A cop named Bill Hodges must come out of retirement to stop a crazed man named Brady Hartfield, who drove his Mercedes into a job fair in a Midwestern city that left 8 people dead and 15 wounded. Prior to the event, Brady lived with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loves the feel of death on the wheels of his Mercedes, so that's why he carried out the crime. If Bill, along with his allies, don't act fast, Brady's next attack, if it succeeds, could kill or maim thousands.

What was with the way the cops, public, reporters, etc. wanted to blame the Mercedes' owner for leaving her keys in her car? It was a bizarre plot point to me initially and kept getting brought up again and again. If some nut stole a car and used it in a crime, I can't imagine any real person actually blaming the car's owner for accidentally leaving their keys in it. I mean, if someone swiped a shovel from my garage and used it to brain someone, I wouldn't expect the cops to repeatedly question whether or not I'd left the door open, insinuating that somehow would result in culpability. If he'd mentioned it once, it would've just been a quirk I passed over, but to have characters keep bringing it up and have several plot points revolve around it, it seemed really off to me and kept breaking me out of being immersed in the book.

I agree, it was annoying how Olivia T was blamed by the public and the cops for the car part. King did make her unlikeable, but she never deserved what happened to her. I liked that her sister was pissed at the cops and others.

the Holly character suddenly turning from the mumbler to Chloe from 24 seemed a bit much and kind of eliminated the need for Jerome's talents.

happy ending with everyone having a picnic, c'mon.