Finders Keepers by Stephen King
What It’s About: (via Wikipedia)
Finders Keepers is the second volume in a trilogy focusing on Detective Bill Hodges, following Mr. Mercedes. The book is about the murder of reclusive writer John Rothstein (an amalgamation of John Updike, Philip Roth, and J. D. Salinger), his missing notebooks and the release of his killer from prison after 35 years.
My Thoughts:
I found the first book in this trilogy, Mr Mercedes, very enjoyable (I reviewed it HERE). Stephen King managed to create some of his most likable characters in that book so I can see why it became a trilogy as I was, and I’m sure a lot of people were, happy to continue reading about retired detective Bill Hodges and his odd assortment of friends & now colleagues. I’ve heard good things about the final book and someone hinted that it goes a bit more supernatural, which is much more my kind of thing than a straightforward crime novel, so I’m really looking forward to reading it this year. However, I found this second book quite weak compared to the first one and slightly disappointing overall for a King novel.
I’m not going to do an in-depth review since one of my blog goals this year is to keep my book reviews short. King is easily my favorite author so, when I find a book of his slightly disappointing, it’s still likely that I enjoyed it more than a lot of books that I’ve read from other authors. That’s the case this time – I enjoyed the book but it’s certainly not as good as Mr Mercedes and is one of the more forgettable King novels compared to his other work.
I found I didn’t care about the characters in this one (a young boy, who finds the notebooks & money stolen from a murdered author, and that boy’s family). The boy’s family is struggling with money thanks to the dad being hurt by the Mercedes Killer in the first book. The Finders Keepers murderer himself is uninteresting and it takes quite a long time for Bill Hodges & his friends from the first book to even make an appearance. I kept reading & thinking “When do we get to see the Mr Mercedes characters?!”. I did like the idea of a famous author having so much material hidden away from the world and it may have been nice to actually learn a little more about this author before he was murdered at the very beginning of this novel. He seemed more interesting than the other new characters in this book.
Oh well – it’s a decent story, we get to see Bill Hodges & his friends again, and we get to now move on to the final book (which I’m hoping will be as good as the first one and doesn’t make the mistake of straying from our favorite characters too much).
My Rating: 3/5
Great review! I have a feeling you’re going to LOVE the final book!😊
Thanks! I hope so… It sounds like I should from the little I know. : ) I’ve read a record amount of books so far in 2017. 6 already! That’s a lot for me. Thought you might be proud. But it means I take two weeks to reply to blog comments… ; ) lol
Woo Hoo! *Fist Bump!*
*Fist Bump!* (now 7 books. lol) : )
😁
I can’t wait to start reading this series!
By the way, I’ve nominated you for a Sunshine Blogger Award 🙂 https://oftenofftopic.wordpress.com/2017/02/05/move-over-la-la-land-i-have-2-award-nominations/
It’s a good series so far! : ) Oh, and thank you for the nomination!!! So sorry I missed your comment – I’m just now going though my blog & catching up!
No don’t worry! You know what these awards posts are like, you don’t see any for months and then they flood your reader feed 😀
Hello! I felt pretty much exactly the same way about this one. It was ok, but very predictable and just not as interesting as the first book. Plus I kind of hated that it’s started going in a supernatural direction for no real reason. Plus, couldn’t the kid have typed the novel out at some point, just in case?
Brian!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!! 😀 I mean, hi. Whatever. 😎 😉 I’m happy with a more supernatural thing going on but, yeah, it’s weird since there was none of that whatsoever in the first book. And I was actually really pissed off that the books were lost! What a selfish little shit. You’re right – he had them for years so could’ve copied them somehow. I think I wanted the books to survive more than any of the new characters. Brian!!! Hello again. I highly recommend Joe Hill’s 20th Century Ghosts if you’ve not read that. I loved it. Brian! Hi.
Yeah normally supernatural shenanigans are fine for a King book but this series was doing just fine without it and it seems like it was shoehorned in there. Maybe it will make more sense in the third book. I’ll probably get to it after I’m done re-reading the last three Dark Tower books. I’ll check out 20th Century Ghosts too because I trust you implicitly. I liked NOS-FART-U, except for the main protagonist.
Yeah, I suppose I should finally start on those Dark Tower books now… I liked 20th Century Ghosts far more than all the other Hill stuff I’ve read. It’s short stories. Trust me! : )
The first movie comes out in July so you’d better get started!
I know. Shit. But I only have to read the first book by then, right???
Pingback: The Dinner by Herman Koch (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger by Stephen King (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: End Of Watch by Stephen King (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: My Top Ten Stephen King Books | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: The Snowman by Jo Nesbo (Book Review) | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: My Top Ten Books Read In 2017 | Cinema Parrot Disco