'Finders Keepers' by Stephen King is a crime fiction thriller that follows the story of a teenage boy, Pete, who finds stolen manuscripts and money buried by a murderer. The plot intertwines the lives of various characters, including the retired detective Bill Hodges, in a suspenseful narrative that explores themes of obsession, revenge, and the impact of literature on individuals. The writing style of the book is described as engaging, with a slow build-up leading to a thrilling climax that keeps readers on edge.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book contains content warnings for murder, violence, and some instances of sexual assault.
From The Publisher:
Now an AT & T Audience Original Series
A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes much too far-the #1 New York Times bestseller about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes Stephen King introduced in Mr. Mercedes.
"Wake up, genius." So announces deranged fan Morris Bellamy to iconic author John Rothstein, who once created the famous character Jimmy Gold and hasn't released anything since. Morris is livid, not just because his favorite writer has stopped publishing, but because Jimmy Gold ended up as a sellout. Morris kills his idol and empties his safe of cash, but the real haul is a collection of notebooks containing John Rothstein's unpublished work...including at least one more Jimmy Gold novel. Morris hides everything away before being locked up for another horrific crime. But upon Morris's release thirty-five years later, he's about to discover that teenager Pete Saubers has already found the stolen treasure-and no one but former police detective Bill Hodges, along with his trusted associates Holly Gibney and Jerome Robinson, stands in the way of his vengeance....
Not since Misery has Stephen King played with the notion of a reader and murderous obsession, in this #1 acclaimed bestseller filled with "nail biting suspense that's the hallmark of [his] best work" (Publishers Weekly).
Ratings (45)
Incredible (6) | |
Loved It (19) | |
Liked It (14) | |
It Was OK (6) |
Reader Stats (67):
Read It (46) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (16) | |
Not Interested (4) |
2 comment(s)
Finders Keepers isn't just the idea behind this book, it's the name of the new skip-tracing and semi-private-eye agency Bill and Holly have started up since the events of the first book, a nice little tie-in. The book opens in 1978, when a young Morris Bellamy robs John Rothstein, a hermit-like New Hampshire author who wrote a trilogy of "great American novels" and then disappeared from the public eye. Now, Morris wants the notebooks Rothstein is rumored to be writing in during his retirement, as well as any cash in the safe. Rothstein ends up dead, Morris in prison, and the notebooks and cash buried in a safe until....
A couple years after the Mercedes Killings, when the son of a victim finds the trunk and uses the money to help his family recover. He also becomes enamored with Rothstein's writings; for both Pete and Morris, Rothstein becomes an obsession. But Pete doesn't know that the murderer who buried the notebooks is coming back for them, and his obsession is more of the
Misery kind than the fanclub kind.
As a writer, King is very aware of how literature can be separated from its creator in the minds of readers. Neil Gaiman famously addressed this topic in a blog post called "George R.R. Martin is not your bitch." King himself took decades to finish the Dark Tower series, something that probably got him some hate mail. Readers salivate for the next book in a great series; we want to know what happens to characters who feel so real to us. In
Finders Keepers he draws a line between superfans who can read critically (Pete) and those who cross a line into dangerous obsession.
This book is kind of weird because the thriller plot doesn't intersect with our heroes (Bill, Holly, and Jerome) until 3/4 into the book. It is nowhere near as important an event for them as
Mr. Mercedes was. This is backed up by Bill's interactions with Brady Hartfield, Mr. Mercedes himself, who is in a neurological hospital with next to no brain function. But Bill suspects Brady is faking it, and the creepy Stephen King comes out to taunt the reader when Bill's back is turned. The third book in this trilogy might be more of a supernatural thriller, let's say. In the meantime, while this is a great story, it feels like a placeholder between books one and two in terms of unfinished business between Bill and Brady.
Not as good as Mr. Mercedes but still pretty enjoyable.
What can you read after
Finders Keepers?
About the Author:
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, and Doctor Sleep are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
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