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The Colorado Kid (Hard Case Crime #13)

3.16 of 5 stars 3.16 · rating details · 9,576 ratings · 817 reviews

On an island off the coast of Maine, a man is found dead. There's no identification on the body. Only the dogged work of a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics turns up any clues.

But that's just the beginning of the mystery. Because the more they learn about the man and the baffling circumstances of his death, the less they understand. Was it an i

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Mass Market Paperback, First edition, 184 pages

Published October 4th 2005 by Hard Crime Case (first published January 2005)

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Nov 14, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this book, not because I'm a Stephen King fan (although I am), but because it was part of the new Hard Case Crime division of Dorchester Publishing. I'll admit, the variety of authors they've collected to write for them is extensive, and THE COLORADO KID just happened to be the first one in the Hard Case group to make it to the top of my to-be-read pile.

I understand, after reading THE COLORADO KID, why so many people on here posted negative reviews. I understand, because just like t...more I picked up this book, not because I'm a Stephen King fan (although I am), but because it was part of the new Hard Case Crime division of Dorchester Publishing. I'll admit, the variety of authors they've collected to write for them is extensive, and THE COLORADO KID just happened to be the first one in the Hard Case group to make it to the top of my to-be-read pile.

I understand, after reading THE COLORADO KID, why so many people on here posted negative reviews. I understand, because just like the main characters in the story told me, a mystery with no resolution plain and simply pisses people off. People want a happy conclustion to a problem--whether it be why 9/11 happened, why oil prices are so high, why a young woman in Wisconsin was murdered, or how a man from Colorado went to work one morning and ended up dead on a little island off the coast of Maine only hours later.

Not KNOWING, not having Mr. King spell it out for us, angered many a reader of this book. Should it have? Maybe. But I actually felt like there WAS a resolution to this story--that being that not everything in life has such a tidy ending as we want our stories to have. Of all the people who end up dead in the US every year, how many do you think go unsolved as to cause of death, or in the case of murder, capturing a perpetrator? Life--this roller-coaster ride that we get onto daily and hang on to since our very lives depend on it--is not black and white, and it sure as heck doesn't offer us up tidy conclusions at the end of every day.

THE COLORADO KID is, quite simply, a character study of not knowing. We can get the facts, we can extrapolate what we believe happened based on those facts, but in the end, it's all a mystery.

Kudos to Mr. King for taking an idea, running with it, and showing that he just doesn't give a flying fig if we get it or not. This book left me with questions, yes, and I actually thank him for that. A book that makes you think and question will always be worth more than a book that doesn't. (less)

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Dec 22, 2011 Greg rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: hard-case, mystery

A quick check of the personal 'most read authors' feature on goodreads tells me that this is my thirty-third Stephen King book, and it's the one that pushed King ahead of Bukowski as my most read author. There is the possibility that maybe there are a couple of duplicate ratings in there, but I'm not going to look. I'd rather have Stephen King be my most read author than Bukowski (32 Bukowski books?!? I know I really liked him for about five years, but how many times could I read the same story?...more

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May 07, 2010 Leslie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-thriller

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In the afterward, Stephen King admits that readers will either like or hate the 'Colorado Kid', that there will be few who find middle ground. I think he's right. Before I go on, I will have to spoil the ending to really get to the meat of this book, the Umpf that really gets you in the end. So this is your last chance to turn back.

No really SPOILERS AHEAD!

Still there?

You're sure?

Okay.

First of all, many a campfire story has been told in the manner this story was written and in reading it, I...more

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Jan 18, 2010 Dennis D. rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. If I were a talented book-reviewer, I would probably be able to write a review of this novel without having to give pertinent details away. I’m not, so I can’t. Hence the spoiler alert.

The setting is a small, Maine island town. Two grizzled, old newspapermen are recounting local mysteries and cold cases with Stephanie, their beautiful and fresh-faced new intern and human interest writer. To them, the island's ultimate mystery is the tale of the Colorado Kid, which they proceed to retell in flash...more If I were a talented book-reviewer, I would probably be able to write a review of this novel without having to give pertinent details away. I’m not, so I can’t. Hence the spoiler alert.

