Mr. Mercedes Trilogy- Not his best work?

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Hi I have been a constant reader for over 20 years now and I have to say that after reading Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers I'm just not impressed with these books. It reminds of way back when he was under contract obligation to put out a required number of books and he wrote Gerald's Game & Delores Claiborne. Mr. King is the Master of Horror and I just don't find these books That scary. Revival was IMHO better then these 2 so far. Any one else feel this way or am I alone?
 

FlakeNoir

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I didn't feel that way about them, the trilogy is a completely different genre to a lot of his others though.
Also, I don't think he has ever had trouble with contractual obligation... as often he had more than the required number of books ready to go and his agents put a hold on them--hence the birth of Richard Bachman.
 

blunthead

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Aug 2, 2006
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Hi I have been a constant reader for over 20 years now and I have to say that after reading Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers I'm just not impressed with these books. It reminds of way back when he was under contract obligation to put out a required number of books and he wrote Gerald's Game & Delores Claiborne. Mr. King is the Master of Horror and I just don't find these books That scary. Revival was IMHO better then these 2 so far. Any one else feel this way or am I alone?

They are not supposed to be scary...

I didn't feel that way about them, the trilogy is a completely different genre to a lot of his others though.
Also, I don't think he has ever had trouble with contractual obligation... as often he had more than the required number of books ready to go and his agents put a hold on them--hence the birth of Richard Bachman.
Welcome to the Board! What n_n and Flake say. sK explores all kinds of genres.
 
I didn't feel that way about them, the trilogy is a completely different genre to a lot of his others though.
Also, I don't think he has ever had trouble with contractual obligation... as often he had more than the required number of books ready to go and his agents put a hold on them--hence the birth of Richard Bachman.
I know he writes like crazy and has several stories & a few novels in his desk just waiting. It's such a different genre from the last ones he published. The suspense wasn't THRILLING, I guess is all. I thought Dr. Sleep was Phenomenal. Just curious to hear what others have to say, I've already ordered my copy of The Bazaar of Bad Dreams and will continue to read his stuff until one of us passes from this earth.
 

skimom2

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Oct 9, 2013
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I thought they were pretty good. Crime fiction is different from what he's done before, and I think it chafed him (there is a formula that makes these things work, and he's decidedly NOT a formula writer). He's too good a writer to completely fail at whatever he turns his hand to, but these aren't his forte.
 

bobledrew

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May 13, 2010
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I guess I sort of agree . How's that for damning with faint praise! I don't know if the MM trilogy would be what I would send into space to represent the King corpus. But I can't 100% agree with your post because we obviously differ on Dolores Claiborne. That book is FAR from a contractual obligation, in my opinion.
 

Haunted

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Hi! I am thoroughly enjoying the MM series because I love the characters. With me and our gracious Host it is always the wonderful people he draws with his words. I did not care for the Bachman books n'tall, different tone I guess. sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege, I know, I know
 

skimom2

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I guess I sort of agree . How's that for damning with faint praise! I don't know if the MM trilogy would be what I would send into space to represent the King corpus. But I can't 100% agree with your post because we obviously differ on Dolores Claiborne. That book is FAR from a contractual obligation, in my opinion.
Mine, too. One of my favorite King books!
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
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Hi! I am thoroughly enjoying the MM series because I love the characters. With me and our gracious Host it is always the wonderful people he draws with his words. I did not care for the Bachman books n'tall, different tone I guess. sacrilege, sacrilege, sacrilege, I know, I know
The only Bachman I really liked was Blaze (probably because I adore Of Mice and Men, and Blaze is reminiscent of that book). With a body of work as diverse as Mr. King has written, it would be silly to expect to love everything :) I do TRY everything, though--you never know when what you think won't interest you will flip your switch.
 

Haunted

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I guess I sort of agree . How's that for damning with faint praise! I don't know if the MM trilogy would be what I would send into space to represent the King corpus. But I can't 100% agree with your post because we obviously differ on Dolores Claiborne. That book is FAR from a contractual obligation, in my opinion.
I LOVED Dolores Claiborne!! Horror that humans visit on each other.
 

carrie's younger brother

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Mar 8, 2012
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Hi I have been a constant reader for over 20 years now and I have to say that after reading Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers I'm just not impressed with these books. It reminds of way back when he was under contract obligation to put out a required number of books and he wrote Gerald's Game & Delores Claiborne. Mr. King is the Master of Horror and I just don't find these books That scary. Revival was IMHO better then these 2 so far. Any one else feel this way or am I alone?

Welcome! :watermelon:

So where is it written in stone that SK is the "Master of Horror?" He left genre writing many years ago. Also, he is still under contract to write a number of books for his current publisher; that's how all publishing houses work, no matter who the author is. That said, the two books in question do not feel at all to me like "obligations." I liked them a lot.
Lastly, as far as Gerald's Game goes, I love that book. It has for me SK's scariest charcter ever, The Space Cowboy. Different strokes... and all that jazz.

And by the way, I have been a Constant Reader for 40 years. ;)

And by the way, part 2... I really, really disliked Revival.
 

bobledrew

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Welcome! :watermelon:

... Also, he is still under contract to write a number of books for his current publisher; that's how all publishing houses work, no matter who the author is. ...

Perhaps Ms. Moderator can share a little background, but I seem to recall at one point he was essentially auctioning books off, one by one. Or are the drugs wearing off / kicking in?
 

carrie's younger brother

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Mar 8, 2012
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Perhaps Ms. Moderator can share a little background, but I seem to recall at one point he was essentially auctioning books off, one by one. Or are the drugs wearing off / kicking in?
He is under contract with Scribner; I doubt he is allowed to auction off his books to other publishers. He may have a very lenient contract that allows him a lot of freedom, but I would wager he has some obligation to Scribner to produce a certain amount of work within a given period.
 

chief4db

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As a common theme there not supposed to be scary. Detective novels/ suspense/ thriller. But the similarity to his other horror books ( which is why I am surprised u don't like it even some) is the story telling. The first part of fk with the murder and robbery of notebooks ect ect is absolutely suberb story telling. I like John grisham and Lee childs so I dig suspense and detective novels. Jk rowling cuckoos calling and silkworm r right up there if not better in some areas with fk and mr.mercedes.
 

Moderator

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To be honest, I don't know with 100% certainty what his current contract status is with Scribner as he fulfilled his initial one a long time ago but I'm thinking it's on a book by book basis. He does have the ability to go with other publishers, though, as he has done that with Hard Case Crime to publish books with them and Random House for Black House with Peter Straub.
 

80sFan

Just one more chapter...
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Welcome! :watermelon:

So where is it written in stone that SK is the "Master of Horror?" He left genre writing many years ago. Also, he is still under contract to write a number of books for his current publisher; that's how all publishing houses work, no matter who the author is. That said, the two books in question do not feel at all to me like "obligations." I liked them a lot.
Lastly, as far as Gerald's Game goes, I love that book. It has for me SK's scariest charcter ever, The Space Cowboy. Different strokes... and all that jazz.

And by the way, I have been a Constant Reader for 40 years. ;)

And by the way, part 2... I really, really disliked Revival.

AGREED!!!
I even reread 'Revival' to see if I'd enjoy it more the 2nd time around. I did not.