*BE WARNED: SPOILERS AHEAD*

A Little Summary

For all of you Stephen King fans out there, you probably already know that Finders Keepers (2015) is the second part of the Bill Hodges Trilogy: a series of novels that follows the adventures of retired detective, Bill Hodges. For all the rest of you, well, now you know.

The first part of the Bill Hodges Trilogy, Mr. Mercedes (2014), tells the tragic and twisted tale of how a disturbed young man, Brady Hartsfield, commits a mass murder by driving a stolen Mercedes into a crowd of unsuspecting victims. We then see Bill hunting down Brady with the help of a couple unlikely friends: a young high schooler named Jerome Robinson and a socially awkward middle-aged woman named Holly Gibney. Brady is still alive at the end of the novel but living in a care home or hospital after Holly smashes his head in with a sock full of ball-bearings known as the “happy slapper.”

Fittingly, Finders Keepers is centered upon one of the families affected by Brady’s mass murder: the Saubers’. The father, Tom Saubers, is injured during the incident, which directly leads to him not being able to work or contribute income to their household. After resorting to moving to a less expensive area of the city, Tom’s son Pete stumbles upon a buried treasure chest—quite literally, a chest—in the undeveloped land behind their new home. The chest is filled with cash and dozens of unpublished novels written by an author who was murdered decades prior to Pete finding the treasure chest. Pete anonymously sends the cash to his parents at regular intervals over an extended period of time to help get them back on their feet financially while hoarding the novels for himself. What Pete doesn’t know is that the man—the murderer—who buried the cash and novels in the first place is not only still alive but has recently been set free from prison.

The rest of the narrative follows Pete in his struggle to keep secretly providing for his family financially, which subsequently leads to his violent encounter with the murderer, Morris Bellamy. Of course, Bill, Holly, and Jerome reenter this narrative early on and eventually come to Pete’s rescue. It wouldn’t be the Bill Hodges Trilogy without Bill, right?  

All the Good Stuff

So, it’s no surprise that I love a good Stephen King novel. I mean, I spent two years in graduate school writing a thesis that praises his works. The Bill Hodges Trilogy—or at least the first two parts of the trilogy—is very different than anything I’ve read from King, though. It’s a straight up detective story: retired detective who just can’t quit; mysterious and violent crimes; unlikely friends working together to piece together said crimes. Additionally—unlike many of King’s older works which depend upon a supernatural framework—the first two parts in the Bill Hodges Trilogy are supernatural-free. Well, there’s the tiniest glimpse of the potential to connect to the supernatural in some way at the end of Finders Keepers, but I’ll have to wait and see where that goes in the last part of the trilogy, End of Watch (2016).  

Even though King steps away from the horror genre in Finders Keepers, there are still many things to love about the novel; the first being the fast-paced nature of the novel. Now, I haven’t read many detective novels, but Finders Keepers—as well as Mr. Mercedes, for that matter—are both fairly fast-paced (in my opinion, anyway). There are no lulls in the plotline and King always finds a way to end each chapter with a bang. So, it’s quite enjoyable to read in that sense.

The second aspect of the novel that I deeply enjoy is how King switches character perspective from chapter to chapter. For instance, the novel starts with Morris and the murder of renowned author, John Rothstein, followed by a chapter that takes place decades later from the perspective of the Saubers family. And we get this back and forth of character perspective throughout the novel. I think this contributes even more to the fast-paced nature of the novel.

The last aspect of the novel that I would like to mention—though I could definitely add a few more to this list—is Holly Gibney. As far as relatable characters go, Holly is it for me. She’s quiet, reserved, a touch socially awkward, a logical and critical thinker, and describes a couple situations as poopy throughout the novel. I don’t think I’ve related to a character more in my life. In fact, one of the first things my dad mentioned to me when he recommended the Bill Hodges Trilogy is how the main female character uses the word poopy just like I do. I know it’s strange to fixate on this one characteristic, but I’ve never read a character written this way in a book up until the Bill Hodges Trilogy and it makes me feel weirdly connected to Holly. 

Aside from the language, I also appreciate the way that Holly grows as a character throughout Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers: she goes from being an almost-mute stranger in Bill’s eyes to his best friend and basically detective partner. I love the friendship King builds between Bill and Holly. It’s refreshing to see a male-female relationship in a novel that does not turn into a romantic entanglement. I can’t wait to see how Holly develops further in End of Watch.

If she dies, I will start an uprising. Only kidding. But I will be extremely disappointed. 

Some Critique

On the subject of Holly, my main critique of the novel is that I wanted to see more of her. I understand that, being a naturally quiet and reserved character, it would be uncharacteristic to have her in the spotlight too much, but I would have liked to see her just a little bit more. Don’t get me wrong, she is very involved in saving Pete at the end of the novel and plays a major role in piecing together the story of Morris’ connection to the chest Pete finds buried behind his home, but I just wanted to hear and see her more. Do you know what I mean? I think she’s a more well drawn character than Bill, actually, so maybe that’s why I wanted to see her more. Bill can come off as flat and one-dimensional at times while Holly is a fully rounded-out character, and that’s impressive since she doesn’t seem to have as much page-time in the novel as Bill.

My other critique of Finders Keepers is that the plotline is oftentimes predictable. There are no real twists or turns in the narrative and the plot plays out exactly as the reader would expect. The only real mystery in this novel is Brady: Bill visits Brady in his care home or hospital several times throughout the course of the novel because he suspects that Brady is not quite as debilitated as he appears to be. And at the end of the novel, it appears that Bill was right all along. After Bill leaves the care home or hospital room, we see Brady turning on an electronic device beside him, turning on the faucets in his bathroom, and knocking over a framed picture of him and his mother without even touching anything. This is the hint of supernatural I referred to earlier on in this review.

Is it possible Brady gained psychic abilities after Holly slapped him upside the head with the “happy slapper”? It appears so. 

Should You Read Finders Keepers?

Overall, it is my opinion so far that Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers are both worth reading. I think the fact that King steps away from the horror genre in these two novels makes them more appealing to a wider audience than his older works. However, if you prefer the old-school King novels, you might not like these two novels as much and find them a bit disappointing in the sense that they’re not necessarily bone-chilling or spooky in any way, shape, or form. 

If End of Watch is awful—which I’m not expecting it to be—then I might change my mind.

But so far, so good.

Stay tuned.