of grace notes, we get King’s usual nastiness. For whatever reason, perhaps because there are few redeeming qualities, the nastiness bothered me more than usual. The chief unpleasantness of End of Watch is suicide. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying this, as the original title – announced by King before publication – was The Suicide Prince.
Typically, I don’t provide trigger warning in my reviews. Mainly this is a function of the fact that I read mostly history and biography, and if you’re triggered by a biography of John Quincy Adams, no warning is going to save you. I make an exception here because the theme of suicide is the poison in this book’s bloodstream. I would like to say it is handled sensitively, but it is not. Instead, it’s the basis of several scenes of graphically cruel violence (many of the victims are teens). I am pretty comfortable with the evidence showing that high profile suicides have a real-world effect on suicide rates, so I think knowing this is important before starting. (King provides a post-story tag in which he gives the suicide prevention hotline number. Putting this at the end of the book is like calling the fire department a day after your house burned down).
I realize that I am probably in the minority when it comes to End of Watch. I am not a Stephen King super-fan. I have not read all his books, or even most of them. I don’t grab his new releases as soon as they come out (with his profligacy, I can’t keep up). Still, I have liked, and often loved, the titles I have read, and I firmly believe that King is one of the great American writers of all time (though his reputation will always suffer due to his chosen genre).
It is therefore with detachment, mingled with respect, that I say this is a near-terrible novel. It is easily the worst thing I’ve read that King had written.
All stories borrow elements from other stories, as many themes and plot-points are universal. That said, this feels derivative and cobbled together. At his best, King’s work has always felt shockingly original. Even when he works in a familiar setting, such as a haunted hotel, he goes in such unfamiliar directions that even archetypal tales come across as new and unique.
End of Watch does not feel that way at all. It is ludicrous, but in a desperate way, as though King had written himself into a corner, and his solution was to blow that corner to hell with a truckload of C-4.
It is a testament to King and his reputation that I read this series at all. Without his name on the cover, and all that entails, I never would have picked up these books in the first place.
- Stephen King, End of Watch
End of Watch, the concluding volume of Stephen King’s so-called Bill Hodges Trilogy, begins at the same place as volumes one and two: the City Center parking lot. There, a psychotic young man in a gray Mercedes has intentionally plowed his vehicle into a crowd of job seekers waiting in line. The massacre, portrayed from different perspectives in Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, provides the bloody lodestar for these three books, the reverberations from the act always in the background, never quite dissipating.
King’s decision to keep returning to the scene of this crime is surprisingly effective. In Mr. Mercedes, the opening vehicular homicides seemed an especially-horrific way to jumpstart an otherwise formulaic game of cat-and-mouse between a deranged killer and a retired detective. By revisiting City Center from different angles, though, he turns the murderous event (which has been mimicked by real-life events subsequent to the first book) from a plot-instigator into something deeper, a psychic wound felt by all of King’s characters.
Opening End of Watch with one last City Center scene was a good idea.
It is, unfortunately, the last good idea King had in writing this book. As soon as the opening scene is over, the novel falls off a cliff. This is a breaking news, footage at eleven, trail derailment.
(Before I go any further, I should mention that there are minor spoilers ahead, both for this book and the two that preceded it).
I knew I was in for a rough ride almost immediately, as we are reintroduced to Ex-Detective Bill Hodges as soon as the prologue is over. This is a matter of perspective, of course, but I find (and have found) Hodges to be a tiresome character. A saggy, uninteresting, uninspired focal point, a collection of clichés, bad choices, and periodic bursts of prophetic genius. His whole shtick is that he’s old school. You know he’s old school because King has informed us of this fact in myriad ways, in every book.
The characters around him are not much better. Holly Gibney is back again as Hodges’ assistant. She has a mild mental illness and a fondness for old movies, all the better so that she can indulge in one of King’s more irritating tics: spewing a gush of tired pop cultural references. Jerome, the third member of this traveling circus is mostly redundant (his skills are the exact same as Holly’s, which leads me to wonder how much King actually planned this out in advance). The rest of the cast, is utterly forgettable. I’m forgetting them as I type.
The villain of the piece is an old friend from Mr. Mercedes. His return is no surprise, as King brought up the possibility at the end of Mr. Mercedes, and spelled it out in big block letters throughout Finders Keepers. Essentially, we have a Michael Meyers situation on our hands (after a fashion), except that Kiner Memorial Hospital manages to make Smith’s Grove Sanitarium appear a tip-top facility.
(Picking out the plot holes in this series is as difficult as counting ants swarming over a fallen scoop of ice cream. For me, one of the huge ones is the notion that an accused murderer and suspected terrorist, under indictment for a bevy of crimes, would be housed in the city’s top hospital, rather than a secure regional center; that not only would he be housed in the city’s top hospital, but that he would not be under guard; and that not only would he not be under guard, there would not be a single surveillance camera on him).
Hodges versus his old nemesis does not provide a lot of grist for the mill. Accordingly, there is a lot of flashbacking and over-explanations to pad out the story (End of Watch is like a parody of a Bond villain, wherein every single aspect of the baddie's plan is thoroughly explained). This creates an odd sensation, as a totally nonsensical plot is over-explicated in mind-numbingly literal fashion.
Part of my dislike of this novel, bordering on disgust, is that I feel like I was tricked. And not in a good way.
This series began as a grounded, real life police procedural. It was always more macabre than hardboiled, and we can quibble about the verisimilitude, but the first two books stuck to the basic realities of life here on earth. But then, without warning, King changed the rules. Suddenly, we’re in a world of Jedi mind tricks, psychic projection, and warging. Throughout the series, I’ve complained about all the times when common sense (and the law) cried out for Hodges to call the police. Finally, there is a good reason for his reticence. They wouldn’t believe him. I would not blame them. There is nothing believable about the direction this storyline takes. Probably the most unbelievable thing at all is how quickly Hodges and Holly and Jerome are able to dispense with their accumulated wisdom and experience and accept that they have been transported to the movie Fallen. (The 1998 film, with Denzel).
