Just finished this novel.

[staropeace]

It was a pleasant read because all of King's books give me pleasure. I was not as impressed as I was with Mr. Mercedes. I do love this genre. Crime fiction is my favorite because I am seldom disappointed....unlike horror. There is a wealth of wonderful crime writers out there.
The reason this novel did not wow me as much as the first is because I feel it did not move fast enough. Crime fiction readers are used to a faster pace. With horror, I like a slow build up because that works. We do not want the monster popping up into our faces at the very beginning because then there is nothing much to be scared of once it is over. Horror must be more subtle. It is not so with Crime fiction...it has to be right in your face.
I think Uncle Steve missed the mark a teensy little bit because of this. He dwelled too long on the antagonist's life. It became a little draggy. I wanted more about the main trio....Holly,Jerome and Hodges. They are wonderful characters who blend together like chopped onion, tomato and green pepper. There is magic there.
That is about it then. A goodly read but not the best. I am looking forward to the last one very much.

 

[kingricefan]

It was a pleasant read because all of King's books give me pleasure. I was not as impressed as I was with Mr. Mercedes. I do love this genre. Crime fiction is my favorite because I am seldom disappointed....unlike horror. There is a wealth of wonderful crime writers out there.
The reason this novel did not wow me as much as the first is because I feel it did not move fast enough. Crime fiction readers are used to a faster pace. With horror, I like a slow build up because that works. We do not want the monster popping up into our faces at the very beginning because then there is nothing much to be scared of once it is over. Horror must be more subtle. It is not so with Crime fiction...it has to be right in your face.
I think Uncle Steve missed the mark a teensy little bit because of this. He dwelled too long on the antagonist's life. It became a little draggy. I wanted more about the main trio....Holly,Jerome and Hodges. They are wonderful characters who blend together like chopped onion, tomato and green pepper. There is magic there.
That is about it then. A goodly read but not the best. I am looking forward to the last one very much.

I agree, I wanted more of the H, H and J trio, too! I wonder what a new reader who hasn't read Mr. Mercedes thinks about this book as they have no backround on the crime fighting trio like those who have read MM have. I felt that those three main characters were more or less just dumped into the mix without hardly any background info given to a new reader.

 

[GNTLGNT]

I agree, I wanted more of the H, H and J trio, too! I wonder what a new reader who hasn't read Mr. Mercedes thinks about this book as they have no backround on the crime fighting trio like those who have read MM have. I felt that those three main characters were more or less just dumped into the mix without hardly any background info given to a new reader.

...yep to Staro and yep to you my buddy....

 

[drinkslinger]

I agree, I wanted more of the H, H and J trio, too! I wonder what a new reader who hasn't read Mr. Mercedes thinks about this book as they have no backround on the crime fighting trio like those who have read MM have. I felt that those three main characters were more or less just dumped into the mix without hardly any background info given to a new reader.

My husband and I started the audio-book version of MM during a road trip last summer. I think we made it about 1/2 way through before we got home. I never got around to finishing it (busy with an infant, a full-time, and part-time job). So, I have a smidgen of knowledge about the H,H, and J trio. I too, would have liked to have more focus on them. I think I really missed out on a lot by not finishing MM before picking this up. I think this book stands on its own, but I would have greatly benefited had I read them in their entirety, in order.

I really enjoyed this book, but I have to say its not my favorite SK work, probably not even in my top 10. I thought it was well written, and I didn't take too much issue with the pacing. I just finished it last night, and I still can't quite put my finger on why I feel just a tad bit disappointed with it.

 

[Neil W]

Well, I really enjoyed it. I liked the fact that it wasn't so much a sequel as a story on its own which shared some of the characters and a little of the history of the first book. I always like it when SK writes about writing, and I enjoyed the whole idea of the secret further books by Salinger, sorry, Rothstein.

I had two minor quibbles. One was that there were a number of coincidences, and most weren't necessary

Spoiler

(the Staubers living in Morris' old house, for instance - the story would have worked just as well if they lived somewhere different).

The other was that I was a little disappointed to see

Spoiler

the toe dipped back into the supernormal at the end - I have been enjoying these as straight crime thrillers.

 

[80sFan]

I really enjoyed 'Finder Keepers', much more so than Mr. Mercedes. I like the way SK established the new story before bringing in the trio of regulars. Also, remember, this is a trilogy so there's plenty of time to hang out with the gang in 'End of Watch'.
I don't have an opinion of 'Finders Keepers' as a stand alone story because I would never (and have never) started a series with anything but the first book. That seems odd to me.

