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.
I loved Mr. Mercedes, the 1st of a 3 book series and Finders Keepers was no exception..
SPOILER
The book starts with the murder of a famous author who hasn't published a book in decades and was killed by three young men. They emptied his safe of money and a treasure trove of unpublished notebooks worth a fortune..
I was wondering what the story had to do with the deranged man who drove a Mercedes into a crowd of people, killing and maiming most.
Enter Bill Hodges, the PI from book one who visits sociopath killer Brady, supposedly brain damaged when he tried to bomb an auditorium and was repeatedly beaten in the head. Bill is not so sure that Brady is not playing a part and constantly provokes him to try to get a reaction.
Of course, that will carry forward with book 3.
Exciting and breath-taking thriller!
SPOILER
The book starts with the murder of a famous author who hasn't published a book in decades and was killed by three young men. They emptied his safe of money and a treasure trove of unpublished notebooks worth a fortune..
I was wondering what the story had to do with the deranged man who drove a Mercedes into a crowd of people, killing and maiming most.
Enter Bill Hodges, the PI from book one who visits sociopath killer Brady, supposedly brain damaged when he tried to bomb an auditorium and was repeatedly beaten in the head. Bill is not so sure that Brady is not playing a part and constantly provokes him to try to get a reaction.
Of course, that will carry forward with book 3.
Exciting and breath-taking thriller!
Loved it, loved it, loved it.
When you need a great suspense action book, you grab a SK book.
Fast paced, action everywhere in each characters situation, blended seamlessly together to make this a page turner staying up past my bedtime gotta find out what happens book.
Couldn't wait for the third so I ordered at once. Thank goodness for Amazon!!
Just a great SK book. If you read them you know what I mean, if you haven't well shame on you. ;o)
Love the quirky niece the best!
When you need a great suspense action book, you grab a SK book.
Fast paced, action everywhere in each characters situation, blended seamlessly together to make this a page turner staying up past my bedtime gotta find out what happens book.
Couldn't wait for the third so I ordered at once. Thank goodness for Amazon!!
Just a great SK book. If you read them you know what I mean, if you haven't well shame on you. ;o)
Love the quirky niece the best!
I don't generally like crime fiction as a genre so bear that in mind, but that being said I think Finders Keepers is a worse book than Mr. Mercedes (which I thought was capital F Fine) so that doesn't bode well.
I was bored for most of this book. Even the constant references to literature and literary fandom didn't really hold my interest. I don't really find Bill Hodges to be that interesting of a character so a lack of him didn't bother me, but it seems weird that for the second book in the "Bill Hodges trilogy" he doesn't show up until over 150 pages in and just isn't really in the book that much. Speaking of the trilogy, I'm not sure why there was a new antagonist in this volume if we're going back to the original antagonist for the third one. I'm sure there'll be some tie-in but it seems odd, why not just make it a two book series in that case? Finally, for all the talk that this is supposed to be straight crime fiction, it's insinuated that one of the characters has some psychic ability? I mean, that's totally fine with me but I thought the point was these books didn't have any of those supernatural elements.
ANYWAY King is still one of my favorite authors. His writing is always smooth and easy and my distaste for this genre as a whole almost certainly influences my opinion of these two books. We'll see how I feel when End of Watch comes out next year.
I was bored for most of this book. Even the constant references to literature and literary fandom didn't really hold my interest. I don't really find Bill Hodges to be that interesting of a character so a lack of him didn't bother me, but it seems weird that for the second book in the "Bill Hodges trilogy" he doesn't show up until over 150 pages in and just isn't really in the book that much. Speaking of the trilogy, I'm not sure why there was a new antagonist in this volume if we're going back to the original antagonist for the third one. I'm sure there'll be some tie-in but it seems odd, why not just make it a two book series in that case? Finally, for all the talk that this is supposed to be straight crime fiction, it's insinuated that one of the characters has some psychic ability? I mean, that's totally fine with me but I thought the point was these books didn't have any of those supernatural elements.
ANYWAY King is still one of my favorite authors. His writing is always smooth and easy and my distaste for this genre as a whole almost certainly influences my opinion of these two books. We'll see how I feel when End of Watch comes out next year.
