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Author: Stephen King| Genre: Supernatural, Thriller | Pages: 496
The Plot:
In End of Watch, book three of the Bill Hodges Trilogy, the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” Brady Hartsfield drives innocent people to suicide through a gaming app, and if the founders of Finders Keepers – Retired detective Bill Hodges and his sidekick Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, there’ll be numerous suicides following; not to mention they’ll be victims themselves.
Recap of the Trilogy:
In book 1 of the trilogy Mr Mercedes, Brady Hartsfield runs a Mercedes on a bunch of people at a job convention killing 8 and injuring many others. Retired detective Bill Hodges takes it upon himself to solve the case by leashing the Mercedes Killer.
Book Review: Mr Mercedes by Stephen King
In book 2 Finders Keepers, Hodges along with his sidekicks Jerome and Holly Gibney start the firm the novel’s named after and the first case they have is that of Bellamy Morris, the psychotic admirer and murderer of the acclaimed author Rothstein.
Book Review: Finders Keepers by Stephen King
The Final Book:
In book 3, that is End of Watch, we have the mad Mercedes Killer, Brady Hartsfield back, planning yet bigger havoc from within the walls of his hospital room through a game app called Zappit causing suicides all over the city. Brady Hartsfield is being treated in Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic since 5 years. The chances of him recovering is zero. But behind those sober smiles and stares, lurks the evil that Brady is now with unimaginable supernatural powers which he is using to provoke people to commit suicides. But it will be a while before Retd. Det. Hodges and his partner Gibney can trace the suicides to Hartsfield and figure how the gaming consoles are being tempered with from a room in Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic.
This is going to be one exciting review. So get ready.
Like the earlier 2 books, this book too is relatively fast-paced with scores of murders and mysteries taking place every minute. One thing is clear though, King knew what he had to do with this book and had the end better planned out; considering the mess book 2 was. Obviously, I liked it much better than the rest of the books in the trilogy.
Brady Hartsfield is much more sinister in this instalment and don’t let his looks deceive you. He is avenging everyone involved in ruining 5 years of his life cooped up at the trauma centre and that invariably, involves the whole city. What is a chilling drama without a mass impact! He is heartless as ever and more cold-blooded and creepy this time.
The character development of Brady surpassed the lengths attempted in the preceding novel, and he grows up to be a character King fans will surely remember forever. Evidently, I loved Brady as much as I loathed him. Hodges and his crew only play as much a role as they did in the previous books, although Gibney will surprise you with her hunches and Jerome with his wits.
The flow of the prose is seamless and unlike the previous books, nothing felt cliched or redundant. Even the medium King chose was a fresh one and the cool display of imagination to address an important social issue is worth applaud. You wouldn’t see where fiction leaves you and where real life issues begin and that was something that impressed me.
The cherry on the cake though was what King saved of this final book in the trilogy and that was the subtle transition from suspense to supernatural, in the style King is admired for. Hartsfield is gone out of his head and now functions from an eerie world, his expressions, the dialogues inside his head, the bizarre turn of events with and around people he comes in touch with create a most stunning, nerve-chilling effect on the reader and somewhere inside you know, you already know something really bad is going to happen. That style of writing which is a trademark of King is most welcome toward the end of the trilogy and also what makes this book so much more meaningful than its predecessors.
In a nutshell,
I think everyone ought to read this book, whether you love thrillers or not. It is meant for everyone, and the best part is it is not too closely related to the other two books so passes even as stand-alone. But if you are at it, might as well read the first two books as only then you will be able to understand the characters and the plot fully, and only then will you be able to appreciate this final book.
And yes, one more thing – you will never again see fish in the same light once you’ve read ‘End of Watch.’
You can buy your copy of ‘End of Watch’ by clicking on this link.
Have you read ‘Bill Hodges Trilogy’? Which book did you like best? Share your thoughts in comments below.
Happy reading till we meet next.
Until then, carpe diem! 🙂
~~~~~
© Asha Seth
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Asha Seth 
I haven’t tackled any of these books yet, I am meaning too at some point, especially once I finish my second reading of The Dark Tower series. King is a great writer, and this is the first book to be added to the wish list this year.
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I’ve been meaning to start the Dark Tower series for long now but I am sort of intimidated by the commitment it demands. I love King’s horror novels and there are few Ive read many times. Of this trilogy, I was not sure but the end part made me appreciate that I gave it a chance.
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