The setting is a small, Maine island town. Two grizzled, old newspapermen are recounting local mysteries and cold cases with Stephanie, their beautiful and fresh-faced new intern and human interest writer. To them, the island's ultimate mystery is the tale of the Colorado Kid, which they proceed to retell in flashback. Some thirty-odd years before, a man’s lifeless body turned up, propped against a waste basket at a local beach. He does not appear to have met with violence, and there is no ID to be found. The two proceed to explain how the body, that of a man from Colorado, is finally identified after a year, which is the only true sleuthing to be found in the whole story. They interview the man’s widow. They talk to the last people to see him alive. Despite all this, the men never discover what the victim was doing in Maine. And, since the story takes place back when it much easier to fly under an assumed name, no one can even say for sure how he got to the east coast in the first place.

Here’s where the spoiler comes in: Stephen King sets this whole mystery up, but then provides no resolution. We never learn what actually happened. This really isn’t even much of a spoiler, since the main characters keep saying throughout the narrative that the mystery has never been solved. But I think the natural conclusion that a reader would draw, is that the young intern hears or learns something from this retelling that ultimately sheds new light on the case.

As a fan of King’s fiction, and especially his short fiction (TCK only goes 160 pages), I wouldn’t have a problem with a story without an ending, in and of itself. Fiction isn’t always neat. If this were a short story tucked into one of his anthologies, I’d give it 3 ½ out of 5 stars. The characters were semi-interesting, if a little one-dimensional, and the dialogue was realistic. My problem, is that TCK was published stand-alone as part of the Hard Case Crime series. Hard Case Crime, according to their website, is supposed to represent works, both new and old, that are "the best in hardboiled crime fiction…in the grand pulp style." This brings to mind dames and bullets, Dashiell Hammett, Jim Thompson. Nothing about this meandering story told years after the fact by two muttering old men is hard-boiled. Hell, you could just as easily as not conclude that there hasn’t even been a crime. The title, TCK, also puts one in the mind of gangsters, card sharps and gun molls, when the reality is that’s just the nickname the protagonists give the corpse until they finally learn his real name. As if the title and the Hard Case nameplate by themselves weren’t bad enough, they slap a classic noir cover on the book, with the titillating caption, “Would she learn the dead man’s secret?”, which again suggests a story that is the very antithesis of this one.

So, if I’m Hard Case Crime, and Mr. Stephen King wants to publish his grocery list on our imprint, of course, I let him. And as I’ve said, on its own merits, TCK is not that bad. But as a neo-noir novel “in the grand pulp style,” this story completely misses the mark.
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Aug 03, 2008 m.k. rated it 4 of 5 stars

There was a point in time where I thought King had lost his touch - I've always thought of him as a superb storyteller but there were a few books after the accident that just didn't hold my attention. I started one of them over a few times and finally gave up. I don't know when King's mojo returned, but I'm inclined to say that it's definitely back in The Colorado Kid. This book may not seem like a noir, not at first, but the elements are there and it's a mystery story about storytelling and mys...more

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Feb 09, 2008 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is King's entry into the "Hard Case Crime" imprint, and it's an interesting addition to the genre. According to their website, they specialize in "hardboiled crime fiction," which brings to mind the likes of Mickey Spillane and Ellmore Leonard. Lots of tough guys, fast-talking women and some poor dead bastard whose murder will probably get away scot free.

So it's interesting that King should write a hardboiled crime story with, as his characters tell us over and over again, no story to it. "...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Jamieson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am a new fan of the Hard Case Crime series. I stumbled upon the book “Branded Woman” by Wade Miller one day and was astonished. Hard Case Crime is bringing back all the old pulp novels of yesteryear and publishing new pulp novels by some of today’s most amazing writers. I thought, what a great idea! I had never had a chance to read an old pulp novel but now I was being given my chance!

