Jonathan Kent's Blog, page 8

End of Watch - by Stephen King. A lifelong fan's review

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

**spoiler alert** Ok, let me get it out there. I have been a Stephen King fan since at the age of eleven when I was given a copy of 'Salems Lot for Christmas by my parents. I'm pretty sure they had no idea of the contents, but were just reacting to my English teachers request that I 'read more'. Anyway, their slip up was to my advantage as despite being scared out of my skin, I was hooked....

I can count on one hand the Stephen King books I have yet to read and like all authors with a huge body of work you have to take the rough with the smooth. Some novels (The Dark Tower series, Lisey's Story, Bag of Bones, The Green Mile) stick in your head for years. Others (The Tommyknockers, Gerald's Game, Tom Gordon) don't leave a huge impression other than being a bit of a trawl to finish.

The Bill Hodges trilogy sits somewhere in the middle. Until I started reading Mr. Mercedes I wasn't aware it was going to be more of a police procedural than his usual fare. But once inside, I enjoyed the (slightly different ride). Finders Keepers (the second of the series) didn't seem to hold together as well as the first, but I was fascinated to see where the trilogy ended up.

All I can say is, I wasn't disappointed. End of Watch is probably the more 'King' of the trilogy with the telekinetic story line, but the way he weaved this into a thriller narrative and still make it believable was impressive. Could I believe that corrupt 'Zappits' (a kind of cheap iPad) could be used to brain-wash people. Sure. Could I believe that Brady (the Mercedes killer from the first book) could have some very real out of body experiences. Sure (it's what Mr. King does best).

The ending was gut-wrenching, but exactly what was needed and from the first novel you kind of knew where it was going to end. As an avid reader of SF, Fantasy and Horror and a fan of Mr.King it was refreshing to read a book from a different genre.

Don't know what's coming next, but it's the unknown I like.....End of Watch