Does King read his negative reviews? I'm beginning to wonder. 
 This trilogy is one of the best things the man has written in years, IMO, and in this instalment he ditched all the issues that pissed readers off about Mr. Mercedes. 
 There's still a little bit of fat shaming, but it's almost gone. Jerome has toned down his tired, racist Tyrone act--hopefully by the third book it won't rear its ugly head at all. And there's no objectified women who are only in the book to have sex with the protagonist before dying a horrible death. (Probably because the main players in this particular book are all men, but that's better than the token female sex object.) 
 Since those were the only aspects that hindered my enjoyment of Mr. Mercedes, I loved Finders Keepers and found it very difficult to put down. It was a fun, thoroughly enjoyable thriller, and the characters of Pete and Morris were well drawn and interesting. Pete's predicament reminded me a bit of "Apt Pupil," and it appeared that--as with Misery--King was drawing inspiration from his biggest fans. 
 You know what they say--write what you know. 
 PS--Except the incessant, unnecessary repeating of "Shit don't mean shit." Not exactly a brilliant quote that we need on every other page.