By: Stephen King
ASIN: B00U7U0CJW
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Publication Date: 6/2/2015
Format: Audio
My Rating: 4 Stars
A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far—a book about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes.
“Wake up, genius.” So begins King’s instantly riveting story about a vengeful reader. 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.
About the Author
Photo Credit Shane Leonard
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1971, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co., accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 50 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers.
Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities including many libraries and have been honored locally for their philanthropic activities. Website Twitter Goodreads
My Review
Stephen King returns after the follow up of Mr. Mercedes for a literary obsession-crime thriller, FINDERS KEEPERS, leaving you page-turning into the wee hours of the morning. While Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, and insane killer is chilling and unforgettable, Finders Keepers is more of an intense twisted love story of the joys of reading and American literature. John Rothstein, a novelist with his best-selling trilogy is one teen, Morris Bellamy's obsession. After reading his first two books, he becomes engrossed in the character, Jimmy Gold, an American icon of despair in a land of plenty. However, Morris finds the third novel, where the protagonist is living a normal life in an advertising job. Not so stable, and troubled teen, Morris looks at this as a betrayal. With his troubled background, he plans a break-in into the author’s home. In the 1970s- Morris murders Rothstein in his house and makes off with the author's life savings plus several works of unpublished material worth a fortune. Morris hides the loot and stacks of Rothstein's personal notebooks packed in a trunk in a forest, but his plans come to an end, when he goes to prison. Now, a decade later, meet another teenage boy, Pete, living in the same house where Morris lived as a child. Pete’s teacher turns him on to Jimmy Gold, and Pete falls in love with the novels, as well (in a much more balanced healthier way). However, he is stressed about his family. His dad is disabled, since his father was injured when a madman plowed a Mercedes through a crowd waiting in line for a job fair (Mr. Mercedes). His parents are falling apart, they need money and his sister wants to go to college. One teen finds a way to help his family financially, after finding a trunk of money and notebooks, and comes up with a plan; things start looking up. Pete starts mailing anonymous letters with money to his parents, and for years he keeps them afloat. But in 2013, when the money has run out, times with the release of Morris. Pete is a wreck about what will happen next. Where will the money come from now? Unless he can sell the notebooks? A plan he comes up with, does not go as planned. However, his planned is about to more complicated. Little does he know that Morris is getting out of prison after 35 years, and he has only one mission in mind—the trunk, the money, and the notebooks. His house. Morris will stop at nothing to attain the notebooks. Pete has to protect his family. Bill Hodges returns in the last part of the book, (retired police detective) from Mr. Mercedes and he is determined to save the day, as well as other are back from book one - Holly (movie fan), and Harvard man - Jerome Robinson. Tina turns to Hodges to help Pete, and as time is running out, Pete has to use his head once again in order to save his family. Who will win out? As we end, we are left with a chilling cliffhanger to intensity the suspense. (did you expect anything less from King)? Morris Bellamy, the rapist is one scary guy (red-lipped) and crazed. Not only does he steal the author Rothstein’s life, cash, and a hundred notebooks full of unpublished writing, he will fight to the bitter end. Every reader has their favorites of the two. For me I enjoyedFinders Keepers, more, as a deeper more provocative look into the love of literature. I enjoyed the dynamics of two different teen readers, and how each handled their love and relationship of literary work. Loved Pete’s character and Will Patton delivered a suspenseful performance.
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