Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
New York: Dorchester Pub., 2005.
Description
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 impossible crime? Or something stranger still...? No one but Stephen King could tell this story about the darkness at the heart of the unknown and our compulsion to investigate the unexplained. With echoes of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon and the work of Graham Greene, one of the world's great storytellers presents a surprising tale that explores the nature of mystery itself...… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member gilroy
I put this on my reading list because it was the basis for the TV show Haven on the Sci Fi Channel (I refuse to use their other branding.) Figured it be best to read it so I better understood the show. So here we go.
While reading:
-- Interesting opening, and always learning.
-----
How does one review
Vincent, Dave, and Stephanie would probably make a good newspaper trio. They know how to think things through.
As an author, this type of story would take a master to pull off. It's not something that I'd recommend an amateur try. Mostly because you'd need to understand how the structure works before you discard it.
Fun little piece. Now to go watch Haven.
While reading:
-- Interesting opening, and always learning.
-----
How does one review
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a story that isn't a story? The characters in the story themselves said there is no thru line. It offers a lot of what ifs with no solid conclusion. Which is common for most Stephen King writings. It is a fascinating work up and, to most mystery writers, it's a good opening. To me, where the story ended felt ... incomplete. There is too much missing, like a beginning, a middle, and an end. It felt like an extended scene. For what the scene presented, it was decent.Vincent, Dave, and Stephanie would probably make a good newspaper trio. They know how to think things through.
As an author, this type of story would take a master to pull off. It's not something that I'd recommend an amateur try. Mostly because you'd need to understand how the structure works before you discard it.
Fun little piece. Now to go watch Haven.
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LibraryThing member drebbles
Steffi McCann came from Cincinnati, Ohio to Moose-Lookit Island in Maine to do an internship on the newspaper "The Weekly Islander". Her elderly bosses at the newspaper, Vince Teague and Dave Bowie, have plenty to teach her, including the fact that, unlike newspaper stories, real life doesn't
Early on in this short novel, Stephen King warns readers that the mystery of the Colorado Kid will not be solved. This may keep some from reading this book, but that would be their loss. "The Colorado Kid" is a wonderful example of what Stephen King does best - create characters that you care about and want to know more about, long after you've finished reading the book. Vince and Dave are the standout characters in this book, so well written that at times I felt that they were talking to me instead of Steffi. Steffi is not written as clearly (and the book cover, which I guess is supposed to be an illustration of her, is a distraction) but King does write enough so that we know her as a character. Readers will even come to know the mysterious Colorado Kid and wonder why and how did he travel from Colorado to Maine and did he really choke to death on a piece of steak or was he murdered?
Perhaps the best part is that King does not answer those questions, but lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions. To further stir debate, King hints on his website that "The Colorado Kid" may have some connection to his Dark Tower series which opens even more possibilities and more questions in this reader's mind.
"The Colorado Kid" is a multi-layered and well-written book and not to be missed.
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always have stories that come neatly wrapped in packages with a beginning, middle, and end. To illustrate that point, they tell her the story of a body found on the beach, the body of the man they call the "Colorado Kid". Early on in this short novel, Stephen King warns readers that the mystery of the Colorado Kid will not be solved. This may keep some from reading this book, but that would be their loss. "The Colorado Kid" is a wonderful example of what Stephen King does best - create characters that you care about and want to know more about, long after you've finished reading the book. Vince and Dave are the standout characters in this book, so well written that at times I felt that they were talking to me instead of Steffi. Steffi is not written as clearly (and the book cover, which I guess is supposed to be an illustration of her, is a distraction) but King does write enough so that we know her as a character. Readers will even come to know the mysterious Colorado Kid and wonder why and how did he travel from Colorado to Maine and did he really choke to death on a piece of steak or was he murdered?
Perhaps the best part is that King does not answer those questions, but lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions. To further stir debate, King hints on his website that "The Colorado Kid" may have some connection to his Dark Tower series which opens even more possibilities and more questions in this reader's mind.
"The Colorado Kid" is a multi-layered and well-written book and not to be missed.
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LibraryThing member jonwwil
A good, quick read. I started and finished this baby in one day, maybe two hours of total reading time. It's a pretty good story, or perhaps I should say story-within-a-story. As with any King novel, the primary joy (for me, at least) comes from the characters he creates. This is the rare King
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book, though, where you may find yourself wishing he had told more than what he did. Still, with the way the story developed, the "ending" we are given is really the only one that's possible, and I would have been disappointed with any other. Show Less
LibraryThing member bigorangemichael
I'd argue that most Stephen King stories aren't so much about the horror or fantastic elements in the story so much as they're about how those horrific or fantastic elements affect ordinary people. King's great strength is taking ordinary characters, developing them a bit and then setting them down
For King, it's less about the destination and more about the journey. Let's see how these characters react to things, he seems to say.
Such is the case with his latest novel The Colorado Kid.
Really, to call it a novel is stretching the defintion, especially by the tome sized standard King has set with previous novels. Weighing it at just under 200 pages, this one might be better classified as a novella. Luckily, it's part of the Hard Case Crime series and is published to increase the visiblity of the line (it helped me with as I've read half a dozen of the other books published under this banner). Also, it's offered at a lower price to the consumer. So, if it only takes you a couple of hours to read, you're only out six bucks and not the price of a hard-cover.