In the first two entries, King seemed to struggle with plot. The pieces fit into place with precision, but that precision was achieved through incredible coincidences, absurdly bad decisions by some characters, and amazingly prescient decisions by others. King solves the problem by throwing worry out the window and going full preposterous.
At this point, you are probably reaching for a brick, which you intend to throw through my window. And on that brick, will be a message. That message, I have no doubt, will say: This is a Stephen King novel. What the hell did you expect?
Yeah, I get it. It’s Stephen King. The master of supernatural horror. He wrote It and The Shining and The Tommyknockers. Here’s the difference, though. When I pick up a book like Under the Dome, I know the genre going in. I know that I have to accept the conceit of an impermeable dome enclosing a city. That is the “world” in which the novel exists. The world of the Bill Hodges Trilogy, up until End of Watch, has not been a place where the supernatural coexists with the natural. Furthermore, while King teased the return of the third book’s villain, he did not prepare me for the eventual path he was going to take.
(There is a slight chance that better warning might have heightened my enjoyment. For example, I knew before starting The Outsider that it would meld genres, and I have enjoyed it so far, on those terms).
King’s novels have always been filled with grace notes. There is usually a scene, or a character, or a back-story that I remember, even when nothing else is working. Those grace notes are almost nonexistent in End of Watch. King has always been an author who used his material to grapple with his own life. Clearly, he is thinking about aging, and the end of the road, because early on, he saddles 69 year-old Hodges with pancreatic cancer. In a better novel, this might have jumpstarted a meaningful meditation on old age and life’s glimmering twilight. Unfortunately, King never makes this fully real. The disease, while causing him physical pain, never really slows Hodges down. Instead, it acts more as a plot-amplifier, a play on the ticking time bomb scenario. In light of the utter ridiculousness all around, Hodges’ diagnosis has little impact.
Instead of grace notes, we get King’s usual nastiness. For whatever reason, perhaps because there are few redeeming qualities, the nastiness bothered me more than usual. The chief unpleasantness of End of Watch is suicide. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying this, as the original title – announced by King before publication – was The Suicide Prince.
Typically, I don’t provide trigger warning in my reviews. Mainly this is a function of the fact that I read mostly history and biography, and if you’re triggered by a biography of John Quincy Adams, no warning is going to save you. I make an exception here because the theme of suicide is the poison in this book’s bloodstream. I would like to say it is handled sensitively, but it is not. Instead, it’s the basis of several scenes of graphically cruel violence (many of the victims are teens). I am pretty comfortable with the evidence showing that high profile suicides have a real-world effect on suicide rates, so I think knowing this is important before starting. (King provides a post-story tag in which he gives the suicide prevention hotline number. Putting this at the end of the book is like calling the fire department a day after your house burned down).
I realize that I am probably in the minority when it comes to End of Watch. I am not a Stephen King super-fan. I have not read all his books, or even most of them. I don’t grab his new releases as soon as they come out (with his profligacy, I can’t keep up). Still, I have liked, and often loved, the titles I have read, and I firmly believe that King is one of the great American writers of all time (though his reputation will always suffer due to his chosen genre).
It is therefore with detachment, mingled with respect, that I say this is a near-terrible novel. It is easily the worst thing I’ve read that King had written.
All stories borrow elements from other stories, as many themes and plot-points are universal. That said, this feels derivative and cobbled together. At his best, King’s work has always felt shockingly original. Even when he works in a familiar setting, such as a haunted hotel, he goes in such unfamiliar directions that even archetypal tales come across as new and unique.
End of Watch does not feel that way at all. It is ludicrous, but in a desperate way, as though King had written himself into a corner, and his solution was to blow that corner to hell with a truckload of C-4.
It is a testament to King and his reputation that I read this series at all. Without his name on the cover, and all that entails, I never would have picked up these books in the first place.
August 14, 2016
Well, we have come to the end of the road, or the "End of Watch." I enjoyed this trilogy and love all of the books but I loved different books in the trilogy for different reasons. The first because - HELLO - some maniac has done went whack a do and ran over a bunch of people in a Mercedes. The second book I liked because of the connections to people in the first book. And we come to the last book . . . I actually thought is was sad at the end, but for once -->I DID NOT CRY! Anyway, I thought it was a really cool and creepy addition to the madness that is Brady Hartsfield (Mr. Mercedes) And now I know what all of the fish on the cover of the book meant, especially little pink!
I mean this jerk has went to some crazy ways to kill people but this last one took the cake! He is beyond crazy in the membrane and I'm sure glad he's not real. . . or is he? We don't know! But his ending is so wonderful =)
In all of the books there were parts that were annoying. You know those parts where someone is right there but your too busy doing something stupid to notice them? I mean if there was some freak out there killing people, I would be watching every little thing. But nooooooo..
I still can't believe the trilogy is finished. I feel like I was stuck in this crazy little world for some time. I still loved Holly and Jerome so much in these books. They were smart and just so cool. I don't think ole Bill would have pulled anything off if it wasn't for their help. But I'm going to leave it at that or I will accidentally on purpose give out a spoiler!!!!!
Also a big shout-out to Mr. King for adding this in his Author's Note at the back of the book:
One last thing. End of Watch is fiction, but the high rate of suicides--both in the United States and in many other countries where my books are read--is all too real. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline number given in this book is also real. It's 1-800-273-TALK. If you are feeling poopy (as Holly Gibney would say), give them all call. Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do.
Stephen King
Cheers to you Mr. King!
