The time has come — we finally find out what happened to Mr. Mercedes. Let me tell you, these last couple of chapters were a wild ride. 

While at Brady’s house, Hodges, Jerome and Holly stole one of Brady’s laptops to see if they could find his next plan. 

After hours of digging around, they finally find a confirmation email stating Brady had bought tickets to a concert on Thursday night. 

Brady had changed his plans of bombing the art museum and decided to wear his suicide vest to a boy band concert. He decided to do this because he knew it would be insanely crowded and would kill a lot of people.

Jerome’s sister and mom were going to be at this concert so the group had to act fast. 

Hodges sent over a picture of Brady to the head of security a couple of days prior, just to be careful. So the group was confused how he could have gotten in. 

At the time, Brady had already snuck into the concert by shaving his head and pretending to need a wheelchair. 

When Hodges, Jerome and Holly arrived they explained to security there is a man at the concert with plans to set off explosives. 

A security guard gave them a map of the seating, and this was when Holly figured out Brady had snuck in by pretending to be handicapped.

Holly and Jerome went into the concert while Hodges stayed back, since Brady knows what Hodges looks like. 

They found Brady pretty quickly and Holly began hitting his head with her elbow until he started bleeding.

Jerome had to pull her away so she wouldn’t end up killing him. Holly then took out the batteries of the bomb and all was well.

Hodges actually ended up having a heart attack because of the stress and went to the hospital. 

When he woke up, he was pleasantly surprised to read in the news Jerome and Holly were named heroes by the city and received a medal.

Brady on the other hand suffered a brain injury and had been in a hospital since the day of the concert. 

He woke up and spoke for the first time in 17 months, asking the nurse for his mother. 

I guess he didn’t remember killing her. 

The endings of Hodges and Brady definitely contrasted each other. When Hodges was released from the hospital it was a “warm and sunny day,” while when Brady woke up it was a “rain-soaked evening.”

Overall I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It had plot twists I would’ve never suspected and it really made me think about what goes through a murderer’s mind. 

The book was written in 2014 and references current events from that year — including the current President, Barack Obama.

This made the story feel more real and current since it took place when I was alive and I can actually remember the events mentioned in the book. 

I always enjoy Stephen King’s writing as he knows how to portray almost any character only through words. 

“Mr. Mercedes” is the first book of this trilogy, followed by “Finders Keepers” and “End of Watch.” So I’ll have to read these to find out what else happens. 

For the next book, I will be reading “Something Blue” by Emily Giffin. I have read a couple of her books before and loved them. 

Come back in two weeks to see how the story starts.

Olson can be reached at [email protected].