So I was equally amazed when I head that one of my favorite authors was going to be writing a novel for the se...more

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Jan 21, 2009 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Stephen King pulls a fast one with his Pulp-Mystery, The Colorado Kid, dragging the reader into the tale with an intriguing mystery that begs to be solved. A man that no one seems to know is found dead on an island off the coast of Maine, with no identification and sparse clues as to how he came to be there.

In typical King fashion, he grounds his story with interesting but believable, hometown characters that could easily be the people next door. However, I had a hard time believing that Stepha...more

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May 02, 2013 Jenna rated it 4 of 5 stars

One of my favourite elements in any media, be it television, movies or books, is the makeshift family element. The characters who have no blood relation but come together as kin. And to me, this is what Steffi, Vince and Dave represent in this book. They're a family, in a way, and I loved reading about them. The banter thrown back and forth between Vince and Dave, the way they challenge Stephanie to think more creatively.

The subject of the book itself, the Colorado Kid mystery, is fascinating....more

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Jan 16, 2013 Pierre A marked it as to-read · review of another edition

"I ask you to consider the fact that we live in a web of mystery, and have simply gotten so used to the fact that we have crossed out the word and replaced it with one we like better, that one being reality. Where do we come from? Where were we before we were here? Don’t know. Where are we going? Don’t know. A lot of churches have what they assure us are the answers, but most of us have a sneaking suspicion all that might be a con-job laid down to fill the collection plates. In the meantime, we...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Natalie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, mystery

I was at the library looking for another Stephen King book (The Gunslinger, in case you were interested. And, for the record, I was quite put out because they were supposed to have a copy in and after looking for over 10 minutes, it was no where to be found. I am now forced to wait for one of the other copies to come in. But that's all beside the point.)

So...anyway...I was looking for this book and couldn't find it, but I noticed The Colorado Kid sitting there and I was drawn to it because one o...more I was at the library looking for another Stephen King book (The Gunslinger, in case you were interested. And, for the record, I was quite put out because they were supposed to have a copy in and after looking for over 10 minutes, it was no where to be found. I am now forced to wait for one of the other copies to come in. But that's all beside the point.)

So...anyway...I was looking for this book and couldn't find it, but I noticed The Colorado Kid sitting there and I was drawn to it because one of the my favorite TV shows is Haven. It's a show on the sci-fi channel about this town where people are beset by what is known as "the troubles" basically curses that cause all kinds of terrible things to happen. Audrey Parker is the heroine and she helps with the troubles while trying to solve her own weird mystery. Nate and Duke are the good guy and bad boy that both love her. (Another off topic comment - I'm definitely on Team Duke.) The opening sequence of Haven always mentions that the show is based on The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. So, while I was at the library I decided I might as well give it a go because it's short and one of my favorite TV shows is based off of it.

Well, I think it is a very big stretch to say that Haven is based off this book because the similarities are few and far between. Actually, I'm quite impressed with whatever show creator read this book and somehow twisted it to come up with Haven. Kudos for that good work.

There is nothing supernatural about The Colorado Kid, it's about a death that happened over twenty-five years ago and two old newspapermen are telling the story to their intern. That is what the entire book is about. (Vince and Dave, the newspapermen do feature in Haven as does The Grey Gull, a restaurant in the book.) The death is a mystery that has intrigued the two old geezers since it happened. There is never any resolution to this story. That is part of the mystery.

When I finished I sat there blinking for a minute and all I could say was "huh." I think the best part was Stephen King's afterword. He, himself, says that you'll either hate this story or love it, with no inbetween. I wouldn't say that I hate it, but as an enjoyable read, it doesn't really cut it. King says that it's kind of like life, we're all living in this big mystery, that won't ever really be solved. I thought that was quite insightful, but it doesn't mean that I'll be any hurry (ever) to read this book again.

