End of Watch: A Novel (3) (The Bill Hodges Trilogy)

A lot of innovation in psychedelic transcendence between consciousness of minds via heightened psychokinesis by pharmaceutical intervention and video games, the author created a believable yet unbelievable world of Brady Hatsfield moving from one mind to another. Sad to see Hodges pass away like that and Jerome with Holly taking the torch, it’s a classic Stephen King novel.

The villain of this piece is Brady Hartsfield, mass murderer, and architect of suicide. But we meet him in a vegetative state, immobilized and speechless, in an institution for hopeless cases like himself. He’s in this state thanks to retired police detective Bill HoHodges and his sidekick Holly, who saved hundreds of young lives by nearly killing Brady. The trouble is, Brady is secretly waking up from his brain injury, possibly thanks to an arrogant doctor who’s giving him an experimental drug. And he’s slowly but surely working out a way to kill more people. This is a wonderfully creepy book, and Stephen King very quickly and adroitly had me believing in all sorts of paranormal horrors. Makes me want to go back and read the earlier books in this trilogy.

I don't usually pre-order books, especially hardcovers, but I had to find out what happened to Hodges, Holly, Jerome, Brady, and the rest. I've had some pretty disappointing finales to my favorite series this year but thankfully this one was great.

Plot:

The plot sounds ridiculous but somehow Stephen King just makes it work. It kept me hooked, intrigued, and at parts, somewhat creeped out. I love the supernatural element in this final book and how suicide, something the bad guy seemed obsessed with in the first book, played its part in this final installment.

While it did take about a week to read this, I would have finished it a lot faster if I hadn't had other things to do. At parts it was very difficult to put down. It also was unpredictable, which is one of Stephen King's specialties. No character is safe.

Overall, the plot was intriguing and difficult to stop reading.

Setting:

Same setting as in the previous books. I liked that a good part of it was set in the hospital, though.

Characters:

While I enjoyed Hodges in the previous books, he shows a vulnerability in this one, and his determination to shield others from it melted my heart. While I did enjoy Peter Subers from the last book a lot, it was nice to be back with Bill for a while. He is an easy character to root for because despite his faults, deep down he is genuinely good and wants evil to be put in it's place.

I adore Holly, especially in this book. Her character seemed to thrive much more and she is also vulnerable in other ways. She's also seen as "weird" because she has anxiety, especially when it comes to other people, and I feel like King did a great job showing how it affects her life and relationship with others. I especially like how the people closest to her like Hodges and Jerome, are respectful of that.

There isn't much Jerome in this one, but he is far from important. He plays a big role in this one, as well as his younger sister, Barbara. I never thought too much of his sister before this book, but the short scene from her POV definitely made me like her and want to root for her.

Brady is back and while he is a monster, he is so psychotic that I can't help but enjoy his character and quirks. I'd say he is one of King's creepiest.

And while I didn't really care much for Freddi before, I did feel bad for her in this one. It was nice seeing her character explored further.

Relationships:

Like the last book, there isn't really any romance, which I find a good thing because it wouldn't have fit in this book. There is a kiss though and while it's unexpected, it's not exactly romantic, either--just incredibly sweet.

Hodges and Holly are definitely my favorite relationship, though. They make a good team, friends, and also have that "old married couple" vibe going on. I love how they both know one another so well and will adjust themselves to make the other more comfortable--especially when it comes to Holly's anxiety.

Brady and Hodges also make an interesting villain vs hero.

I also felt that Brady had some interesting interactions with his victims, especially the main two (Z-Boy & Dr. Z).

Writing/Voice:

I'm a SK fan so I enjoy his writing. I loved the combination of horror and supernatural in this one. The last book was more of a crime/thriller sprinkled with horror but this one was more like the first, which is exactly what the last book needed.

Ending:

While I would have liked to see the climax with Brady last a little longer, the ending for that was satisfying (and also great irony). The actual ending was sad but realistic, and I love that there is closure.

Overall, it was a satisfying ending for the series. I still consider the first to be my favorite but this one would definitely be second. I can't wait to see what SK will write next!

Loving the story so far! Have no issues with the content, it’s the construction of the book itself. The width of the book is quite small so the book doesn’t open up very well. I got to page 132 and the pages started falling out. First just a few and then an entire chunk…slightly frustrating as I like to share my books with others and I’ll have to try and repair this one before I do.

NOTE: It’s hard to get into my feelings about End of Watch without describing the basic premise of the book, which, in turn, is going to spoil some details from the first two books in the Bill Hodges/Mr. Mercedes trilogy. So, if you haven’t read those, just know that I liked End of Watch quite a bit, but I think it’s not as good as either of the first two books in the series. If you have read the first two books, feel free to read on. I won’t spoil anything from End of Watch beyond the basic premise.

Mr. Mercedes, the first novel in Stephen King’s trilogy of books about retired policeman Bill Hodges, represented something wholly new in King’s career. It was basically a crime novel, one in which a retired cop does his best to track down a serial killer. And while the details of the book were unique, and the style unmistakably King’s, it felt like the master trying something new: telling a suspense story without any supernatural elements. It’s something he’s done now and then – most notably in Misery, which was originally going to be a Bachman book – but not often, and it was a joy to find him doing it so well.

