Finders Keepers

As soon as I finished listening to the audio-book of "Mr. Mercedes," I immediately put this audio-book right into my ears. I was eager to hear what these endearing characters - Bill, Holly and Jerome were up to in this 2nd installment. I liked the focus on unpublished journals containing the fourth and fifth novels in one of the greatest character arcs ever published in the world of this book (and reminiscent of the Rabbit books by John Updike in our own world.) And, as a dedicated reader myself, I could relate to the (obsessive) desire multiple characters have to "know what comes next" for a fictional character who has inspired them as much as a real person might. I feel the build up to the conclusion was too slow and I didn't connect much with the two main characters who drove the plot (and weren't in Mr. Mercedes.) While this second novel in a trilogy wasn't a masterpiece like "The Empire Strikes Back" was it it's trilogy, it was still an enjoyable listen. And a valuable one before diving into the amazing third book "End of Watch."

Definitely suffers from not having Hodges as a starting character, instead reserving him and other familiar names from Mr. Mercedes till the back half of the book. Morris Bellamy is nowhere near as riveting and layered as Brady Hartsfield, which causes the plot to move quite slowly, and the tension to be quite tame. I do find it interesting that King dabbles into some thematic realms of art, artist, and admirer; with the antagonist essentially killing a world famous author because he had gripes with his style. And don't worry, this is info included in the synopsis, not a spoiler.

My friend has informed me that S02 of the Mr. Mercedes show is actually loosely integrates End of Watch (the third book in the Hodges trilogy), whereas S03 is a loose adaptation of Finders Keepers. So I guess I have to finish reading the trilogy before I can even start S02 of the show. Luckily for me, by coincidence it looks like we're getting a new Stephen King book soon, related to a character from this trilogy: Holly. Perfect timing.

So let me say firstly, Finders Keepers is a good book.
I've scored Finders Keepers lower than I was hoping purely down to the slow start, I love this trilogy mainly because of Bill Hodges and his friends (Holly & Jerome) so when they didn't pop up for the first 100 pages or, so I wasn't confident I would enjoy Finders Keepers as much as Mr Mercedes.
That being said, this book has a great ending and when it got going I couldn't put it down, if the start has been quicker this would easily be a four-star book!
Finders Keepers does a great job at showing how far obsession can push a bad person over the edge causing them to do terrible things, but in their mind things that need to be done.
The antagonist wasn't up to the Mr Mercedes level in my opinion but the more time spent with him the more he grew on me, this is a good sequel but for me doesn't live up to Mr Mercedes, luckily End of Watch was brilliant so the series ends well!

Executive Summary: Another solid thriller story from Mr. King, where once again the characters shine.Audio book: Will Patton is a perfect fit for this series. He does a bit of voices for some of the characters, but really it's just his normal reading voice that is just the right tone.Full ReviewDespite a bit of a slow start, I think I liked this one slightly better than [b:Mr. Mercedes 18775247 Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1) Stephen King https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403347795s/18775247.jpg 26680281]. It's hard to put my finger on why. Morris Bellamy isn't nearly as terrifying as Brady Hartsfield, but he's still a fascinating character. I really enjoyed Pete Sauberg as well.It might be the premise of this that I think is better. It all centers around reading, and obsession with fictional worlds/characters. That is something I can understand to a lot more than a crazy person with mommy issues.The first half or so focuses largely on the new characters. For me, things really stepped up once we get back to Bill, Holly, and Jerome. I especially love Holly. She might be one of my favorite characters than Mr. King has written.Much like its predecessor, this book is certainly more thriller or mystery than Horror. Often times people see [a:Stephen King 3389 Stephen King https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]'s name on a book and assume horror.The book geek in me really wants to read the Jimmy Gold novels. Or at least the plot summaries. We get dribs and drabs of it as the book unfolds, but not a ton. They sound more literary than my usual fare, but it would be interesting to see Mr. King do a more in depth write-up on the series within the series.Overall, another solid novel from King that makes for great summer reading, and I'm already looking forward to the final novel in the trilogy.

