Is he not the guy who writes horror stories? That’s what everyone says when I declare I enjoy reading Stephen King novels. What an insult to one of our greatest living novelists, an author now in his 72nd year and still with the hunger, and still writing with a verocity that must be the envy of many younger would be SK’s. Yes many of his stories contain a horror element (here’s Johnny!) but deep down he truly understands the human condition of love, loss, want and the connection that exists between both friends and lovers, indeed all of us. (The Shining to me is really a study of a family coping with mental collapse)

Finders Keepers is the second story in the Bill Hodges trilogy and even better than the first; Mr Mercedes. In 1978 Morris Bellamy killed iconic American author John Rothstein stealing not only cash but unpublished works about the great Jimmy Gold. Bellamy hides both cash and books just before he is given a 35 year sentence for rape. In 2009 young Pete Saubers accidentally discovers this buried treasure and uses it to help his family. However there will be a day of reckoning, in 2014 Bellamy is a free man and he is seeking retribution for 35 wasted years, first stop to reclaim the contents of the buried chest. The scene is set...enter Bill Hodges (retired detective) Holly and Jerome, the Finder Keepers investigative company. King always tells more than just a story, he uses the time he spends, with you dear reader, to show  both the good and bad, the positive and negative that is the DNA within all of us. You will both hate and love his characters; Bellamy epitomises evil, but Bill, Holly, Jerome and Pete are driven by hopes and aspirations, they believe in the connection of people, believe in helping others not destroying, believe in dreams and the knowledge and faith that man is ultimately good and we all need a little bit of love and affection in our daily lives.

 I have never read a bad book by Stephen King and this is most certainly one of his best, I now look forward to the final part of the trilogy "End of Watch" but before I close why don’t you read and feel a little of his magic…..”........ the vast and ever metastasizing concrete sprawl of John M. Kiner Hospital. As he walks to the parking garage elevator, he sends up a prayer as he almost always does, thanking God that he’s here as a visitor rather than as a paying customer. All too aware, even as he says his very proper thank-you, that most people become customers sooner or later, here or at one of the city’s four other fine and not-so-fine sickbays. No one rides for free, and in the end, even the most seaworthy ship goes down, blub-blub-blub. The only way to balance that off, in Hodge’s opinion, is to make the most of every day afloat”......... Highly, highly recommended.

This is a very strange ride. That might be the most important thing to take away from my experience with this book. Strange is good, strange is unique, strange is the kind of thing you can only read here (well, you can read strange SF in other places, too, but they won't be this kind of strange).

That doesn't tell you a lot, though, does it? This is the story of two twenty-something guys (one from the US, one from New Zealand) backpacking their way around Europe. It's the story of a young woman, an artist trying to escape from something, and her life-changing interactions with those two guys. It's also the story of a young couple, trying to better their station in life, who might have taken on a job they shouldn't have -- and their tragic blunder in the middle of carrying out that job which just might ruin their lives. There's also the woman whose ambition and slip-of-judgement that has led to her fall into disrepute and her loyal assistant as they try to stage a comeback. Oh, yeah, and there's Ira and Howard -- a dolphin and a whale -- who are basically the sea mammal answer to Cheech and Chong.

Jason's waiting tables at a small restaurant, putting off getting a teaching job, because he's just not ready to take that step, when one of his customers inspires him to head to Europe for a while. This was a huge mistake -- he's unprepared for anything, the fact that he's not robbed blind by the first slightly crooked person he meets in any country is a wonder. He eventually runs into Theo Barnes, who's only a moderately better traveler. He's on a quest -- the exact nature of which I'll leave to you -- but Ira and Howard gave him some pretty specific directions. Primarily, these two do what backpacking twenty-something males do: the drink a lot, they chase girls, the drink some more, they get lost in Europe, and drink to excess.

I'm going to pass on explaining how the others I mentioned get into the story -- there's a lot of complicated explanation -- that makes perfect sense in Colchamiro's narration, but wouldn't quite work in my summary. But most of the other people in the book aren't human -- they're a different form of life who are responsible, in one way or another, for the construction of Galaxies, Star Systems and Planets -- most notably, they're all involved in the creation of our solar system. And all of them have done something horribly wrong (inadvertently or otherwise) and all are in the middle of crazy, elaborate plans to regain their status. Colchamiro tells us about their falls and their various efforts to fix things while we watch Jason and Theo binge drink their way around Europe.

I'm honestly not sure if that paragraph made much sense -- I bet if you've read the book, it does.

What surprised me about the book wasn't the strange antics these pairs got into -- but that Colchamiro works a lot of heart and some pretty serious emotional arcs into the zaniness. He does so in a way that doesn't seem forced, it doesn't seem like he's taking a break from the outrageous actions to have a heartfelt moment, or anything -- but he seamlessly merges personal growth, insight or complex emotions into the same scenes as a talking dolphin or biker gang interrupting a son introducing his girlfriend to his mother.

There was a time back in the 90's or so where it seemed that not a week could go by without someone on a sit-com ask the clarifying question: "Did you mean funny 'ha ha,' for funny 'peculiar/strange/odd'?" I thought of that frequently while reading this book -- and once I abandoned the idea of this book being "funny 'ha-ha,'" and instead embraced the strange, the absurd, the idiosyncratic peculiarity of Finders Keepers, I enjoyed it a lot more. I'm not saying that there aren't funny moments, and it's definitely not a serious work -- it's a fun, goofy, and strange SF adventure, which we need more of. I just don't think I laughed or chuckled all that much.

That said, do I encourage you to read it? Oh yeah. Am I curious about what the next two installments of this trilogy might bring? Oh yeah. And I fully intend on finding out as soon as I can. I wager if you spend some time with this particular batch of oddballs you'll be as curious as I am -- yet pleased that you spent this much time with them. It's a great mix of heart, oddball characters, youthful indiscretions, and wisdom that time and suffering can only bring -- all in one goofy adventure.

My thanks to iREAD Book Tours for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided, including a copy of the novel.

Needing a change of scene, Griffin Burke moves from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to start a new job. The beautiful white sand, aqua-coloured ocean, blue skies, and summer breezes are everything he longs for. What he finds is a mud-covered dog, lost and hungry, with a nametag and a phone number.

Dane Hughes is stuck in Surfers Paradise at a week-long work conference when he gets a phone call from his distraught mother. His dog, his fur baby, Wicket, has run away. Unable to leave and feeling helpless and miserable, he gets a text from a guy. “I think I found your dog…”

Griffin and Dane start talking, and Griffin agrees to look after Wicket until Dane can collect him. With a few days left before his new job starts, Griffin takes Wicket on some coastal adventures and sends Dane photos of their fun, and so the start of something new and kind of wonderful begins.

Griffin might have moved to Coolum in search of a new life, but what he finds is so much more. What he gets to keep just might take some four-legged help.

Review

Awww. This is a light, sweet romance between Dane and Griffin with a great cute meet brought on by an adorable dog.

A fast read with a dollop of happy and laughs. Good stuff. 

Still loved this one, too. On to End of Watch!

Original review here. I'm re-reading the Bill Hodges trilogy before I go on with The Outsider, since there is supposed to be at least one character making a reappearance. 

Holly goes to the telephone, reaches for it, then pulls her hand back. For almost a minute, she just stands there, gnawing her lips. She’s not used to taking the initiative in things. Maybe she should call Bill first, and ask him if it’s okay? “Bill doesn’t think the notebook’s important, though,” she tells her living room. “I think different. And I can think different if I want to.”

Woohoo! Go, Holly, git em!