Stephen King’s latest novel, Finders Keepers, the
second novel in the Bill Hodges Trilogy, returns us to the time and place of
Bill Hodges, the former detective who featured largely in King’s Mr. Mercedes. This time, however, it
takes quite a few chapters for our dear Det Ret to make the scene. Instead the novel opens up alternating between
two characters, young preteen Peter Saubers and a twenty-something ne’er-do-well,
Morris Bellamy, with literary pretensions.
Fans of reclusive literary giants (Salinger comes to mind) may be
sympathetic to Bellamy. Obsessed with the work of John Rothstein, famous for
his “Runner” trilogy, Morris sets out to make right a perceived wrong. Believing that Rothstein’s third book sells
out his beloved Jimmy Gold (readers of Misery
will recognize this particular bent), Bellamy seeks to both avenge, and
possibly redeem, his literary hero, by executing the robbery and subsequent
murder of Rothstein. His research on the
author’s habits (regular purchases of moleskin notebooks) pays off when the
safe offers up not only 20,000 dollars in cash, but also a great number of
meticulously filled notebooks in the author’s hand. Before he is able to fulfill his obsessive
desire to reopen the tale of Jimmy Gold, Morris is picked up and imprisoned for
an unrelated crime. Fast-forward 20 years, and meet Peter Saubers, a pragmatic
eavesdropper in a family that has literally been crippled by the crimes of
Brady Hartsfield (the disturbed villain in Mr.
Mercedes). Peter, watching his family’s downward spiral, is seemingly
offered a miracle solution when he stumbles upon a half-exposed trunk on the
vacant property near his home. The boy’s
choices, fueled by desperation and altruism, and the concurrent release of
Morris Bellamy, whose fervor has been finely honed by 35 years of incarceration
and abuse, lead to a few action-packed chapters. However, as a long-time Stephen King fan, I
was faintly disappointed in the novel, and its hardly surprising climax. I felt it lacked the mystery that usually
drives my frantic, last 100 pages, what’s-going-to-happen-now, binge reading.
Despite this, it was nice to see Bill
Hodges and his crew again, however briefly their appearances, and some
goings-on with a famed catatonic hint at what could turn out to be a thrilling
third installment. Overall, I would give the book a three-star review, but fans
of King will likely enjoy it or hate it, as fans (Annie Wilkes and Morris
Bellamy would understand) often do.Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Finders Keepers
Stephen King’s latest novel, Finders Keepers, the
second novel in the Bill Hodges Trilogy, returns us to the time and place of
Bill Hodges, the former detective who featured largely in King’s Mr. Mercedes. This time, however, it
takes quite a few chapters for our dear Det Ret to make the scene. Instead the novel opens up alternating between
two characters, young preteen Peter Saubers and a twenty-something ne’er-do-well,
Morris Bellamy, with literary pretensions.
Fans of reclusive literary giants (Salinger comes to mind) may be
sympathetic to Bellamy. Obsessed with the work of John Rothstein, famous for
his “Runner” trilogy, Morris sets out to make right a perceived wrong. Believing that Rothstein’s third book sells
out his beloved Jimmy Gold (readers of Misery
will recognize this particular bent), Bellamy seeks to both avenge, and
possibly redeem, his literary hero, by executing the robbery and subsequent
murder of Rothstein. His research on the
author’s habits (regular purchases of moleskin notebooks) pays off when the
safe offers up not only 20,000 dollars in cash, but also a great number of
meticulously filled notebooks in the author’s hand. Before he is able to fulfill his obsessive
desire to reopen the tale of Jimmy Gold, Morris is picked up and imprisoned for
an unrelated crime. Fast-forward 20 years, and meet Peter Saubers, a pragmatic
eavesdropper in a family that has literally been crippled by the crimes of
Brady Hartsfield (the disturbed villain in Mr.
Mercedes). Peter, watching his family’s downward spiral, is seemingly
offered a miracle solution when he stumbles upon a half-exposed trunk on the
vacant property near his home. The boy’s
choices, fueled by desperation and altruism, and the concurrent release of
Morris Bellamy, whose fervor has been finely honed by 35 years of incarceration
and abuse, lead to a few action-packed chapters. However, as a long-time Stephen King fan, I
was faintly disappointed in the novel, and its hardly surprising climax. I felt it lacked the mystery that usually
drives my frantic, last 100 pages, what’s-going-to-happen-now, binge reading.
Despite this, it was nice to see Bill
Hodges and his crew again, however briefly their appearances, and some
goings-on with a famed catatonic hint at what could turn out to be a thrilling
third installment. Overall, I would give the book a three-star review, but fans
of King will likely enjoy it or hate it, as fans (Annie Wilkes and Morris
Bellamy would understand) often do.
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