2 Bloggers 1 Series - End of Watch

 

We did it!  Stormi and I finally finished the Bill Hodges trilogy by King.  We still need to read the Holly story in If It Bleeds as well as Holly, but we've conquered the first part of this task and we've already read The Outsider so we are kind of ahead of the game.  So read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Storm Reads to see Stormi's! 

 

TITLE: End of Watch (Bill Hodges #3)

AUTHOR: Stephen King

PUBLISHER: Scribner

PUBLISHING DATE: June 7, 2016

PAGES: 432   

SOURCE: Own

FROM GOODREADS: The spectacular finale to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with Mr. Mercedes (winner of the Edgar Award) and Finders Keepers—In End of Watch, the diabolical “Mercedes Killer” drives his enemies to suicide, and if Bill Hodges and Holly Gibney don’t figure out a way to stop him, they’ll be victims themselves. 

In Room 217 of the Lakes Region Traumatic Brain Injury Clinic, something has awakened. Something evil. Brady Hartsfield, perpetrator of the Mercedes Massacre, where eight people were killed and many more were badly injured, has been in the clinic for five years, in a vegetative state. According to his doctors, anything approaching a complete recovery is unlikely. But behind the drool and stare, Brady is awake, and in possession of deadly new powers that allow him to wreak unimaginable havoc without ever leaving his hospital room.

Retired police detective Bill Hodges, the unlikely hero of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers, now runs an investigation agency with his partner, Holly Gibney—the woman who delivered the blow to Hartsfield’s head that put him on the brain injury ward. When Bill and Holly are called to a suicide scene with ties to the Mercedes Massacre, they find themselves pulled into their most dangerous case yet, one that will put their lives at risk, as well as those of Bill’s heroic young friend Jerome Robinson and his teenage sister, Barbara. Brady Hartsfield is back, and planning revenge not just on Hodges and his friends, but on an entire city. 

In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense. No one does it better than King.

MY THOUGHTS: I think this synopsis probably gives too much away but I'll try to avoid spoilers. The key takeaway is that this book is my second favorite of the trilogy with book #2 being the first and book #1 coming in third.  Which is odd for a series but hey, it's King so nothing is ever normal, right?

So, the old team gets together one final time to fight Brady Hartsfield.  Due to some mad doctor, Brady has come out on top of his life-threatening injuries with new abilities.  And he has a plan to take out everyone that has wronged him, including a bunch of people that survived his previous attempts. Bill and his business partner Holly set out to fight one last battle, and since Jerome's sister Barbara is one of Brady's targets, he comes home from Arizona to assist.

As much as I HATE Brady, I LOVE it when Holly, Bill and Jerome are all together and working for a common purpose. Their found family is one of my most favorites of all time and is probably the best thing about this trilogy in my opinion.  I felt this book was fast paced, yet still left me plenty of time to spend with my old friends.  Th ending was satisfying, and also a bit sad, but that was to be expected.  This trilogy is going on my list of some of my favorite King reads and I'm so glad Stormi and I stuck with it!

MY RATING: 4 PAWS