By Wayne C. Rogers
I personally think Stephen King’s “Finders Keepers” is better than “Mr. Mercedes”. After reading a few pages, I was immersed in the novel.
As many of you already know, the story tells of Maurice Bellamy murdering his favorite author, John Rothstein, because the author took the character Jimmy Gold from his trilogy slightly differently than intended. Bellamy believed the author had betrayed him and punished him for it. At the time, the young man also stole a large amount of money and dozens of personal notebooks from the author’s safe, then killed his two accomplices. Weeks later, Maurice buried his treasure, had an argument with a young man who he thought would help him sell the notebooks, and was sentenced to life in prison for raping a woman in a fit of rage and drunkenness.
Keep pace with the times.
Teenager Pete Sobers and his family now live in the house where Morris and his family once lived. His father was one of the injured in Mr. Mercedes’ case and has been unemployed for several years. One day, Pete found the chest containing the treasure on a path through the nearby woods. He used the money to help his family pay off their debts and kept the notebook for himself, and soon became a fan of the “Jimmy Gold” novels as well as the unpublished novels.
In a few years.
Maurice Bellamy is finally out of jail and wants the money and the notebooks. He soon discovers that the young man with whom he had argued over John Rothstein’s notebooks is now ready to buy them from Pete. The hidden money has run out and Pete needs a lot of money to send his sister to a private school. The notebooks must be sold, although he is reluctant to give them up. He is not ready to fight to the death with Maurice over the notebooks.
But that’s what he had to do. After 35 years in prison, Morris was old but no longer a coward. He had killed before, and he was ready to kill again.
Of course, the team of Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson return from Mr. Mercedes and quickly find themselves involved in a mission to try and keep Pete alive and send Maurice back to prison.
Things did not develop as they wished.
Like King’s other works, this novel is a delight to read and has a satisfying ending. In fact, since the author plans to write a trilogy, the ending leads to the upcoming third book.
One thing Stephen King does very well is create believable children and teenagers in his novels. He has a special magic in this regard, and Finders Keepers is a huge success.
Additionally, King always manages to keep the plot suspenseful, keeping the reader with him on his dark journey from beginning to end, and the reader is rarely bored, despite the claim that many of his books are simply too long.
Finders Keepers is a success, though not on the same level as 11/22/63, The Green Mile, IT, or some of his earlier novels. Still, you won’t be disappointed with this novel, especially in preparation for the third book, which is due out next year.
Order yours here.
score:5/5
