In a Midwestern city, a man climbs into a Mercedes-Benz fuelled by a dark agenda. He drives to a job fair, where thousands of unemployed hopefuls vie for a chance at a career. They have no idea that a killer is coming towards them. The driver strikes before dawn, and leaves eight dead and fifteen injured in his wake. Just as mysteriously as he appeared, the killer vanishes into the fog, never to be seen again. Or so the retired detective Bill Hodges thinks. Streetwise and battle-hardened, he had worked on the case when it was still fresh, and gave up on it thinking that it led nowhere. However, an unnerving letter arrives at his door and claims to be from the killer. Bill can’t resist the pull of the Mercedes killer, for more lives are at stake. The killer will strike again, and only Bill and his allies stand in his way.

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American writer of contemporary horror fiction, science fiction, fantasy literature, and screenplays. More than 350 million copies of King's novels and short story collections have been sold, and many of his stories have been adapted for film, television, and other media. King has written a number of books using the pen name Richard Bachman, and one short story, "The Fifth Quarter", as John Swithen.
In 2003 the National Book Foundation awarded King the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.