As I wrote this review, I realized I don't really hate this book, but I don't really love it. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I would have never read it if I didn't already love Haven, and honestly, I might have hated it if I didn't love Haven. It's definitely a different kind of read. Puts a whole different spin on the word "mystery."(less)

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Nov 03, 2012 James Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: castle-rock

There are two things about the Colorado Kid that will throw most readers off. One, this is not your typical Stephen King story, and two, while this book was the inspiration for the television show Haven, there isn’t much of a connection between the story and the show. There is no blood, guts, or gore in this story, well with the exception of a dead body, so some fringe Stephen King fans may be taken aback. But remember, much like in the Shawshank Redemption and others, King is a 'story teller' n...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Gail Gauthier rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up this book at a library sale because it's supposed to be the inspiration for the TV series "Haven." Not that I particularly like "Haven," but the title "The Colorado Kid" intrigued me, and the book is quite short.

This is rather a talky book in which two elderly newspapermen (the only characters who are holdovers to the TV series) tell a young woman colleague...something. They don't actually tell her a story because, as they keep telling her, there is no story in what they're telling...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Elaine White rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Colorado Kid is the first Stephen King novel I can remember reading. I wanted to read it the minute I saw the TV show Haven, and saw that it was based on The Colorado Kid.

I hate stories without endings. At least in novels. Yet, I’ve happily read and enjoyed not only this book but also The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective, which is also based on a true story, and which also does not give a satisfying ending. However, I love the Afterw...more

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Sep 30, 2012 William M. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: thriller, drama, mystery

I supposed this book will polarize many readers. They will either love it or hate it. Personally, I quite enjoyed it. The best way to go into the book is not to have any expectations. Begin reading and let Stephen King take you on a journey. This is one author that you can trust to deliver. Although I was not in love with many of his recent books, I still respect his mastery of the craft. The Colorado Kid had a lot more hits than misses for me and was one of the better reads from recent King rel...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Courtney Cantrell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mystery fans will pick up this book because it's a mystery. Stephen King fans will pick it up because it's Stephen King. Of the two sets of readers, the mystery fans will be the once more likely to enjoy themselves.

The Colorado Kid is a quick-read mystery, nothing more and nothing less. Don't expect the supernatural; don't expect the in-depth characterization contained in King's longer works. If you read the author's afterword, you'll discover that this book delivers exactly what King wanted it...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Lucas Rodriguez rated it 1 of 5 stars

Si pudiera describir a Colorado Kid en una palabra, esa sería decepción.
Nunca me preocupé por la longitud de la novela (escasas 150 páginas) ya que King puede entregar verdaderas maravillas en pocas páginas, pero una vez llegado a más de la mitad de la historia, uno va perdiendo esperanzas de que esté realmente frente a una historia más del señor Horror.

La historia, en pocas líneas, nos pone frente a dos ancianos regentes de un pequeño diario en una isla quienes cuentan a una periodista interna...more

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Jun 29, 2012 Nicholas rated it 3 of 5 stars

So this is the first "hard case" crime story that I've ever read. That being said, I'm not entirely sure what the genre is supposed to look or feel like. I have some impressions from other pulpy type stories that I've seen in film, but no novels.

The Colorado Kid concerns the discovery of a body on the beach of a small island community and the unravelling of its mysterious origins. The story itself is rather uncomplicated, in fact, the narrators mention several times throughout that it's not rea...more So this is the first "hard case" crime story that I've ever read. That being said, I'm not entirely sure what the genre is supposed to look or feel like. I have some impressions from other pulpy type stories that I've seen in film, but no novels.

