Finders Keepers by Stephen KingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
For a middle novel in a trilogy this book works very well as a stand-alone, though do read Mr. Mercedes first to get the full story. The series is called "The Bill Hodges Trilogy" but that character doesn't make an appearance until more than 100 pages into the story and even then tangentially. The first protagonist is Morris Bellamy, a criminal who robs and kills of a well-known author, taking all the money from his safe and -most importantly- stole several notebooks of unpublished material. The second is Pete Saubers, a high schooler who comes upon the notebooks and realizes they're worth big money - if he can sell them that is, and therein lies the plot of the story.
Here Stephen King mines very familiar territory as he's writing about books and authors. The whole story hangs on the reader being as invested in the notebooks as the characters are, if not, it all seems like much ado about nothing. However, characterization is King's specialty and we feel the almost reverential allure the notebooks hold over them, and their deluded justification for all of their misdeeds which include murder.
Bill Hodges does participate in the story but as a late-comer, along with his sidekicks, Holly (who can be annoying at times) and Jerome. Though the book does drag slightly in the middle it still has plenty of suspense and a decent ending.
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