I just might take you up on that offer ♥
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
March 12, 2023
I run straight to Uncle Stevie when I need a book to put my slightly ADHD brain in a headlock.
From the book's starting bell, this pro-rassling author puts me in a respectable clinch. I am happy and focused and spooked. A few chapters in, though, my eyes start-a-rolling at all the near-impossibilities I’m being asked to swallow. I won’t go into spoiler details, but… really, Mr. King? I love you tender, love you true, but… really?
I grumble and threaten three stars for this shitstorm of ultra-perfect coincidence. But even in the throes of “suspension of disbelief” overload, I can NOT stop turning the pages. Stephen King is Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Randy Savage combined... I cannot wriggle free from his grasp.
So, four stars. Even though… really?!??
Book/Song Pairing: Are You A Hypnotist?? (The Flaming Lips)
From the book's starting bell, this pro-rassling author puts me in a respectable clinch. I am happy and focused and spooked. A few chapters in, though, my eyes start-a-rolling at all the near-impossibilities I’m being asked to swallow. I won’t go into spoiler details, but… really, Mr. King? I love you tender, love you true, but… really?
I grumble and threaten three stars for this shitstorm of ultra-perfect coincidence. But even in the throes of “suspension of disbelief” overload, I can NOT stop turning the pages. Stephen King is Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant and Randy Savage combined... I cannot wriggle free from his grasp.
So, four stars. Even though… really?!??
Book/Song Pairing: Are You A Hypnotist?? (The Flaming Lips)
September 5, 2023
Tras una segunda entrega que fue más bien de transición, pero que a mí me gustó tanto como la primera, Stephen King culmina la trilogía de Mr Mercedes volviendo al terreno paranormal, campo que domina a la perfección, y lo hace con un final digno de su firma.
Si alguien no ha leído los anteriores, puede abordar esta tercera entrega sin miedo. King repasa de forma soberbia todo lo acontecido en los libros uno y dos, por lo que es imposible perderse si es leído de forma independiente. El final puede resultar bastante triste para muchos, y es paradójico, pues contiene un “happy ending” dentro de ese triste final que se complementan muy bien. No hay duda de que King da por cerrada la serie, pues una continuación sin sus principales protagonistas resultaría inverosímil.
Y por supuesto, el ritmo de la novela es el acostumbrado por el maestro. Sin prisa, pero sin pausa. Con moraleja incluida, y con un toque de atención sobre el tema del suicidio y teléfono de ayuda adjunto.
Aviso para el que quiera visionar la temporada televisiva tras su lectura. Cualquier parecido entre ambos es mera coincidencia. La segunda temporada es la tercera novela, y es una adaptación muy, pero que, muyyyyy libre.
5 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞. Por esta y por las tres.
Si alguien no ha leído los anteriores, puede abordar esta tercera entrega sin miedo. King repasa de forma soberbia todo lo acontecido en los libros uno y dos, por lo que es imposible perderse si es leído de forma independiente. El final puede resultar bastante triste para muchos, y es paradójico, pues contiene un “happy ending” dentro de ese triste final que se complementan muy bien. No hay duda de que King da por cerrada la serie, pues una continuación sin sus principales protagonistas resultaría inverosímil.
Y por supuesto, el ritmo de la novela es el acostumbrado por el maestro. Sin prisa, pero sin pausa. Con moraleja incluida, y con un toque de atención sobre el tema del suicidio y teléfono de ayuda adjunto.
Aviso para el que quiera visionar la temporada televisiva tras su lectura. Cualquier parecido entre ambos es mera coincidencia. La segunda temporada es la tercera novela, y es una adaptación muy, pero que, muyyyyy libre.
5 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞. Por esta y por las tres.
October 15, 2018
What a final in this exceptional trilogy! Brady Hartsfield is coming back and this in an incredibly tight and suspensful way. Can Bill Hodges with the help of his friends stop one of the most evil villains in modern literature once and for all? A little gaming device named Zappit will be forever connected now with the brilliant story told here. Oh yes, the internet is dangerous and might lead you into suicide. Please fear the reaper (unlinke in Blue Öyster Cult's song) in form of Brady Hartsfield. This is a novel only Stephen King can do. What a plot and brilliant comparisons. I especially liked the phrase 'one foot in the grave and one on the banana peel'. Great final here, better than the second installment of the series. I really do hope that Stephen King continues his crime story with Holly Gibney. You should read this book before you switch to The Outsider. Absolutely recommended. You won't regret but highly enjoy this pageturner.
June 15, 2016
Not my favorite of the series, but a good finish to a series I enjoyed a lot.
This book is more of a sequel to Mr. Mercedes than the 3rd book in series. I think you could skip Finders Keepers and not miss a thing. But, I don't recommend that as the second book of the series was my favorite!
I like Holly and Bill - they were a great team, and not conventional in any way. In the last two books Jerome felt forced in when he was there. Brady was a good, despicable bad guy. Love to hate him, am I right?
Only issues with this one
Sad to see the series come to an end. I did enjoy King's foray into the world of crime/detective drama. I would not mind if he does more with it in the future.
This book is more of a sequel to Mr. Mercedes than the 3rd book in series. I think you could skip Finders Keepers and not miss a thing. But, I don't recommend that as the second book of the series was my favorite!
I like Holly and Bill - they were a great team, and not conventional in any way. In the last two books Jerome felt forced in when he was there. Brady was a good, despicable bad guy. Love to hate him, am I right?
Only issues with this one
Sad to see the series come to an end. I did enjoy King's foray into the world of crime/detective drama. I would not mind if he does more with it in the future.
