Finders Keepers by Stephen King
Finders Keepers
by Stephen King
(Audio)
I held off reading this for a while, because I didn't overly love the first Bill Hodges book. I'm glad I gave this a shot, though, because I really liked it.
In the opening scene, a guy named Morris kills a famous writer (who was in J.D. Salinger-type seclusion) Morris was obsessed with. Not only did he steal the guy's money but also his notebooks (which contained poems, stories, and also the two final Jimmy Gold novels he didn't want to share with the world after they panned his last one). Before Morris can read the notebooks, he's put in prison on an unrelated charge. (Definitely not a nice man... theft, multiple murders, and assault, and rape all in one week). Years later, a young kid discovers the trunk; he gives the money to his parents anonymously (they're struggling after the events of the first book, which was a really nice connection and reminder of the small world/town the books are operating in). The boy also reads the author's works and falls in love with the world of literature, literary analysis, etc. But when the baddie gets out of prison finally, things get real and Bill Hodges gets called in to help. With him comes Jerome (home from college) and Holly (OMG I'd forgotten how much I adored Holly).
The mystery kept me on the edge of my seat. The bad guy is horrible (and there's definitely some Stephen King-like description when some of the worst stuff goes down... making the murders and physical abuse seem more real than I needed). But the good guys are awesome and clever and save the day in the end. YAY. Even though parts still shocked me and pained me.
One of the things I liked about this book series was that there wasn't a supernatural element to them, unlike most of Stephen King's works. But there are plenty of hints in here that not only will the baddie from book #1 who I HATED be back in the next book, but now he's got some sort of supernatural TK powers. So I'm guessing the third book in the series will either be amazing or terrible for me. Either way, it'll be much different from the previous two.