Book Title: Finders Keepers
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Thriller
Page Count: 525
Started/Ended Date: March 22 – March 24
Total Reading Time: 7 hours 37 minutes

Wake up, genius.

The genius is John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.

Morris hides the money and the notebooks, and then he is locked away for another crime. Decades later, a boy named Pete Saubers finds the treasure, and now it is Pete and his family that Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson must rescue from the ever-more deranged and vengeful Morris when he’s released from prison after thirty-five years.

Not since Misery has King played with the notion of a reader whose obsession with a writer gets dangerous. Finders Keepers is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also King writing about how literature shapes a life—for good, for bad, forever.

I did not realize that this was a series when I started Mr. Mercedes. My mom had gotten me the first book while thrifting because she knows I am a Stephen King fan and it has been sitting on my TBR shelf for probably 2 years now. I typically like knowing that I’m starting a series going into it so that I can emotionally prepare for a longer ride, but I was not mad about this bamboozlement.

Finders Keepers was my favorite book in this series. I loved this book because I can relate to most of the characters to some degree. Have I ever been outraged by a favorite character’s choices in a book and been pissed at the author? Yes. Have I been so outraged that I hatched a plan to murder the author over it? …Not seriously. Kidding. I have not. But, I get that feeling of “whhhhhhhy would you write that?!” And if I found out that there was a sixth ACOTAR book out there, with no plans for it to ever be published, I’m not saying I wouldn’t attempt a robbery. So, Morris, you’re extreme, but I kind of get it. And Pete is faced with such an impossible decision. A lot of times, I’ll read stories of crazy situations and be comforted by the thought of “I would never be so stupid as to do that.” But with Pete, he got himself into a crazy situation and I definitely would’ve done the exact same things that got him into that crazy situation. This book ended in a heartbreaking way but it ended well.

I will say that this book feels more like a spin-off of Mr. Mercedes rather than the sequel. The ties to the first book are obviously the characters, Bill, Holly, and Jerome, and that Pete’s dad was one of the victims who was seriously injured at the City Center massacre. Bill also goes to visit the seemingly brain-dead Brady Hartsfield in the hospital, but other than that it really has nothing to do with the first book.

What did you think of this book? Let me know in the comments!