November 21, 2022
It’s only recently that I've come to fully appreciate the writing ability of Stephen King. I used to think that all he wrote was paranormal nonsense and horror stories. Not my thing, not my thing at all. I steadfastly avoided him. But then I was persuaded by a friend to give him a try; that King had much more rounded abilities. I did, and I was quickly converted. I've now changed my opinion him completely and can see that he's a truly gifted story teller. So when I heard he’d written a crime fiction book (right up my alley) I was on it – as Alan Sugar would say – like a tramp on chips.
Mr Mercedes was brilliant! The story of a retired cop, Bill Hodges, and his efforts to track down a man who had run his car through a group of people camping out for a job fair, causing mayhem and multiple deaths. And the follow up, Finders Keepers, was possibly even better. This time Hodges doesn't appear until quite late on and the link with the first book then becomes abundantly clear. Both stories work very well as standalone pieces, but when you add in this third book then it’s very clear that the three must be read as a full set in order to extract full value.
This time around Hodges is in from the start again and I won't spoil the storyline for any prospective readers other than to say that it does involve telekinesis (the ability to move objects using the power of the mind). I didn't think I’d like this element – a key foundation stone of the plot – I just don't believe in this kind of stuff and anytime anything even vaguely paranormal is introduced into a story it's normally the last line I read. But this was different, though I'd struggle to explain why. Maybe it was my existing investment in the Bill Hodges books that made me hang in there, but I don't think that was it. In all honesty, it's just so well done that I was carried along with it – I started to believe this could happen. And what a story King tells here! All the threads are gathered together and the suspension is maintained until the very end. I loved it.
I listened to all three books on audio, read by American actor Will Patton. He did a superb job and in my view his performance added another level to my enjoyment. I know not everyone is an audiobook convert, but if you are then this trilogy should go straight on your Christmas list.
Mr Mercedes was brilliant! The story of a retired cop, Bill Hodges, and his efforts to track down a man who had run his car through a group of people camping out for a job fair, causing mayhem and multiple deaths. And the follow up, Finders Keepers, was possibly even better. This time Hodges doesn't appear until quite late on and the link with the first book then becomes abundantly clear. Both stories work very well as standalone pieces, but when you add in this third book then it’s very clear that the three must be read as a full set in order to extract full value.
This time around Hodges is in from the start again and I won't spoil the storyline for any prospective readers other than to say that it does involve telekinesis (the ability to move objects using the power of the mind). I didn't think I’d like this element – a key foundation stone of the plot – I just don't believe in this kind of stuff and anytime anything even vaguely paranormal is introduced into a story it's normally the last line I read. But this was different, though I'd struggle to explain why. Maybe it was my existing investment in the Bill Hodges books that made me hang in there, but I don't think that was it. In all honesty, it's just so well done that I was carried along with it – I started to believe this could happen. And what a story King tells here! All the threads are gathered together and the suspension is maintained until the very end. I loved it.
I listened to all three books on audio, read by American actor Will Patton. He did a superb job and in my view his performance added another level to my enjoyment. I know not everyone is an audiobook convert, but if you are then this trilogy should go straight on your Christmas list.
August 23, 2023
Well, here I am seven years later, bumping this up to three stars. My review from 2016 is below, but I’m older now, and I’ve warmed up to the outlandish story King wrote to end his Hodges trilogy. This felt like watching Halloween 3 which is so dumb yet so fun all at the same time. I applaud King for just ditching the police procedural stuff and just digging deep into his bag of supernatural tricks to end this thing. Sure, it’s dumb, but I enjoyed it a little more this time.
Here’s my 2016 review:
Yeah, yeah, yeah when I started this book I really felt like it was going to be my favorite of the trilogy (which I still argue isn't the right term... this is a sequel of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers didn't need Bill Hodges forced on it... in fact that book is barely referenced here... but I digress.....) because Stephen King went back to full Stephen King mode, and I was having fun with the whole thing, but gee golly sunshine if he didn't just double down on one of the dumbest, laziest, cheesiest endings to a story that I've ever read.
I applaud him for the first two novels of the trilogy. He's written so many blasted books that it was a nice change to see him dive into police crime drama stuff and do it relatively well. I loved this at first when he started hinting to taking the series to a new direction and bringing back the evil from the first book. He started going all supernatural on me a little bit, and I was like hey hey hey alright we're going old school here. But good gravy the end of this stupid book was so hard to read.
I don't want to spoil anything here, but this whole Zappit garbage and pink fish was awful. Just awful. Take the worst idea you ever had for a story and multiply is by ten. It's worse than that. It was a low point for Stephen King, especially after an enjoyable first couple of books in the trilogy that isn't really a trilogy but whatever I'm over it now so who cares. I went from an aw yeah this is awesome phase to a what the hell are you kidding me phase pretty quickly and I never got back to the awesome phase. I just kept reading and watching the proverbial train wreck.
Bill Hodges is still an alright dude though. Holly annoyed the hell out of me most of the time. Again, the voice the narrator uses in the audio books may have ruined her for me so it may not be fair to say that but I said it and I'm not going to change my mind!!!!!! I meant to use a period and that was an accident but I just stayed with the exclamation point. Oh well. Sorry to yell.
Sorry about the lack of punctuation and stuff too. I'm typing really fast on my phone just after reading the book and I'm not that into punctuation tonight. Just glad to be done with this and really wishing it ended in a more satisfying way. Might be time for a break from King before I come back around again and read a bunch of his other books in a row. It's an endless cycle.
Here’s my 2016 review:
Yeah, yeah, yeah when I started this book I really felt like it was going to be my favorite of the trilogy (which I still argue isn't the right term... this is a sequel of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers didn't need Bill Hodges forced on it... in fact that book is barely referenced here... but I digress.....) because Stephen King went back to full Stephen King mode, and I was having fun with the whole thing, but gee golly sunshine if he didn't just double down on one of the dumbest, laziest, cheesiest endings to a story that I've ever read.