The Colorado Kid concerns the discovery of a body on the beach of a small island community and the unravelling of its mysterious origins. The story itself is rather uncomplicated, in fact, the narrators mention several times throughout that it's not really a story at all - and that much is kind of true. What's interesting to me here is the format King chose rather than the plot or character development (of which there's none). The story begins in media res with a big-shot Boston reporter trying to find stories for a running column on unsolved mysteries. The natives aren't very forthcoming, engaging in that typical small-town insider shunning of the rather "big" outside world. It's a truism of King stories that small towns have dark secrets that manifest self-preservation instincts through their denizens. Anyway, nothing real sinister here. In this case, a couple of small town reporters, Vince and Dave relate a mysterious story from their earlier days running the Weekly Islander to their cub intern Stephanie McCann, who serves as a stand-in for the reader. The story of the mysterious death and the string of dead-end investigations are related to her by the narrative muses of this Odd Couple who weave their narrative seamlessly back and forth between them over the course of an evening. The narrative is therefore mostly first-person and the novella consists mostly of dialogue. The conversational nature gives the book a feeling of oral history, with all the strengths thereof invested within it. The answers, such as they are, are limited, but the back and forth between the characters as they hash out the story imprints a feeling of induction upon the mind of the reader encouraging participation in the story. McCann's character is a pretty brilliant device to give voice to the questions and reasoning you yourself come up with along the way and that makes you feel part of the story - giving it whatever appeal it has.

I also like the fact that the mystery remains unsolved. There's room for interpretation and leaves the reader with a limited set of facts to try and arrive at a conclusion of their own. King gives some suggestions through Vince and Dave of likely scenarios, but wisely abstains from leaving anything to definitive for you to cling to. Thematically this element runs throughout the narration as Vince and Dave avoid conclusions and reprimand McCann for being to hasty with hers. It's good storytelling and ensures the story stays with you beyond the last page.

Coming off reading It, I was looking for some stronger characters to develop in the story, which is probably where my own naiveté comes in. It may simply not be part of this particular genre, but I also feel like that really probably wasn't even the point of the story. The point is the mystery and power of storytelling itself, also a recurring theme in King books. Nevertheless, I come to expect strong and memorable characters from King and I doubt any of these will stay with me. Vince and Dave are truly an Odd Couple and McCann is likable enough, but there's just not a lot to grasp onto here. Again, probably intentional on King's part, and probably my fault for choosing to read The Colorado Kid after probably King's most complete novel.

I think this book has a bit of identity crisis too. Filed and published under Hard Case Crime fiction, the novel lacks the common elements of the genre: no violence, no sex, no detectives and, quite possibly, not even a murder itself.

All that aside, The Colorado Kid was a great evening read. I woke up this morning still thinking about it and it reminded me rather pleasantly of my adolescent years watching tons and tons of The X-Files. (less)

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Apr 17, 2012 Dragana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

I picked this book up because I am a fan of a Haven series, and in the credits I read it is based on it. The mysterious murder of Colorado Kid is not covered in the series, but is mentioned many times as part of the town's history. So I wanted to learn more about it.

Main characters from the show are not even mentioned in the book, the storytellers here are cute pair of newspaper reporters: Vince & Dave.

Not seeing anything cute about them? Well, you gotta know them to love them. :D

When I fini...more

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Mar 06, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, contemporary, mystery, novella

Even average Stephen King is worth reading. I'd call The Colorado Kid, a short novel (almost a novella) a notch above average, maybe 3.5 stars.

It's not really a "hard-boiled" mystery, though, and I don't know why it's labeled as such. That sultry dame on the cover is pretty misleading; the story is actually an unsolved murder being related to a young reporter working on a small tourist island newspaper in Maine by two old-timers who've been living there and reporting for the paper since forever....more Even average Stephen King is worth reading. I'd call The Colorado Kid, a short novel (almost a novella) a notch above average, maybe 3.5 stars.

It's not really a "hard-boiled" mystery, though, and I don't know why it's labeled as such. That sultry dame on the cover is pretty misleading; the story is actually an unsolved murder being related to a young reporter working on a small tourist island newspaper in Maine by two old-timers who've been living there and reporting for the paper since forever.

