“Mr. Mercedes,” by Stephen King

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 7
2. Prose 9
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 8
5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Contrary to what I had been led to believe, this is not the kind of novel that made King famous. In fact, compared to his better works, this one probably should rate one or even two spots lower than each of the ratings I give here. Because of the prose, it is still identifiably King, but otherwise it's not easily differentiated from novels by a dozen other best-selling suspense writers. It's a Dean Koontz-style novel, perhaps, though not equal to Koontz's best. There's not much "horror" here, virtually NO supernaturalism or spookiness. A little "creep factor" sneaks in with the result of the bad guy's mother accidentally eating the poisoned meat meant for the dog. And there's an strong "ick" factor in the perverse relationship between him and his mother. Sure, Mr. King likes to range far and wide genre-wise, and I appreciate that, having enjoyed novels as diverse as "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" and "Wasteland." But while this book is "solid," it lacks the distinguishing King-esque factors that normally set his novels apart.