I applaud him for the first two novels of the trilogy. He's written so many blasted books that it was a nice change to see him dive into police crime drama stuff and do it relatively well. I loved this at first when he started hinting to taking the series to a new direction and bringing back the evil from the first book. He started going all supernatural on me a little bit, and I was like hey hey hey alright we're going old school here. But good gravy the end of this stupid book was so hard to read.
I don't want to spoil anything here, but this whole Zappit garbage and pink fish was awful. Just awful. Take the worst idea you ever had for a story and multiply is by ten. It's worse than that. It was a low point for Stephen King, especially after an enjoyable first couple of books in the trilogy that isn't really a trilogy but whatever I'm over it now so who cares. I went from an aw yeah this is awesome phase to a what the hell are you kidding me phase pretty quickly and I never got back to the awesome phase. I just kept reading and watching the proverbial train wreck.
Bill Hodges is still an alright dude though. Holly annoyed the hell out of me most of the time. Again, the voice the narrator uses in the audio books may have ruined her for me so it may not be fair to say that but I said it and I'm not going to change my mind!!!!!! I meant to use a period and that was an accident but I just stayed with the exclamation point. Oh well. Sorry to yell.
Sorry about the lack of punctuation and stuff too. I'm typing really fast on my phone just after reading the book and I'm not that into punctuation tonight. Just glad to be done with this and really wishing it ended in a more satisfying way. Might be time for a break from King before I come back around again and read a bunch of his other books in a row. It's an endless cycle.
May 8, 2022
“Payback is a bitch, he thought, and I am that bitch.”
Really enjoyed this trilogy and loved this final instalment.
Bill and Holly find themselves drawn into another mystery when two women supposedly commit suicide. One of whom was a victim of the Mercedes killer - permanently disabled.
As more and more links between Brady’s victims start to appear, Bill worries that there may be more to the suicides than meets the eye.
And when we find out what is causing these deaths - it is both shocking and twisted.
Such a terrifying concept, I was gripped and so pleased that
I’m looking forward to spending some more time with Holly by picking up The Outsider next!
Really enjoyed this trilogy and loved this final instalment.
Bill and Holly find themselves drawn into another mystery when two women supposedly commit suicide. One of whom was a victim of the Mercedes killer - permanently disabled.
As more and more links between Brady’s victims start to appear, Bill worries that there may be more to the suicides than meets the eye.
And when we find out what is causing these deaths - it is both shocking and twisted.
Such a terrifying concept, I was gripped and so pleased that
I’m looking forward to spending some more time with Holly by picking up The Outsider next!
June 25, 2016
'Payback is a bitch, and the bitch is back.'
Brady Hartsfield isn't hurting anybody these days. And Dr. Felix Babineau doesn't bite. Truths? Believe what you will. Thought fish, eye-traps, seeds of suggestion, telekinesis, the big payback. Where do they come from and how do they fit in here?
Brady, the Mercedes killer, is safely ensconced in a center for those with Traumatic Brain Injury. Five years have passed since he pulled his murderous shenanigans in Mr. Mercedes. Ready to find out just what is going on behind that waxy face and those vacant eyes?
Retired police detective Bill Hodges has never bought off on Brady's drooling-in-his-shoe act there in the hospital. Hodges knows enough to follow his gut. The painfully literal-minded, yet intuitive Holly Gibney is in the mix again. A most satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
Brady Hartsfield isn't hurting anybody these days. And Dr. Felix Babineau doesn't bite. Truths? Believe what you will. Thought fish, eye-traps, seeds of suggestion, telekinesis, the big payback. Where do they come from and how do they fit in here?
Brady, the Mercedes killer, is safely ensconced in a center for those with Traumatic Brain Injury. Five years have passed since he pulled his murderous shenanigans in Mr. Mercedes. Ready to find out just what is going on behind that waxy face and those vacant eyes?
Retired police detective Bill Hodges has never bought off on Brady's drooling-in-his-shoe act there in the hospital. Hodges knows enough to follow his gut. The painfully literal-minded, yet intuitive Holly Gibney is in the mix again. A most satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.
August 13, 2016
4.5 stars. My favorite of the trilogy! It was exactly what I was hoping for. A blend of the horror I love from SK and the suspense/crime continuing from the first 2 books. Fast-paced, great characters, and just overall well done. The perfect intro to my summer reading!
Pre-reading Review:
Don't know when it will be released yet. June 7th, 2016. Don't care. Give it to me now!
Update: after finishing Finders Keepers, I'm even more excited for this! The ending with Brady leaves me wondering... Wonder if King will be tying in something supernatural to this crime trilogy...
Update #2: THE COVER AHHH! It's not what I expected at all, I mean...fish?? But it's awesome and I can't stop looking at it and now June can't come fast enough!
Pre-reading Review:
Update: after finishing Finders Keepers, I'm even more excited for this! The ending with Brady leaves me wondering... Wonder if King will be tying in something supernatural to this crime trilogy...
Update #2: THE COVER AHHH! It's not what I expected at all, I mean...fish?? But it's awesome and I can't stop looking at it and now June can't come fast enough!
