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August 12, 2015

Finders Keepers

Finders KeepersFinders Keepers

By: Stephen King

Stephen King always surprises me.  He has mass market appeal and a constant stream of new novels; but what he writes, he writes very well.  Although sometimes crass and always unsettling (at the least), he has a way of getting right to the heart of a character or a situation with his keen observations and descriptions.

Finders Keepers tells the story of criminal Morris Bellamy who murders famous novelist John Rothstein and gets away with his unpublished novels and over $20,000 cash that Rothstein had in his safe.  Bellamy was a huge fan of Rothstein and was really in the heist for the novels rather than the cash.  Bellamy gets arrested for another crime but before he does, he stows away the cash and novels in a trunk and buries it.  While he is in prison, the novels are discovered by 13-year old, Pete Saubers, an avid reader whose family is suffering a financial hardship.  That is all I can reveal without giving away too much of the story.

This is a great book for readers and literature lovers.  It follows the stories of two readers; unfortunately, one is a deranged killer.  However, the other is an honors high school student with a love of literature.  References to many great books and writers are scattered throughout the novel, and it is fun to stumble upon them in the middle of a crime novel.

Note:  This is actually the sequel to Mr. Mercedes.  I did not know this when I started reading it and I felt it worked well as a stand-alone novel.  However, there are references to characters and events that take place in Mr. Mercedes so if you are a stickler for reading books in order, you might want to read that one first.

Review By: Heidi Herald