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Title: End of Watch

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 372

Rating: 3.75*/5

Stephen King – End of Watch

This book is the third and final book in the Bill Hodges trilogy, and it came as something of a relief. I loved Mr. Mercedes, the first book, but Finders Keepers (the second one) wasn’t up to the same standard. This one isn’t as good as Mr. Mercedes either, but it’s still pretty good, and I did like how you get to learn more about some of the characters. The whole gang is here, from notorious domestic terrorist Brady Hartsfield to Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney and Jerome Robinson.

It’s also interesting to see how Hartsfield’s ostensibly psychic powers develop and how he successfully uses suicide as a weapon. On the downside, it just didn’t feel quite right having all of these psychic powers and astral projection when the first book was basically a hardboiled crime thriller. Adding all of these other elements may be more King, but it just doesn’t seem to ring true to what the first book attempted to do. But maybe I’m only saying that because I think it kind of devalues Mr. Mercedes, which I gave 5/5 to.

There’s also the fact that I already knew how the entire trilogy was going to end from the very first book, purely because of the title of this one. When it finally happened, it felt like something of an anticlimax. The same is true with the final confrontation between Hodges and Hartsfield, which almost felt rushed after how much the reader has gone through to get there. Unless you’re a hardcore King fan who wants to read every single one of his releases, I’d suggest just reading Mr. Mercedes and then calling it quits.

I also had a few problems with King’s representations of tech, and he even says in his afterword that he’s changed some of the details to suit the story. I kept unsuspending my disbelief because stuff was happening that just isn’t possible. There was also a character who went to visit Hartsfield when I don’t think that she, as a person, would have done it. But if she didn’t, the entire book wouldn’t have happened. Bummer.

Stephen King Quote

Click here to buy End of Watch.

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Stephen King – Dolores Claiborne | Review

Title: Dolores Claiborne

Author: Stephen King

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 308

Rating: 4*/5

Stephen King – Dolores Claiborne

Dolores Claiborne is interesting because the entire book is essentially the narrative of a woman who’s been arrested for murder. We join her in the interview room at the local police station as she explains what happened, and I can’t actually tell you too much more than that without spoiling the plot.

What’s cool here is that despite the entire book being essentially just Dolores’ dialogue, it actually adds to the characterisation at a whole. It’s almost like the ultimate unreliable narrator, but it’s also impressive to see how strong the characterisation was. Considering all of the characterisation had to be conveyed by Dolores’ dialogue, I think he did a pretty strong job.

Similarly, King deployed dialect to great effect, and the way that Dolores speaks is itself a great little indicator of her personality, her upbringing and other key characteristics. Honestly, I found her to be a highly likeable character, and I was impressed by her resilience and how she stood up for what she believed in, even if that did lead to her spending time in the interview room at the station.

Overall then, this is a solid book and very much worth reading. It’d actually make a pretty decent introduction to Stephen King’s work as a whole, partly because it’s relatively easy to read and it doesn’t take a huge time commitment. But on top of that, it touches on themes like domestic abuse and alcoholism that crop up elsewhere. The good thing is that he doesn’t tackle those subjects just for the sake of doing it but rather because they’re integral parts of the story line, and it’s also a story of empowerment, in a way. I mean, Delores is pretty badass. What a character.