July 23, 2022
2.0 stars— After reading “End of Watch” I have one thing to say about the Mr. Mercedes trilogy… sometimes it is better to stop at 1. Book 2 — “Finders Keepers” was just meh because Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney and Jerome would of had to have been psychics with the best luck ever to have solved the central mystery just in time to save the day. “End of Watch” had different issues in my opinion in that the whole plot was so far fetched and unbelievable, I never could even get partially invested in the story. In fact, I would rank it just ahead of “Christine” (which I dislike for many of the same reasons) as one of the worst King clunkers. “End of Watch” reunites all of the heroes from the first two books back together after suspicious suicides begins happening to survivors of the concert that Brady Hartsfield attempted to blow up at the end of “Mr. Mercedes”. The one link to these suicides is a handheld video game called Zappit. I don’t want to spoil the book, but these magic video games that allow Brady Hartsfield access to enter into the minds of individuals watching a particular screen on the game console requires the reader to suspend all their common sense and notions of reality in order to play along with this implausible, ridiculous plot. Brady Hartsfield basically becomes a God through the use of this low budget Gameboy and it makes the whole story fall flat. My favorite books by King are the ones that mix realistic elements with the supernatural or horror that allow me to connect to both the characters and the story. Although the characters King created in Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney are wonderfully written, the plot is so bad that they cannot overcome it. The only advice I wold give my fellow King fans is to do what King should have done , stop at 1
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 12, 2022
I enjoyed this trilogy and I loved “End of Watch”. I started out slow with this book, taking little bites, I think because I was sad to finish the final book. But at some point, I couldn’t stop. I finally had some free time and I binged the second half like a bag of popcorn at the movies. Great big mouthfuls, one after another. It was refreshing to see Mr. King meander outside of the supernatural in Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers. I think they both demonstrated his ability to horrify and thrill within the boundaries of our reality, for he knows that the horrors we create ourselves are just as terrible of those of the paranormal. But I loved the return to the supernatural in “End of Watch”. I loved it because my favorite aspect of Mr. King’s stories is his ability to make ordinary people’s reactions to the impossible, very natural. It’s the honest and believable reactions of his character’s that pulls me and makes his novels stick with me. I read a wide variety of books and I enjoy many of them. But what sets apart an author for me is if the story worms its way into my long-term memory. Not many do, but Mr. King is taking up more than his fair share of my precious long-term memory storage.
As a new Author, I found myself experiencing a new emotion while reading this novel. Jealousy. I’ve been intrigued by the concept of gamification for some time and fascinated that scientific research can show how to manipulate peoples pleasure centers with virtual rewards. I’ve had a few ideas for short stories around this concept, and then Mr. King comes along and nails it. When he combines it with the perils and despair of suicide, it became a fascinating plot that I couldn’t turn away from, even if I wanted to.
I’ve been a devote King fan for a very long time and this just continues to keep him at the top. I highly recommend this book. The next time you reach for your phone to play some addictive little game, you’ll think of it. And you might even find part of yourself craving a game where you try to tap on those elusive little pink fish. Thanks again Mr. King for yet another delightful scare.
As a new Author, I found myself experiencing a new emotion while reading this novel. Jealousy. I’ve been intrigued by the concept of gamification for some time and fascinated that scientific research can show how to manipulate peoples pleasure centers with virtual rewards. I’ve had a few ideas for short stories around this concept, and then Mr. King comes along and nails it. When he combines it with the perils and despair of suicide, it became a fascinating plot that I couldn’t turn away from, even if I wanted to.
I’ve been a devote King fan for a very long time and this just continues to keep him at the top. I highly recommend this book. The next time you reach for your phone to play some addictive little game, you’ll think of it. And you might even find part of yourself craving a game where you try to tap on those elusive little pink fish. Thanks again Mr. King for yet another delightful scare.
July 15, 2016
What I'm feeling right now after reading the last book of the trilogy is a sheer amount of disappointment. This third book had a monstrous amount of expectations for me because first of all, Stephen King is my favorite author of all time. Second reason is that I gave the first two books a 5-star rating. I completely enjoyed the first two books of this trilogy and it didn't take me more than 5 days to finish them. I bought these books the moment they were being sold and read them right away. The first two books really exceeded my expectations, but this concluding novel really left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Brady is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed the first two books, but unfortunately he didn't deliver the same way he did in this third novel. He is not the same Brady that I enjoyed before. He's not that badass and interesting. I know Stephen King wanted to incorporate some paranormal aspects to this crime trilogy, but for me it didn't work out that well. I loved Stephen King's other paranormal/horror novels, but this trilogy was supposed to be his crime series. It wasn't supposed to be different, in a good way. When I see people review his first two novels and give them less than 4 stars, I read the review because I'm bewildered at how they couldn't see the brilliance of the plot. This third novel though makes me wonder whether or not what I'm feeling now is what other people were feeling when they read the first two books. Don't get me wrong, if I read the first two books again I'm completely sure that I'll enjoy them just as much, but this third novel was a chore to read. It took me more than 2 weeks to read it, and it's only about 430 pages. I'm disappointed at how slow I read this, but I'm much more disappointed at how this novel turned out.
The plot didn't deliver the way I wanted it to, in fact, the only really exciting parts of this novel are the ending and I faintly remember some good parts along the middle of the book. Aside from those though, the novel was dreadful. I didn't like the things that King focused on in this novel. It might just be a personal preference but I believe that this novel would've been a lot better if he concentrated on the crime aspect.
The characters, aside from Brady, are still just as amazing. That reason alone made me rate this novel 3 stars, rather than the shameful 2 stars. Hodges is still one of my favorite Stephen King characters, and I'm glad that he is still interesting in this novel. .
3/5 stars. This series overall is really good, but if we're talking about this novel alone, then it can be considered a disappointment. I waited for a year for this book, and it really bothers me that it's not as good as I was expecting. I'm still highly recommending the series because some people enjoyed this novel just as much as the first two.
Brady is one of the reasons why I really enjoyed the first two books, but unfortunately he didn't deliver the same way he did in this third novel. He is not the same Brady that I enjoyed before. He's not that badass and interesting. I know Stephen King wanted to incorporate some paranormal aspects to this crime trilogy, but for me it didn't work out that well. I loved Stephen King's other paranormal/horror novels, but this trilogy was supposed to be his crime series. It wasn't supposed to be different, in a good way. When I see people review his first two novels and give them less than 4 stars, I read the review because I'm bewildered at how they couldn't see the brilliance of the plot. This third novel though makes me wonder whether or not what I'm feeling now is what other people were feeling when they read the first two books. Don't get me wrong, if I read the first two books again I'm completely sure that I'll enjoy them just as much, but this third novel was a chore to read. It took me more than 2 weeks to read it, and it's only about 430 pages. I'm disappointed at how slow I read this, but I'm much more disappointed at how this novel turned out.
