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Review of 'End of Watch'

End of Watch by Stephen King

end_of_watch.jpg The third book in the “(Detective) Bill Hodges” trilogy, following “Mr. Mercedes” and “Finders Keepers” sees the criminal Detective Bill Hodges thought he had permanently put away (by way of, literally, bashing his head in) finding a way to escape his shattered body unable to move in a hospital room. Little does Hodges know that murderer Brady Hartsfield has been treated by an experimental new drug that appears to have given him the ability to control people psychically. Hodges is under pressure to figure out what is going on with not only the increasing numbers of “suicides” that appear to point towards hartsfield's involvement but also the personal news that he has been trying to ignore that threatens his life. With the help of his partner at “Finders Keepers”, “Holly Gibney” Hodges has very little time to stop the bloodshed…

I have not read the previous two books which made this a bit tricky to read but easy enough to pick up with the details filled in relatively quickly. As it is a Stephen King novel the violence is often explicit but, as with other King books, it is the characters that we are most drawn to as he has a way of really bringing them to life – The stubborn former policeman refusing to accept the hand that fate has given him, the pathological psychopath that will stop at nothing to achieve his goals and the numerous other characters we encounter along the way. Figuring out exactly what is going on keeps us reading though it is not too much of a mystery. I don't suppose the ending is really never much in doubt but it is the journey that fascinates.

Another well written, easy to read, and enjoyable crime/mystery/horror caper from the master.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2019-09-15

Genre: Crime/Mystery

Publisher: Hodder

Publication Date: 2016

ISBN: 9781473642379

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