There are two stories here; one is the human interaction between the old-timers and their young protege as they discuss fine nuances of human behavior wrapped in small mysteries, everything from why they didn't leave a tip on the table for a hard-working waitress to why they don't tell the big city reporter working on a series for a Boston paper about any of the real mysteries they know about, and stick to old unsolved ones everyone knows about like the mysterious coast lights and the poisoned church picnic. King has always been good at inserting little bits of human mystery like this into his stories.

The second story, the one The Colorado Kid is really about, is that of a man from Colorado who was found dead on this Maine island back in 1980. As the two journalists tell the tale, more and more odd details surface, and as they try to work through answers to each one, the case becomes stranger and stranger.

The thing is, The Colorado Kid is actually a bit of a meta-story, and appreciating it requires knowing a little bit about Stephen King. Like the fact that in recent years he's been connecting all of his fiction loosely together in a self-referential manner.

Consider a supernatural thriller with inhuman creatures, magic, aliens, or whatever, operating in secret. Imagine the collateral damage these stories leave lying around: dead bodies, burned down buildings, unexplained holes in the ground. What happens when "mundanes" come across the aftermath of such incidents? They have no idea about parallel dimensions or battles between good and evil, they just know there's a dead body lying here and they have no idea how it got there or how he died. They try to piece together the clues, but there are holes in any story they come up with, because even if they are open-minded enough to consider the paranormal, they can't know the whole truth.

This story is kind of like getting a peek at a mystery like that. If you take it at face value, it's just an odd tale about an unsolved death. If you think about all the other King you've read, you say, "Damn, some shit went down here, and these people just have no clue..."(less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Lakis Fourouklas rated it 4 of 5 stars

To be honest this book I’ve read mostly out of curiosity, since one my favorite TV series, Haven, is based on it. The thing is though that after reading the book I’ve come to realize that its connection to the series is so light that if I didn’t already know it existed, I’d be really surprised if I ever found out about it. What the creators of the series did was take one of the many mysterious cases mentioned in the novel and built on it, while bringing at the same time to the forefront some of...more To be honest this book I’ve read mostly out of curiosity, since one my favorite TV series, Haven, is based on it. The thing is though that after reading the book I’ve come to realize that its connection to the series is so light that if I didn’t already know it existed, I’d be really surprised if I ever found out about it. What the creators of the series did was take one of the many mysterious cases mentioned in the novel and built on it, while bringing at the same time to the forefront some of the secondary characters.
But, let’s take things from the beginning. In 1980 a young couple discovers on the shores of an island in Maine, the corpse of a man, to whom the authorities bestow the nickname The Colorado Kid. No one seems to know who he is and how he ended up there, while at first even his death is a mystery of sorts.
We learn about the story of the Kid, as well as about some other strange occurrences and phenomena that have taken place in the region, through the collaborative narration of the two elderly journalists, who run the local newspaper. Their audience is a young and beautiful intern, who thinks that she has a lot to learn from the two men. The question is though, can she believe them? Well, that’s not so easy to do since what they tell her, doesn’t really make any sense. According to them, strange things have always been happening around there, which over the years claimed an important role in the local folklore: once a group of people fell victims to mass poisoning from drinking tea, an adventure from which only two of them survived, with one of them showing no symptoms whatsoever; at some other time an utterly deserted ship washed to shore and as the locals have it, it was some ghosts that led it there; and after that, the really unexpected happened, an Unidentified Flying Object was spotted by many people in the sky over the town.
Stephenie, the young woman, listens attentively to the two men, she absorbs their stories and tries to discover all by herself and within her own soul, the answers to the mysteries that her mentors talk about. The two of them seem not only to want to test her analytical capabilities, but also to challenge her logical mind, and thus open her eyes to the realities that she could never up to that moment believe to exist.
While reading this book the reader gets the feeling that somehow, somewhere there’s a rational explanation for everything that’s happening, but the mystery keeps challenging his senses and the myth keeps his attention alive and alert. Some of the answers will come to light by the end, some won’t. But, one way or another, what matters most is the story, and this is a good one. The author is not interested in playing the fear card, he just wants to tell a story and that he does splendidly.
If any of you have watched the series I’m sure that by reading this book you’ll only recognize but a few points of reference: the two journalists, the landscape, the female version of the Colorado Kid and maybe one or two of the stories. However, I’d like to congratulate the people behind it for managing to create a whole world, with a pantheon of great characters and plots full of mystery, taking their inspiration from a short novel like this. They really did a great job.
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Jan 30, 2012 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fiction, mysteries