The plot didn't deliver the way I wanted it to, in fact, the only really exciting parts of this novel are the ending and I faintly remember some good parts along the middle of the book. Aside from those though, the novel was dreadful. I didn't like the things that King focused on in this novel. It might just be a personal preference but I believe that this novel would've been a lot better if he concentrated on the crime aspect.
The characters, aside from Brady, are still just as amazing. That reason alone made me rate this novel 3 stars, rather than the shameful 2 stars. Hodges is still one of my favorite Stephen King characters, and I'm glad that he is still interesting in this novel. .
3/5 stars. This series overall is really good, but if we're talking about this novel alone, then it can be considered a disappointment. I waited for a year for this book, and it really bothers me that it's not as good as I was expecting. I'm still highly recommending the series because some people enjoyed this novel just as much as the first two.
July 9, 2020
Brady Hartsfield, dubbed “the suicide prince” by Hodges, is back and he’s hungry for revenge. Since having his plans at the Mingo Auditorium thwarted Brady has become even more bitter and angry at Hodges for exposing him. Now, he’s ready for revenge and he wants to increase his body count to possibly thousands. Out of all the villains Stephen King has created Brady Hartsfield has to be my favorite. I do hope he is mentioned in his other novels.
I can’t wait to see Holly Gibney again in The Outsider.
I can’t wait to see Holly Gibney again in The Outsider.
December 19, 2017
And so ends Stephen King’s inventive and enjoyable modern mystery tour – the Bill Hodges trilogy.
Beginning with Mr. Mercedes, about a psychopathic asshole named Brady Hartsfield who drives into a crowd of job seekers at a civic event, and detouring into a literary collectors’ nightmare in Finders Keepers, and then delivering the coup de grace with this excellent return visit with Brady who has kicked his evil into overdrive.
Reminiscent of Messiah, Gore Vidal’s 1954 love letter to suicide, King broods and explores this self-destructive path, finding common ground in depression, anxiety and the ever-present suicide gene, of which we all seem to share.
Bill Hodges is a sick man, but the old Det. Ret. is still man enough to tangle with the likes of Brady who is in what is supposed to be a catatonic state after Holly poured a ball bearing laced tallboy can of whoopass on him at the end of the first book.
But this is Stephen King after all and we must remember the edicts of King’s Law: If things can get creepy, they will.
Brady takes a Marvel mutant turn for the supernatural with the aid of some experimental drugs and things drive off into a left field that Fenway never imagined. Brady can influence people to kill themselves and likes to keep score. Can Hodges and his ragtag team of misfit toys save the day? Got to read to find out.
Good book and a good series.
Beginning with Mr. Mercedes, about a psychopathic asshole named Brady Hartsfield who drives into a crowd of job seekers at a civic event, and detouring into a literary collectors’ nightmare in Finders Keepers, and then delivering the coup de grace with this excellent return visit with Brady who has kicked his evil into overdrive.
Reminiscent of Messiah, Gore Vidal’s 1954 love letter to suicide, King broods and explores this self-destructive path, finding common ground in depression, anxiety and the ever-present suicide gene, of which we all seem to share.
Bill Hodges is a sick man, but the old Det. Ret. is still man enough to tangle with the likes of Brady who is in what is supposed to be a catatonic state after Holly poured a ball bearing laced tallboy can of whoopass on him at the end of the first book.
But this is Stephen King after all and we must remember the edicts of King’s Law: If things can get creepy, they will.
Brady takes a Marvel mutant turn for the supernatural with the aid of some experimental drugs and things drive off into a left field that Fenway never imagined. Brady can influence people to kill themselves and likes to keep score. Can Hodges and his ragtag team of misfit toys save the day? Got to read to find out.
Good book and a good series.
December 6, 2020
Brilliant, Terrifying and to quote Holly Gibney: “Frakking Poopy.”
End of Watch. Yes, I’m afraid it is. It’s over. Huge Sigh. To think it took me years to get through this series. If only I’d listened to the audiobooks sooner (thank you to the phenomenal Will Patton for the listening experience!)
Detective Kermit Bill Hodges. I adore you. It is that simple. Kind, caring, hardworking, determined. Your friendship with Holly Gibney was pure kismet.
So here we are, with ‘Zappits’ wreaking havoc all over town, yet no one knows how or why.
Strange things are happening however in Room 217 at Kiner Memorial. While TBI patient Brady Hartsfield, (a/k/a Mr. Mercedes) appears to lie motionless in the room, looks can be deceiving.
Atmospheric, ominous, heartfelt and altogether, believable, yet unbelievable, this story intertwines mystery, fiction and a bit of science fiction quite well. A brilliant end to this series, I highly recommend this for all fans of mystery and fiction.
A huge thank you to my local library for the audiobook and to Will Patton for the stellar narration.
Published on Goodreads on 12.5.20.
End of Watch. Yes, I’m afraid it is. It’s over. Huge Sigh. To think it took me years to get through this series. If only I’d listened to the audiobooks sooner (thank you to the phenomenal Will Patton for the listening experience!)
Detective Kermit Bill Hodges. I adore you. It is that simple. Kind, caring, hardworking, determined. Your friendship with Holly Gibney was pure kismet.
So here we are, with ‘Zappits’ wreaking havoc all over town, yet no one knows how or why.
