Wake up, genius.
Finders Keepers is a 2015 crime novel written by Stephen King and published by Scribner. This is the second book in the Bill Hodges trilogy. It was preceded by Mr. Mercedes and followed by End of Watch. This novel was adapted into a television series called Mr. Mercedes. No other adaptations have been announced.
"Shit don't mean shit."
Plot
When legendary author John Rothstein is shot and killed, deranged and obsessive reader Morris Bellamy escapes with a bunch of money from his safe as well as a boatload of notebooks with secret stories and poems written by Rothstein. To hide from the police, Morris buries the notebooks and money, but is later arrested for a different crime. Years later, young Peter Saubers comes across the notebooks and money, taking it. When Morris is released on parole, danger immediately enters Pete Saubers' life. A crazed Bellamy will stop at nothing to get the notebooks, and Pete requires protection from the infamous Det. Ret., Bill Hodges.
Review
Finders Keepers is an improvement over Mr. Mercedes.
I'm still a little bit disappointed by the slow pace of this series, but the climaxes of both novels have been absolutely incredible. Finders Keepers has a better story then Mr. Mercedes and is slowly building up tension to have the second most explosive climax I've ever read in a book (behind The Shining). However, it takes a lot of time to get to a really great final fifty pages. This book can drag a lot. When it's following Morris Bellamy, it's a pretty entertaining ride. But when it is following Pete or even Bill Hodges, it can just screech to a halt. Bill Hodges is still a main protagonist in the novel, but his role is reduced to a very small amount in this. His role in the story is important, but he doesn't appear until about 150 pages in. That's a long time to wait for your main character to show up. But everything is overshadowed by the climax. A fantastic climax can change a bad book into a good one, as it did for me with The Shining, Mr. Mercedes, and now Finders Keepers.
Finders Keepers has a more exciting plot and, as I've now stated ad nauseam, a great climax. That's what puts it above Mr. Mercedes.
Final Score
Finders Keepers is an improvement over the previous book in the series and sets the stage nicely for the finale, but still suffers from a painfully slow pace at certain points.
I will give it a Savory rating. Age range is 15+.
SWEET N' SOUR SCALE
Sweet (Great) Savory (Good)
Sour (Bad)
Moldy (Terrible)
"Finders Keepers"
Fun Factor: 7.5/10
Writing: 8.5/10
Story: 7.5/10
Characters: 8/10
Quality: 7.5/10
Written by Stephen King
Published on June 2, 2015
434 pages