End of Watch

Stephen King has been one of the most prolific and popular writers of the late 20th century. King is best known as a horror writer, but his strong characterization and use of setting and mood give him a crossover appeal to readers who aren’t normally interested in the horror genre. He writes across many genres, including horror, supernatural, suspense, mystery, science-fiction and fantasy, often blurring boundaries between one genre and another.

End of Watch is the last book in King’s first series of hard-boiled/horror hybrids, introducing the “abnatural” element of Brady’s mental powers. Two of King’s later hard-boiled detective stories, Joyland and Later, introduce elements of the truly supernatural—employing ghosts and demons—which puts them closer to the genre for which King has been best known. King’s antagonists are often not supernatural in origin. Entities that appear supernatural often have scientific explanations, even if the science is more science-fiction than current reality. For example, in The Outsider—the Holly Gibney story that follows End of Watch—the Outsider appears supernatural but is a physical entity that obeys the known laws of what we understand as material reality. Being outside of known science but nevertheless demonstrably real, it could be described as “abnatural,” meaning outside the parameters of the material world as it is usually understood. Brady Hartsfield’s powers could be described in the same way; they have a material scientific basis, but the effects of that scientific basis are outside the understood parameters of what is possible.

Book 1, Mr. Mercedes, is King’s most typical example of hard-boiled detective genre. The hard-boiled detective genre relies on a realistic view of the world. King’s closely-detailed, often gritty and dark style meshes well with the hard-boiled genre. The hard-boiled genre typically focuses on human corruption rather than grand cosmic evil. Brady Hartsfield, despite his powers, is still only a petty human-being whose ambitions never rise to the level of evil on a cosmic scale. The classic hard-boiled detective story leans toward a stark, unsentimental view of the world. Settings tend to be urban and grim. The average hard-boiled detective is usually a cynical loner/outsider with a well concealed heart of gold that compels him to see justice done, especially where he sees a lady in peril. In End of Watch, Bill Hodges has softened from the emotionally isolated individual he was at the start of the first book. He has been redeemed by his friendship with Holly, who brings an element of optimism into his life.

End of Watch takes the form of a “how-catch-em”—the reverse of a “whodunit” in which the reader knows the identity of the killer from the start. In End of Watch, the reader is privy to all of Brady Hartsfield’s plots, and the tension of the story arises from wondering if the detective will figure it out before the killer completes his plan.

King has been criticized for his treatment of race, particularly his inclusion of a trope that involves Black characters who have supernatural powers or insight and who mentor or guide the white protagonist (Woods. Scott. “Stephen King's Magical Negroes.” Streetlight Guild, 2021). John Coffey in The Green Mile, Mother Abigail in The Stand, and Dick Halloran in The Shining are all examples of the trope. Many readers also object to Jerome in the Mr. Mercedes series, since in Book 1, his “magical” computer skills help Hodges to track Brady. In End of Watch, King takes a more nuanced approach to race via Barbara’s observations of Lowtown and her cognitive dissonance in connecting to what white America represents as Black culture. End of Watch has received little criticism for racism, as some of his other novels have done.