Morris Bellamy is so angry with author John Rothstein. His character "Jimmy Gold" has sold out and there are no more books being written to change that. Morris has found the author and his treasure trove of writings that are in moleskine notebooks in the author's safe in his home in New Hampshire.
Morris then kills the author and collects the notebooks and the cash that is in said safe.
He then hides the chest in the woods behind a houst e that he lived in in his youth. Are there more Jimmy Gold stories in those notebooks? He will find that out at a later time, as the murder of the author would make it impossible to bring that evidence forward.
Morris then gets arrested and put in jail for what seems like a lifetime for a different crime.
Decades later, Peter Saubers is a high school student living in the house that Morris lived in as a youth. One evening, he goes to the river and finds the chest buried under a tree. Pete is also a fan of the Jimmy Gold series and realizes what he has found. But the notebooks are secondary to the cash in envelopes in the chest also.
His father was injured in the Mr. Mercedes killings, and the family has been struggling financially after the injury. Peter finds a way to provide the cash slowly to his family to get them back into an OK state.
Morris gets released from prison early and goes in search of the chest with the treasured notebooks.
Re-enter Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney & Jerome Robinson from the Mr. Mercedes case.
This book grabbed me from the first pages. Draws you right in. Nothing surprises me about that, Mr. King in one of my absolute favorites. He still has it.
Morris then kills the author and collects the notebooks and the cash that is in said safe.
He then hides the chest in the woods behind a houst e that he lived in in his youth. Are there more Jimmy Gold stories in those notebooks? He will find that out at a later time, as the murder of the author would make it impossible to bring that evidence forward.
Morris then gets arrested and put in jail for what seems like a lifetime for a different crime.
Decades later, Peter Saubers is a high school student living in the house that Morris lived in as a youth. One evening, he goes to the river and finds the chest buried under a tree. Pete is also a fan of the Jimmy Gold series and realizes what he has found. But the notebooks are secondary to the cash in envelopes in the chest also.
His father was injured in the Mr. Mercedes killings, and the family has been struggling financially after the injury. Peter finds a way to provide the cash slowly to his family to get them back into an OK state.
Morris gets released from prison early and goes in search of the chest with the treasured notebooks.
Re-enter Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney & Jerome Robinson from the Mr. Mercedes case.
This book grabbed me from the first pages. Draws you right in. Nothing surprises me about that, Mr. King in one of my absolute favorites. He still has it.
Another page-turning thriller from King. This is the second book in his Bill Hodges trilogy after MR. MERCEDES which I read just prior to this one and really enjoyed. In FINDERS KEEPERS, King comes up with a sociopath named Morris Bellamy, who, in 1978, robs and murders his favorite novelist, John Rothstein, because he can't forgive him for making his lead character, Jimmy Gold, go into advertising in the last published installment of his epic trilogy. Bellamy steals Rothstein's money along with a large stash of notebooks that may contain a sequel to the Jimmy Gold saga. All of this is hidden in a trunk that Bellamy buries near his boyhood home but before he can retrieve his treasure, he is sentenced to life in prison for rape. Decades later, a young teen named Pete Saubers finds the treasure. Pete's sister knows that something is troubling Pete and seeks the help of Bill Hodges who along with Holly Gibney and Jerome Robinson must rescue Pete's family from the vengeful Bellamy.
This was really a suspenseful and compelling read. King brings in a lot of literary references that made the story even more enjoyable for me. I read online that he based John Rothstein on a combination of John Updike, Philip Roth, and J. D. Salinger. As I was reading the novel, the character Jimmy Gold and his storyline did remind me of a combination of Updike's Rabbit Run and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. I now feel like I should continue reading Updike's Rabbit novels; I read the first in the series several years ago. Although I really did enjoy FINDERS KEEPERS, I thought this could have been a stand alone novel. It really didn't expound much on the happenings from MR. MERCEDES and Bill Hodges and his crew do not show up until nearly half way through the novel. However, there are some hints about what's to come in the the third novel in the trilogy, END OF WATCH, and I'll be looking forward to reading it.
This was really a suspenseful and compelling read. King brings in a lot of literary references that made the story even more enjoyable for me. I read online that he based John Rothstein on a combination of John Updike, Philip Roth, and J. D. Salinger. As I was reading the novel, the character Jimmy Gold and his storyline did remind me of a combination of Updike's Rabbit Run and Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. I now feel like I should continue reading Updike's Rabbit novels; I read the first in the series several years ago. Although I really did enjoy FINDERS KEEPERS, I thought this could have been a stand alone novel. It really didn't expound much on the happenings from MR. MERCEDES and Bill Hodges and his crew do not show up until nearly half way through the novel. However, there are some hints about what's to come in the the third novel in the trilogy, END OF WATCH, and I'll be looking forward to reading it.
