FINDERS KEEPERS

By Stephen King

Why am I more interested about the guy in the coma? 

The Ugly Truth:

If you have not noticed, I am wayyy too into the thriller genre right now, and, after this one, I may need to take a quick break. I say this because I felt myself losing interest a lot faster in this book than I normally would for a Stephen King novel. I would not say this was bad by any means, it just did not hold my attention like I am used to is all.

Finders Keepers is the second installment of the Bill Hodges Trilogy, which, in my understanding, is Stephen King’s attempt at writing mystery novels without all the other creepy, otherworldly items he usually includes. While I did not read the first of the series, Mr. Mercedes, I do not think I missed out on much based on the reviews of the book and because this second story did not totally build off of the first.

This one starts with an acclaimed author, John Rothstein, being murdered in his home by a small-time crime junkie and, believe it or not, the author’s number one fan, Morris Bellamy. The goal of the theft was to not just steal money but to obtain the author’s unpublished works from the last sixteen years before he died and they were lost forever. However, before Morrie can celebrate his victory by reading all 160 notebooks on a beach somewhere in the sun, he gets in trouble for an entirely different crime and is sentenced to life in prison.

25 years later, a teenage boy, Peter Sauber, and his family move to where Morris Bellamy grew up and, unknowingly, stumble across his loot. Pete, knowing his family's current struggles with the stock market crash of 2008 and injuries from an attack a few years before, decides not to report his findings but looks at the find as a stroke of good luck. He uses the hidden cash to support his family and quickly surpassed Morrie as Rothstein’s number one fan as he dives deeper and deeper into each hidden notebook. 

Unknowingly, past, present and future paths are all about to cross. As Morris’ predicaments change, Pete finds himself in an incredible dangerous position, standing between a truly evil man and the things he desires most. 

Now enter the true lead of the trilogy, Bill Hodges, and now lose me, the reader, entirely. You can see above that I was really getting into this book and these characters when all of a sudden, BAM, insert Mr. I am old but can save everyone. Maybe it was because he came in too late, or perhaps it was because I did not read the first book, but I could not attach myself to Hodges or either of his sidekicks for the last half of the book. I felt that they did not add anything to the plot and really only helped in the last 30 seconds of the conflict (I mean, thank God they did, but still).  I do think that they were necessary to get us to the third installment of the series, and the one I am more looking forward to, which is about the first novel’s villain and the newfound powers he has (Stephen King is so back!).

Anyways, I recommend giving this series a go – especially if you want to say you read a Stephen King novel – this is one of the easier ones.