Finders Keepers | Book Chatter

Holly
By Stephen King
Scribner, 9781668016138, Sept 5, 2023, 464 pp

The Short of It:

Fans of the Bill Hodges trilogy will enjoy spending time with one of King’s most beloved characters.

The Rest of It:

But, this one felt a little different. Holly is hired to investigate a missing woman, but as she investigates the disappearance she realizes that more is at play when a string of missing persons all lead to the same neighborhood. A serial killer? Could it be?

The story that King created is quite dark, but also laced with a little bit of ridiculousness. I found myself pausing many times because it didn’t feel “King-like”. Plus, it’s also set during the pandemic so there are plenty of political jabs made at our former President. I am not a Trump fan but I grew tired of it.

Without giving the plot away, it’s just dark enough to keep you reading and there’s plenty of time spent with Holly to get your Gibney fix but for me, Holly truly shines when she interacts with the two other characters, Jerome and Barbara Robinson. There wasn’t too much of that in this installment.

To keep this brief. I enjoyed Holly but it didn’t hold me captive like King’s other books. I highly recommend reading the other books in this series before picking up Holly. King does a stellar job of giving you what you need to know but the entire series is just great.

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Finders Keepers
By Stephen King
Scribner Book Company, Hardcover, 9781501100079, June 2015, 448pp.

*No Spoilers*

The Short of It:

This is the second installment of the Bill Hodges trilogy and it’s pretty good.

The Rest of It:

When I heard that Mr. Mercedes was not a stand-alone novel, and was in fact, book one of a trilogy, I groaned a little. I am not a fan of trilogies as a rule. But, it’s King and you know how I love a good King story. Plus, all that Constant Reader stuff. So I went in with high hopes.

Luckily for me, it’s a keeper. Pun intended.

This story focuses on some of the characters from the previous book, like Bill Hodges, ex-cop/private detective and the people he’s come to know as family but King also introduces a new baddie by the name of Morris Bellamy. Bellamy is obsessed with one particular author and ends up committing some horrible crimes to protect what’s his.

What he does not anticipate is anyone getting in his way. Pete Saubers, high school kid and lover of books unwittingly places himself between Bellamy and Bellamy’s obsession and it creates a very dangerous situation. As a favor to one of his closest friends, Hodges steps in to help.

What I like about this one is that the story is pretty simple, the characters are well-developed and there was none of that sucker-punch stuff I experienced while reading Mr. Mercedes. As the suspense builds, the pace picks up and King takes you along for the ride. I could sense that King enjoyed writing this one and I enjoyed reading it.

As with most trilogies, when you come upon those final pages you hold your breath to see how you will be left hanging, and with this one, I can clearly see where he will be going with book three. At least, I think so.

This book was entertaining, the pacing was good and although I took a long break from it to finish another book, I was easily able to jump right back into it when I picked it up again.

If you haven’t read Mr. Mercedes yet, start with that and then pick this one up. The last book in the trilogy, End of Watch is scheduled to make its appearance June 7, 2016!

Source: Borrowed
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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