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.