My Stephen King kick continues as I grabbed another of his books – Finders Keepers. This one read by Will Patton (just like the last one of King’s I reviewed – The Outsider.) His voice seems to compliment King’s writing perfectly. Also, like The Outsider, FK had some of the same characters. It turns out that FK is book two in the Bill Hodges Trilogy and TO is only peripherally connected. Even though I am reading them all out of order, they each stand on their own quite well.

This book is a return to classic King (as many of his recent works are.) By now, I am getting used to his blatant liberalism seeping through the stories and can overlook what seemed an affront when I first reacquainted myself with King after a multi-decade separation. Now, I just focus on the storytelling and ignore the preaching.

Storytelling is something Stephen King does very well. This book is evidence of why he has remained atop the sales chart for decades. Yes, his disconnect with the younger characters is evident at times – he is 73, so he can be forgiven when a teenager in 2015 quotes a line from a movie created 25 years before her birth. He will always be connected with a person’s fear, doubts and insecurities no matter their age.

The pacing of this book is written as if he had a screenplay in mind – which I am sure he did. I was also intrigued by his use of present tense. He seemed to flow back and forth between present tense and past tense. I found it jarring at times because I had always learned to stick to one and that past tense is more appropriate in telling what happened. I can see the appeal of him using the present tense. It is definitely a more natural way of speaking – I do it often in these reviews.

I think I will try to go back to book one (Mr Mercedes) in the series before finishing with book 3 (End of Watch.) I expect it all to be a garbled mess of timelines in my head but enjoyable nonetheless.

by Chris Doelle