Not quite as good as the first book of the trilogy, but I do think King had some good ideas with this one. The tone of Finders Keeper is a lot more tame, and it's slow to get going. In this one a kid finds a bunch of belongings of a now-deceased author and trouble comes looking for him.

In the first book, the reader is driven head-first into a murder spree and it's up to Bill Hodges to stop the killer from doing it again. In this one, it's more of an unknown what's going on and what's going to happen. Think of this one as more of a No Country for Old Men type story whereas the first was more Silence of the Lambs.

I do applaud King for trying something different here. It wasn't expertly executed, but he does sometimes fail to stray too far from the course. A lot of longtime readers may have been turned off from that, but I was not.

A solid outing, but it wasn't the book I wanted it to be. It was good for what it was, though.
I think my problem lies in that I would have been happy reading a whole book about the works of a reclusive author getting outed to the public by a teen trying to save his family from poverty. I didn't need the other stuff in the book. The Rothschild story was compelling by itself.

I'm still looking forward to the last book in the series, though.

This book is about obsessions, letting something consume you, the only thing that makes you stay alive can also be the only thing that leads you to your death.

The protagonist Pete Saubers is the perfect boy, how he cares for his family is unimaginable, her little sister Tina, being the light of his life. He, as the older brother, is very mature, intelligent, and dedicated. Loves reading because books bring him to other worlds.

There is a similitude between him and the antagonist. Morris. Both of them obsessed with the books, the Jimmy Gold novel, they lived in the same house, think of the same hiding spot. It makes you think, what would have happened if the Saubers family had never recovered, would Pete become someone bad?. If the arckys barckys never stopped. He would be a completely different adult. In a way, that vault of money saved him, saved his future, not just financially but psychological too. It saved his humanity.

Or maybe not, maybe one is born bad. Nothing indicates that Morris suffered in any way. He had a bad relationship with her mother, but that was it. Nothing terrible. He has always been that way. A wolf.

Is true that this book would have been fine as a solo, not necessarily with the Bill Hodges trilogy. Bill is almost absent. The whole story is for Pete, so Bill kind of feels like an Ex-Maquina. He appears in the end just to save them. And doesn't really contribute to the story. I really wanted to see how would Pete have won, on his own. Stephen King makes these fantastic stories for kids, and how would kids win against a greater evil. So is really interesting to see what would he have done, alone. Would Pete have burned the notebooks on purpose??, because it was an accident. But we'll never know. Could his plan work?? The notebooks in exchange for his sister?? Maybe. Morris was desperate. They both were enchanted, “My precious”

The only thing I didn't like about this book is what they did to the Mercedes Killer, giving him powers. Stephen King has this trademark that people with a hit on their head, get powers, like in the Death Zone, where the protagonist becomes a psychic. I didn't like it because it's another genre. This book has something special for me, and that is that this story is completely real. There is nothing paranormal or supernatural. So putting that little hint feels kind of off. Doesn't really goes well with the story.

Part two of the Hodges trilogy: If the first book was a short-fuse thriller with twists and turns, the second book is a slow-burn escapade with a nail-biting conclusion.

This one had me on edge and reeling. It was good, if not great in some respects. I appreciated the keen sense of the writer and the audience. It never dilutes the anticipation or panic looming until the very end.

It felt to me like a lesson. Stay in school, make something of yourself, care for others, and ultimately do the right thing. Except when you know that King is the author, these themes are going to be compounded with fear, anguish, depravity, and more.

I thought it was very exciting and will get to the last installment after a break with a few other happy-go-lucky reads. I don't think my heart could take three in a row at the moment.

I enjoyed this book more than I did Mr Mercedes. The trio from the first book (Hodges, Holly, and Jerome) seemed to be almost superfluous to the action of the book; their role is really only as a deus ex machina. You probably don't even need to read the first Bill Hodges book to enjoy this one. The villain and the young protagonist are enough to carry the story.

This was an interesting idea, and fairly well told. I thought it really dragged out a lot in parts, especially as the detective folks were catching up to what was going on. I found this especially funny as there is a quote in the book that says when writing stories you need to trim out unnecessary fluff. I still think King excels at the short story format, he has great ideas and writes well but this was full of extra baggage that I didn't think needed to be in there at all.