Finders Keeper- Stephen King

n 1978, petty criminal Morris Bellamy murders acclaimed author John Rothstein after Rothstein ended his famous Runner trilogy on an unsatisfactory note. Rothstein has been in reclusive retirement, never publishing another novel but continuing to write in private. More than money, Morris wants Rothstein's invaluable notebooks, which contain the last two books of the Runner series. After the murder, Morris hides Rothstein's cash andMoleskine notebooks in a trunk buried near the river behind his childhood home. Before he can read the manuscripts, Morris is sentenced to life in prison for another crime. Rothstein's murder is never solved.

In the present day, young Peter Saubers now lives in Morris's old home. His father, Tom, was disabled in the events that opened Mr. Mercedes, and the Saubers family is on the brink of financial and emotional ruin. Pete discovers the buried trunk and secretly uses the money to keep his family afloat for the next few years, while gradually becoming engrossed in the Rothstein notebooks. When the money runs out, Pete, now a teenager aware of the true value of his discovery, comes up with a plan to profit from the notebooks. At the same time, Morris, now nearly sixty, has finally been granted parole. He goes to retrieve the buried trunk, only to find it empty. Morris is obsessed with finding the notebooks and learning the ultimate outcome of the Runner series. His search for the notebooks eventually leads him to Peter's family.

As a deadly cat-and-mouse game begins, private detective Bill Hodges, the man who brought down the murderous Mr. Mercedes, is gradually drawn into the mystery of the unknown benefactor who helped the Saubers through their rough patch. He knows young Pete is hiding something, but he doesn't know that the missing piece of the puzzle is the answer to a thirty-year-old cold case: the murder of John Rothstein.