Stephen King's 10 Best Non-Horror Tales
4. Mr. Mercedes
Mr. Mercedes is the most recent published work by King included on this list, and one of his most acclaimed works in years. A mystery novel at its core, it's the tale of ex police officer Bill Hodges, who receives a letter from a killer who has plowed his Mercedes into a crowd of bystanders, killing several. The killer now wants to reclaim the rush the act gave him, but wants to go even bigger. Hodges is forced into action to stop him.
Published in 2014, the book is the winner of both the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Mystery and Thriller (2014) and the Edgar Award for Best Novel (2015). It also proved popular enough for King, who calls it his first "hardboiled detective novel" to immediately announce plans to turn it into a trilogy, with Finders, Keepers - the second novel in the series - set to be published this June.
The book has also been optioned for a television outing and will be adapted by David E. Kelley. If that's successful, the other volumes will likely follow, meaning you'll be hearing a lot more about Mr. Mercedes in the coming years.