Because I'm a fan of the Syfy series HAVEN, I have been wanting to read this short novel for quite some time, as it inspired the television series. As it turns out in this case, the inspiration plays out in the form of the show's setting in Maine and the names of the two men in charge of the small local newspaper. And that's pretty much where the inspiration ends. Still, it is an interesting story and mystery, but anyone who wants answers is going to be bitterly disappointed here, as King makes...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Roberta rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2006

Un libro in parte osannato, in parte aspramente criticato, per lo stesso motivo: la mancanza di un finale che risolva un mistero. Il lettore rimane pertanto a bocca asciutta ma, come suggerisce King nella postfazione, "in questo caso particolare, non sono tanto interessato alla soluzione quanto al mistero in sè. Perchè è stato il mistero a farmi tornare alla storia, giorno dopo giorno." L'autore ci invita a trovare una soluzione dopo averci spiegato che l'uomo vive immerso nel mistero e, pur con...more

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Dec 02, 2011 Dan Keating rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I picked up The Colorado Kid at a used book store, I figured I was paying a couple dollars for a quick, fun afternoon read. I'd heard of the book because of the Syfy Channel original series "Haven," which claims to be based on it. I didn't think it'd wind up being one of the best books I'd read in a long time - but that's what it wound up being.

First off, The Colorado Kid is a mystery, not a horror novel. It also does not explicitly involve anything supernatural - as a matter of fact, it go...more When I picked up The Colorado Kid at a used book store, I figured I was paying a couple dollars for a quick, fun afternoon read. I'd heard of the book because of the Syfy Channel original series "Haven," which claims to be based on it. I didn't think it'd wind up being one of the best books I'd read in a long time - but that's what it wound up being.

First off, The Colorado Kid is a mystery, not a horror novel. It also does not explicitly involve anything supernatural - as a matter of fact, it goes out of its way to explain that while many of its elements are highly improbable by conventional standards, a true mystery is about the possibilities and the lack of a full explanation. So don't expect people with superpowers or various ghouls and monsters to show up.

Second, the book is entirely told dialogue-style. The actual, literal plot of the book is this: a young woman interning at a small Maine newspaper sits down one evening and listens to the two old editors of the paper relate to her the unsolved mystery of the death of the Colorado Kid twenty-five years previous. So the book doesn't directly narrate the Colorado Kid's story - the book narrates the two old editors telling the story. Books like these suffer from one big, common problem - there isn't any conflict in the present-tense telling of the story, aside from the listener's eagerness to hear more. While Stephanie certainly is eager to hear more, there is a greater conflict at work - she's aware that she's constantly being tested by the two old editors, and it's clear from how she regards and respects them that she wants their respect in return. In addition, Stephanie's journey - towards understanding the editors' point about storytelling and mysteries themselves - mirrors the readers' similar journey in a way that is metafictional at it's most subtle and most wonderful.

And that brings us to the third thing - the commentary on the nature of storytelling. The Colorado Kid is much a story about the nature of storytelling as it is a murder mystery - perhaps moreso. In the book, the editors describe - in their marvelously rustic Maine-dialect way - that people want to tell themselves a story more often than anything else, and a true mystery is the story that doesn't allow them to do that - which simultaneously gives them too much doubt to doubt and not enough hard fact to come to a conclusion that resolves the story. The actual story of the Colorado Kid - which the editors continuously advise Stephanie isn't really a story at all - is their prime example.