Strange things are happening however in Room 217 at Kiner Memorial. While TBI patient Brady Hartsfield, (a/k/a Mr. Mercedes) appears to lie motionless in the room, looks can be deceiving.
Atmospheric, ominous, heartfelt and altogether, believable, yet unbelievable, this story intertwines mystery, fiction and a bit of science fiction quite well. A brilliant end to this series, I highly recommend this for all fans of mystery and fiction.
A huge thank you to my local library for the audiobook and to Will Patton for the stellar narration.
Published on Goodreads on 12.5.20.
April 14, 2023
An Epic end to a spectacular trilogy. I loved The first two books, but something was missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on. That was not true here. King perfected these characters, and this storyline and the character development of Holly were well done. The intro with the ambulance drivers was a perfect tie-in to the first book, Mr. Mercedes.
The additional paranormal element and how King approached it was pure brilliance. I wanted to explore all of the fascinating angles of this one forever. In true King fashion, there was a bit of confirmation of the future left off that would allow him to play with it later.
I originally read The Outsider with Holly first, so it was wonderful to see the evolution of her character and how she grows. Now that I know all of the Finders Keepers crew, I want to go back for a re-read and see it with all of the background pieces and If It Bleeds.
I laughed, and I had tears in my eyes. I love that relationship between Bill and Holly, and that is what I will miss most.
Bravo, standing ovation for the close of the Bill Hodges trilogy.
5 Solid Stars.
The additional paranormal element and how King approached it was pure brilliance. I wanted to explore all of the fascinating angles of this one forever. In true King fashion, there was a bit of confirmation of the future left off that would allow him to play with it later.
I originally read The Outsider with Holly first, so it was wonderful to see the evolution of her character and how she grows. Now that I know all of the Finders Keepers crew, I want to go back for a re-read and see it with all of the background pieces and If It Bleeds.
I laughed, and I had tears in my eyes. I love that relationship between Bill and Holly, and that is what I will miss most.
Bravo, standing ovation for the close of the Bill Hodges trilogy.
5 Solid Stars.
August 6, 2023
This is a very well written book. A Doctor is brain washing a huge bunch of people to commit cuicide through a vidio game and some vitamine injections. It is really good and I recommend it to all.
April 20, 2022
Because things can get better, and if you give them a chance, they usually do.End of Watch is a very nice ending to the Bill Hodges trilogy. Like Mr. Mercedes, it's a good old-fashioned, cat-and-mouse detective story. But this one adds a supernatural element that ratchets up the drama and horror. The lead characters are well-drawn and believable, and the supporting characters add depth and humor to the story. It is very well-plotted, and the story moves with lightning speed towards a strong conclusion.
…
Payback is a bitch, and the bitch is back.
The Bill Hodges trilogy is an interesting series by Stephen King, showing yet another genre in which he can excel. Not the first thing I’d recommend to someone by Mr. King, but recommended.
February 22, 2024
This is the third book in Stephen King's "Bill Hodges Trilogy."
SPOILER ALERT
This review contains information about the first two books in the trilogy. So if you haven't read them yet you might want to stop reading now.
In the first book, Mr. Mercedes, a sociopath named Brady Hartsfield drives a Mercedes into a crowd, causing numerous deaths and injuries.
Retired detective Bill Hodges makes it his mission to nab the culprit and puts together a sort of ragtag team to do the job.
This includes Holly Gibney - a computer whiz who probably has Asperger's syndrome;
and Jerome Robinson - a black, whip-smart teen.
The three 'partners' eventually form a tight, affectionate, and lasting bond. At the end of the book Brady Hartsfield is severely injured, with a brain injury that leaves him in a coma.
The second book in the trilogy, Finders Keepers, takes a different direction, focusing on an obsessed literary fan. Hodges and his team show up late in the story, to help a kid who's gotten himself into big trouble. Brady Hartsfield, meanwhile, is rotting away in a hospital - seemingly unaware of his surroundings, with minimal brain function. Retired detective Hodges, however, suspects that Brady might have more going on upstairs than he lets on, and - as things turn out - Hodges is right!
In this third book in the trilogy, End of Watch - which takes place five years after the events in Mr. Mercedes - Brady Hartsfield has come out of his coma, is somewhat aware of what's going on around him, and can even say a few muddled words. Physically Brady is almost completely helpless, but there's A LOT going on in his head.
Brady's unethical doctor has been giving him experimental drugs and the medicine (or maybe something else) has altered Brady's brain....and he now has paranormal abilities. The hospital staff notes that minor odd things happen in Brady's room - like his IV bag swinging back and forth - but no one has an inkling of his true capabilities.
Brady secretly puts this new talent to use using a cache of obsolete hand-held computer game consoles called 'Zappit.'
As it turns out, Zappit contains a strangely hypnotic child's fishing game. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say Brady - who has an obsession about suicide - manipulates a few people into killing themselves. Thrilled with his success, Brady embarks on a plan to cause mass suicide among local teenagers. And finally, Brady means to completely destroy Bill Hodges, whom he REALLY hates.
The stakes are very high in this book. Hodges is seriously ill and Holly is on his case - insisting that he go to the hospital to get appropriate treatment.
However the detective desperately wants to stop Brady first. Hodges is sure that Brady caused a number of recent deaths, but can't figure out how - since Brady is a decrepit husk in a hospital room.
It takes the combined brain power of Hodges, Holly, and Jerome - with some help from a cop and a spot of luck - to reveal exactly what's going on. All this leads to a doozy of a climax in the middle of a winter storm...very exciting!
I enjoyed the book, which is well-written with memorable characters. Brady makes an especially demented and evil villain, while Holly makes an endearing 'good guy', with sweet affection for her partner and friend, Bill Hodges. In fact Holly is probably my favorite character in this story.
This book provides a very satisfying finale to a good trilogy. Highly recommended.
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