Mr. Mercedes

The book I read this past month was Mr. Mercedes, a horror novel by Stephen King. It starts off with the mass murder of the city's unemployed by a mystery driver in an old Mercedes Benz. With the evidence left behind, investigators aren't able to tell whether the criminal is a mastermind, or just plain crazy; whatever the case may be, it is evident that the murderer must be stopped. Then, a retired detective hears about the case, and remembers a case he was assigned to that went cold; a case very similar to this one. He believes that the Mercedes Killer may be the same person as the criminal in the case from his years of duty, and decides to do some investigating; however, since this is illegal, as he is retired, he must work alone. Eventually, the detective begins receiving letters, cleansed of even fingerprints, from the Mercedes Killer, and then is instructed to talk to the person on an anonymous chat site. With each step closer to discovering the identity of the Mercedes Killer, the search becomes more intense; the letters and messages begin to carry threats, the possibility of another mass murder arises, and more people join the secret search for the mass murderer. I chose to read this book because I enjoy horror books, and have recently become highly interested in Stephen King. If you are not bothered by the gruesome, I would recommend this book for the plot and deep meanings; if you are sensitive to those kind of things, this book is not for you. This book is connected to American culture because the events in it are similar to things that happen every day in America; innocent people being killed, retired members of the police force struggling with depression, unemployment; the most frightening thing about this book is how similar it is to everyday life, which implies that it occurring in real life could be possible.