Finders Keepers

I didn’t realize when I read Mr. Mercedes that it was the first book of a trilogy otherwise I would have waited until all three books came out before reading any of them. I actually created this rule after Stephen King was severely injured and was unable to complete the Dark Tower Series. Also it is hard to maintain any continuity and remember details of prior installments if I’m reading the books as they are published. I finally realized that Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers were connected because the covers are similar. It is too late to implement my rule-I’d need a time machine for that.
Finders Keepers is not about supernatural evil, but there are supernatural elements, which will probably come into play in the last installment of the series. It is like a Law & Order episode-similar enough to occasional real life crime stories that it will feel familiar, but just dissimilar enough to the real world to retain tension and create suspense. It is about two unrelated people who lived in the same house at different times, and how the murder of a famous writer affected their lives.
King is a master of momentum. Initially he shifts between two different time periods until two characters collide then waits until that point to reintroduce the characters featured in Mr. Mercedes; thus you can’t really read the second without reading the first. The characters from Mr. Mercedes play more of a supporting role to the central characters, but will probably take center stage in the third installment. The good news is that Finders Keepers is better than Mr. Mercedes so if you’re a loyal King fan, you will be rewarded for your devotion instead of feeling like you’re going through the motions.