The Finder by Will Ferguson

Hey book lovers! I’m here with a book review for The Finder by Will Ferguson (author of 419 and The Shoe on the Roof). I received a complimentary arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

About The Book 📚

Title: The Finder

Author: Will Ferguson

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Suggested Reader Age: Adult

Genre: General Fiction, Mystery, Cultural (Japan, Australia, New Zealand)

Synopsis

“From the Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning novelist of 419 comes a spellbinding literary adventure novel about precious objects lost and found.

The world is filled with wonders, lost objects—all real—all still out there, waiting to be found:

· the missing Fabergé eggs of the Romanov dynasty, worth millions
· the last reel of Alfred Hitchcock’s first film
· Buddy Holly’s iconic glasses
· Muhammad Ali’s Olympic gold medal

How can such cherished objects simply vanish? Where are they hiding? And who on earth might be compelled to uncover them?

Will Ferguson takes readers on a heroic, imaginative journey across continents, from the seas of southern Japan, to the arid Australian Outback, to the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, after the earthquake. Prepare to meet Gaddy Rhodes, a brittle Interpol agent obsessed with tracking “The Finder”—a shadowy figure she believes is collecting lost objects; Thomas Rafferty, a burnt-out travel writer whose path crosses that of The Finder, to devastating effect; and Tamsin Greene, a swaggering war photographer who is hiding secrets of her own.

The Finder is a beguiling and wildly original tale about the people, places, and things that are lost and found in our world. Both an epic literary adventure and an escape into a darkly thrilling world of deceit and its rewards, this novel asks: How far would you be willing to go to recover the things you’ve left behind?”

About The Author

Will Ferguson won the Scotiabank Giller Prize for 419. “He has won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour a record-tying three times and has been nominated for both the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.”

“Ferguson studied film production and screenwriting at York University in Toronto, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1990. He joined the Japan Exchange Teachers Programme (JET) soon after and spent five years in Asia. He married his wife Terumi in Kumamoto, Japan, in 1995. They now live in Calgary with their two sons. After coming back from Japan he experienced a reverse culture shock, which became the basis for his first book Why I Hate Canadians. With his brother, Ian Ferguson, he wrote the bestselling sequel How to be a Canadian. Ferguson details his experiences hitchhiking across Japan in Hokkaido Highway Blues (later retitled Hitching Rides with Buddha), his travels across Canada in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, and a journey through central Africa in Road Trip Rwanda. His debut novel, Happiness, was sold into 23 languages around the world. He has written for The New York Times, Esquire UK, and Canadian Geographic magazine.”

https://www.willferguson.ca/

My Review

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 9
One of my favourite characters in The Finder is Catherine, a girl living on the edge of the world. Her father is brilliant but doesn’t know how to raise her. She’s wanting more from life and is sick of being bullied at school. After an earthquake, an injured man shows up and she nurses him back to health.
Tamsin, “the cool machine”. Fearless photographer. Two men regret coming across her path in the Australian outback. There’s nothing better than a bad-ass, female character.
While working for the Interpol, Gaddy Rhodes has been tracking and trying to find lost objects for ten years. She believes the person who found the Fabergé egg used that money to fund later criminal activities. After presenting all of her ideas she was removed from active duty and transferred to a desk job.

“While other cubicle denizens had photographs of children and spouses, or crayon art and World’s Greatest Dad mugs, Gaddy’s desk sported a large bottle of awamori with a habu coiled inside, jaw distended, fangs bared. Dragon liquor. Leaning against this formaldehyde curiosity was a folder stuffed with loose papers, marked FINDER.”

Habu Sake | Wine bottle, Liquor, Alcohol — https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/247486941992663262/

The Finder, the person who’s been finding lost items all over the world, is a snake. Slithering around, unseen, unnoticed, taking things that doesn’t belong to them.

› Atmosphere: 9
I love the descriptions. Ferguson takes us all over the world and I could picture every setting in my mind.

› Writing Style: 9
Ferguson’s writing style is impeccable. Here’s one part that I really liked:

“Evil travels in a straight line, you see, hates to tack right or left, hates to change course, and Hateruma’s ishi-gan-to stones deflected the razor-like routes that evil followed. The island’s spirit lines formed a network, blocked here, averted there, redirected this way, then that, eventually leading to the cliffs at island’s edge and then into the sea, in much the same way a wild boar might be corralled. A malicious presence would thus be directed away from the village, avoiding homes and businesses…”

› Plot: 8
In the acknowledgements, Ferguson talks about which parts of The Finder are based on true events. His career has taken him to some pretty amazing places. The plot is slow and often confusing. At first, I was irritated and thought I would rate this book pretty low, but now I can see that Ferguson was perhaps purposely creating a feeling of being lost – we are after all reading about characters who are lost, looking for something – either looking for an object, looking for fame, for love, for friendship, for MORE.

› Intrigue: 7
I definitely wanted to keep reading, although I wouldn’t call this a “page-turner”. The cultural references were fantastic – if you wish you liked Historical Fiction more and you love mysteries/adventures, then this might be the perfect mixture of learning about our world, history, cultures within an adventurous mystery novel.

“We live on a globe, Catherine. Draw any two lines and they will eventually intersect.”

› Logic: 9
I didn’t notice anything illogical, however, I didn’t understand The Finder’s motivation – I’m sure it was explained, I just can’t seem to remember their WHY.

› Enjoyment: Overall experience is an 8

Average 8.4

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• I had a hard time getting into The Finder, but once I was IN – I was IN. You will feel lost, maybe even confused at times, however, keep reading because it really does come together. If you like stories based on real events – then I’ll think you’ll like The Finder.