 

[skimom2]

It was a pleasant read because all of King's books give me pleasure. I was not as impressed as I was with Mr. Mercedes. I do love this genre. Crime fiction is my favorite because I am seldom disappointed....unlike horror. There is a wealth of wonderful crime writers out there.
The reason this novel did not wow me as much as the first is because I feel it did not move fast enough. Crime fiction readers are used to a faster pace. With horror, I like a slow build up because that works. We do not want the monster popping up into our faces at the very beginning because then there is nothing much to be scared of once it is over. Horror must be more subtle. It is not so with Crime fiction...it has to be right in your face.
I think Uncle Steve missed the mark a teensy little bit because of this. He dwelled too long on the antagonist's life. It became a little draggy. I wanted more about the main trio....Holly,Jerome and Hodges. They are wonderful characters who blend together like chopped onion, tomato and green pepper. There is magic there.
That is about it then. A goodly read but not the best. I am looking forward to the last one very much.

You could have pretty much left out the Scooby Gang and the story wouldn't have changed much. That's a problem in a series book. I liked the background on the antagonist--it was more interesting than the Trio. This isn't Mr. King's genre--the parameters of the genre seemed to constrict him. Still a decent book (I don't think he can write a bad book), but I'm meh on the sequel.

 

[carrie's younger brother]

You could have pretty much left out the Scooby Gang and the story wouldn't have changed much. That's a problem in a series book. I liked the background on the antagonist--it was more interesting than the Trio. This isn't Mr. King's genre--the parameters of the genre seemed to constrict him. Still a decent book (I don't think he can write a bad book), but I'm meh on the sequel.

I agree, and to be honest, I didn't miss them at all before they made an appearance. They are too stereotypical of their types of characters for my taste. I did like the book though; probably more than Mr. Mercedes.

 

[Kurben]

I liked the book. The weak point about was that the trio of protagonists did not have a really good stage in this one, especially Jerome that could just as easily have been skipped totally. But the story as story was good. I have a feeling were gonna hear more of Brody in next book.........

 

[doowopgirl]

I liked the book. The weak point about was that the trio of protagonists did not have a really good stage in this one, especially Jerome that could just as easily have been skipped totally. But the story as story was good. I have a feeling were gonna hear more of Brody in next book.........

I have to agree. As good as the story was, I felt Jerome was there for forms sake.

 

[Rockym]

Well, I really enjoyed it. I liked the fact that it wasn't so much a sequel as a story on its own which shared some of the characters and a little of the history of the first book. I always like it when SK writes about writing, and I enjoyed the whole idea of the secret further books by Salinger, sorry, Rothstein.

I had two minor quibbles. One was that there were a number of coincidences, and most weren't necessary

Spoiler

(the Staubers living in Morris' old house, for instance - the story would have worked just as well if they lived somewhere different).

The other was that I was a little disappointed to see

Spoiler

the toe dipped back into the supernormal at the end - I have been enjoying these as straight crime thrillers.

I think a bigger coincidence was that

Spoiler

Pete's father was one of Mr. Mercedes' victims. Though I have to say I didn't mind it because I thought it was a pretty clever way of tying it back to the first book. instead of just the trio showing up on another case. I just finished Finders Keepers and its pretty clear that this trilogy isn't supposed to be three stories about the adventures of the trio, but one large story that spreads over the 3 books. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Staubers playing a role in the next book as well.

That said, I think not having the trio come in for so long into the story was a good touch. It really built up the suspense for me, because I sure found myself hoping more and more for Bill to get involved, the deeper in Pete got.

 

[icarus]

Im reading this novel for the second time as I really loved it....I think its even better than MM, but I did really enjoy that one aswell....I liked the way "Brady" the baddy from the MM was visited in the Hospital by Hodges, and I think we will hear more from Brady in the 3rd book of the series "End of the Game"....Im really looking forward to it....
This was a really good page turner for me....Im really liking SK doing Crime stories...its really refreshing and he is really good at it....

 

[William8675309]

I just finished as well and enjoyed the book. I thought the villain was a bit less intimidating than in Brady in Mr. Mercedes probably because he wasn't about mass murder per se. I had started "Outsiders" before realizing that Holly is in that book and felt I had to read the Hodges trilogy before finishing outsiders for that reason (unfortunately I read the Bill Hodges spoiler before I realized it). I am now on End of Watch but haven't had much time to devote to it lately.