Perhaps there's something in that - perhaps the Colorado Kid's tale really isn't a story. However, it is an amazing novel, and one I highly recommend.(less)

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Sep 14, 2011 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-serial-killer, favorites

In the Afterword, Stephen King notes that he expects his readers will either love or hate this book. I would agree. If you are expecting a scary horror story, you will be disappointed. If on the other hand, you are interested is in a thought-provoking mystery that doesn't spoon feed the reader the answers or tie things up in a nice little package at the end, this is absolutely the book for you.

I read this book because I have been totally sucked into the television series, Haven, which is based...more

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Aug 05, 2011 Adam Richter rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Jul 06, 2011 Sara Thompson rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a short, easy to understand book so it could easily be read by a juvenile. This book is not your typical Stephen King. I wanted to read it because I have fallen in love with Haven on the Syfy channel which is based on this book. I was a little nervous that it might ruin the show for me - like give me the answer to the mystery. The book was good maybe even great but I haven't really decided yet.
The book is a story told from two elderly newsreporters (at a very small newspaper in a small t...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Anthony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: hard-case-crime

"TCK" is a short book (184 pages including the author's note at the end) that King wrote in 2005 for the somewhat new publisher Hard Case Crime. It is not what people expect as a typical King book, because there's nothing of the supernatural in it. It's also not really "hard boiled crime fiction," but more of a "cozy mystery" -- and even that description doesn't work because as the author has his characters point out, real life is not like an Ellery Queen story or an episode of Murder, She Wrote...more "TCK" is a short book (184 pages including the author's note at the end) that King wrote in 2005 for the somewhat new publisher Hard Case Crime. It is not what people expect as a typical King book, because there's nothing of the supernatural in it. It's also not really "hard boiled crime fiction," but more of a "cozy mystery" -- and even that description doesn't work because as the author has his characters point out, real life is not like an Ellery Queen story or an episode of Murder, She Wrote (despite the bucolic Maine island setting). In fact, King says in the endnotes that he fully expects readers to either love the book, or hate it ... and the ones will hate it because, as so often happens in real life, the mystery is never solved. But here's the thing: you pretty much know that from chapter 3, so you're not really any more disappointed at the end than is the character of Stephanie McCann, who is hearing the story of the mystery told to her by her bosses at The Weekly Islander, Moose-Lookit Island's sole newspaper. The bosses were there when it all happened, you see. And their story plays out, with various interjections from each other and interruptions for Coke and bathroom breaks and coffee (the characters' breaks, not mine!), over the rest of the book.

So my verdict is: I loved it. The characters of Vince Teague and David Bowie are the kind of irascible old men I can easily see Matthau and Lemmon playing -- they have a kind of short-hand talk after having worked together for so many years, they have a very New England sense of humor, and as much as they love the mystery they're sharing with her, they love intern Steffi McCann and hope she'll decide to stay on the island even after her internship is up. I could listen to these two characters all day and not get bored ... and so can Steffi.

The short version of the story they tell is that a man is found dead on the beach of the Island. He's got no identification and is not a local. The two reporters, and an intern forensics student with the state police, slowly put the details together over several years.

In the end notes, King says that it is the nature of mystery he was after, not the solution. He definitely hit it.(less)

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Jan 02, 2011 Brie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Theatre people

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 01, 2011 Yolanda Sfetsos rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: stephen-king

What a fascinating tale. I know some people might feel cheated after reading this intriguing mystery but I loved it. Very good book with all the trademark King, including the nature of the mystery. The interaction between the two old guys - Dave and Vince - and the young Stephanie is a great dymanic. He gives you just enough info to feel like you actually know them.

This book gets two thumbs up from me (since there are only 2, I think you get how much I liked it!) A great little read which'll no...more

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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Quotes from The Colorado Kid

“Sometimes loving eyes don't see what they don't want to see.” — 9 people liked it

“For a woman a man will do many things that he'd turn his back on in an instant when alone; things he'd back away from, nine times out of ten, even when drunk adn with a bunch of his friends egging him on.” — 6 people liked it

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The Colorado Kid (Hard Case Crime #13)

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