Then came Finders Keepers, which felt even less traditional – a crime novel about a long-lost book, authorial intentions, and so much more. Finders Keepers was a blast – a complex crime story that kept you guessing and whose stakes were hard to put into simple words – and easily outdid Mr. Mercedes. And yet, there was one odd plot thread: the ongoing fate of Brady Hartsfield. Left alive but comatose at the end of Mr. Mercedes, Hartsfield spends his short appearances in Finders Keepers in a nursing home, by all accounts unaware of the world around him…except for the hints that he may be able to use his mind to move objects around him. It was an odd note in a series that had so tightly eschewed supernatural elements, and one that I found a bit sad – as though King was already backtracking on his choice to do something more grounded.

Now comes End of Watch, which follows that thread to its natural progression: Brady Hartsfield may be less than fully healed, but people around him keep killing themselves. And Bill Hodges is worried about it, no matter what Brady’s doctors say, because he’s got his own concerns about Brady, and the rumors of what he’s able to do with his mind.

Without getting into specifics, End of Watch embraces that uncertainty about Brady, but it’s clear before long that this is a marriage of the grounded crime work of the other two Hodges books and the supernatural elements that have driven so many of his books. And while it’s somewhat different from the books before it, it ends up feeling of a piece with the others – despite Brady’s powers, this is a detective book, even if it’s one in which the killer may be something more powerful than a traditional human. (It does make the book’s dedication to Thomas Harris a bit odd, though; if there’s a book in the series that should be dedicated to Harris, it’s the original Mr. Mercedes.)

Here’s the thing: I really liked End of Watch, on the whole. Hartsfield makes for a fascinating villain, and King’s slow unveiling of his recuperation and development since the end of Mr. Mercedes makes for compelling reading, and unsettling material. More than that, Brady’s obsession with suicide, and his apparent ability to drive people into it, makes for deeply disturbing scenes, ones where King is able to tap into real psychological horrors at the core of all of us. And while his master plan is silly in parts (especially in its theatricality, a fact the book is smart enough to own up to), King is more than able to deliver in specific moments that make you realize what a horrific creation Brady is.

And yet, not all of the book works. It’s the final book in the Hodges series, and parts feel a bit too final, as if King is forcing things along in a way that doesn’t quite feel organic. (This mainly comes in the form of some health issues for Hodges that are introduced at the beginning of the novel and couldn’t be less subtle; it’s like when a Victorian woman is introduced in a film and keeps coughing into her handkerchief.) The pacing, too, feels odd at times, most notably in Brady’s final plan, which seems ambitious, unsettling, and strangely rushed for a character who plans out everything.

Nonetheless, there’s so much of End of Watch that works that it’s hard to complain too much. King, as always, knows how to write characters and make them come to life, even in a short amount of time, and that’s a skill that pays off often in this book, as we get into characters’ heads just in time to watch them unravel horribly. And, as always, his ability to crank up the pace of a book is hard to ignore; by the time this hits the climax, it’s going to be hard to stop, no matter how much you want to. Yes, parts of it don’t all work, and parts feel a bit less well structured and thought out than the other books in the series. And yet, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I enjoyed the book on the whole. I just can’t help but wonder what would have happened if King had stuck with his more “grounded” world all the way through to the end.

I have read most of Stephen King’s books, and although I have not liked all of them, I have enjoyed most. I like his style of writing, his creative and original ideas, his character development, as well as just the pure entertainment aspect of the books. I have, however, at times found his later books go beyond interesting into just plain too much paranormal. (Notably the Duma Key, which I loved for the first two-thirds, then for me, it just became plain silly with an ending that spoiled the book.) This book I would have given only 2-½ stars to if I could have. I absolutely loved Mr. Mercedes. In that book King stepped away from his usual type of writing, and moved into realistic crime fiction, on the par with my favorite police/detective crime author. I was so impressed, not only that he stepped into another genre, but that it was an outstanding book. I rarely give five star ratings to books, and when I do it is usually Literary Fiction that leaves me in awe of the book for days afterwards. But I gave Mr. Mercedes 5-stars. I was so looking forward to book two, which I enjoyed, though the ending strongly hinted that the next book was going to move more into the paranormal. I gave Finders Keepers a 4-star rating, which for me, means I really enjoyed it, and would recommend it to others. This one, however, was such a let down. I was really hoping that he would stay mostly in the believable, crime fiction mode, which he carried off so excellently in the first book. In End of Watch, the whole concept of how Brady continued his life of crime was just too unbelievable. It was also predictable. I actually lost interest in the book, but I tend to plug through books (and movies) just to see how thing turn out, and having already spent time with the main characters through the first two books, I couldn’t quite walk away from it. It wasn’t a complete loss, however, as 2/3 of the way through it became more of a page turner for me, and I liked the ending. If this had been a stand alone book, I might have accepted the Brady character more, despite the predictable plot, finding it at least creatively interesting. But for me he just ruined what started out as such a wonderful, refreshing new side of King, by falling back into his typical style of writing. I was so impressed, and excited, that he seemed to be stepping off the trail well traveled, and venturing into something new. Now I am just plain disappointed.