Now, I will warn you--those of you looking for a neat, tidy little mystery might want to look elsewhere. King acknowledges this in his afterward saying this novel will be one that fans love or hate with little middle ground. And I can see why. The story is one of a dead body discovered on a beach in Maine and how the investigation into solving that mystery affects his family, the people around him and two newspaper reporters who have kept the story to themselves all these years. The story is told by the two guys to a young female reporter so they can share the secret and keep it going. Again, let me say that this is not a neat, tidy package where thing will all be resolved in the end. King offers up some solutions and bits of answers, but there is no great denouncement or a smoking gun. In short--this ain't an Agatha Christie mystery where the culprit is denounced by the final chapter after a lot of red herrings over the course of the novel.
Instead, what you get is a story of how the mystery affects everyone is comes in contact with. Some are forever changed, some aren't. And King's greatest strength--creating intersting characters, whether it be for two pages or 180 plus--is fully on display here. There is little or no supernatural stuff happening here, but instead an interesting little story that is a pleasant way to spend a few hours with a good book.
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in some circumstance and watching how they deal with it. For some like Jack Torrence, they go mad. For others, like Roland the Gunslinger, they become a sort of anti-hero. But in all of these stories, the insanity of the worlds King creates are grounded by characters who feel authentic. For King, it's less about the destination and more about the journey. Let's see how these characters react to things, he seems to say.
Such is the case with his latest novel The Colorado Kid.
Really, to call it a novel is stretching the defintion, especially by the tome sized standard King has set with previous novels. Weighing it at just under 200 pages, this one might be better classified as a novella. Luckily, it's part of the Hard Case Crime series and is published to increase the visiblity of the line (it helped me with as I've read half a dozen of the other books published under this banner). Also, it's offered at a lower price to the consumer. So, if it only takes you a couple of hours to read, you're only out six bucks and not the price of a hard-cover.
Now, I will warn you--those of you looking for a neat, tidy little mystery might want to look elsewhere. King acknowledges this in his afterward saying this novel will be one that fans love or hate with little middle ground. And I can see why. The story is one of a dead body discovered on a beach in Maine and how the investigation into solving that mystery affects his family, the people around him and two newspaper reporters who have kept the story to themselves all these years. The story is told by the two guys to a young female reporter so they can share the secret and keep it going. Again, let me say that this is not a neat, tidy package where thing will all be resolved in the end. King offers up some solutions and bits of answers, but there is no great denouncement or a smoking gun. In short--this ain't an Agatha Christie mystery where the culprit is denounced by the final chapter after a lot of red herrings over the course of the novel.
Instead, what you get is a story of how the mystery affects everyone is comes in contact with. Some are forever changed, some aren't. And King's greatest strength--creating intersting characters, whether it be for two pages or 180 plus--is fully on display here. There is little or no supernatural stuff happening here, but instead an interesting little story that is a pleasant way to spend a few hours with a good book.
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LibraryThing member hoosgracie
Stephen King’s take on hard boiled crime. I wouldn’t really consider this a hard boiled crime novel, but it’s a pretty decent take by King on mysteries.
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
I admit I had my doubts that King was capable of this kind of writing and storytelling, but it’s King and I’ll read almost anything of his. While an interesting and enjoyable story, this is not Hard Case Crime writing or pulp fiction or anything even remotely approaching the kind of story we
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were led to believe it would be. My suspicion that King’s style was not amenable to this kind of story was right, it’s not. And the story is not a mystery with a conclusion, it’s left open and dangling and unsolved. A typical lingering, slightly supernatural tale written in King’s inimitable style. But hard-boiled crime fiction? Nope. Show Less
LibraryThing member rosencrantz79
King at his self-indulgent worst. Only a die-hard, loyal-til-the-end King fan could love this one...and while I do have a soft spot for Uncle Stevie, the only reason I finished this book was because I was trapped on a flight from Anchorage to St. Louis. A mystery story with few clues and no proper
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solution, The Colorado Kid is actually worth reading only for its main character, an entertaining, crusty old newspaper owner. Show Less
LibraryThing member placo75
The wife and I listened to this story on CD while driving to my parents' house for some holiday. We were delightfully surprised by how much we could enjoy a thoroughly frustrating ending to a really great example of popular fiction.
I recommend it.
I recommend it.
LibraryThing member andyray
a simple story involving two old newspapermen and one young female cub reporter, who hash over the remarkable case of the Colorado Kid, a man found dead from allegedly choking on a piece of meat. This is a simple yet interesting non-story, but then again it could be a story if you think the young
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lady has learned anything from it and a change has occurred in her. Forgettable. Show Less
LibraryThing member irkthepurist
I've never really been much of a Stephen King fan, but I have married an obsessive fan and as such chose this to be the first book of his I read (as it wasn't horror and I'm not particularly a huge fan of that genre). And I thought it was fascinating. It comes across as almost a sequel to Paul
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Auster's "New York Trilogy", this very simple crime story with the centre very purposefully removed. It's not quite an exercise in postmodernism and neither is it quite a shaggy dog story, but it's very much - from reading more King later on - the writer stretching out a bit and enjoying himself in a somewhat new form. Only problem with it is that he names one of the characters David Bowie and I spent the whole book half imagining this elderly New England gent with a zig zag painted on his face. Ah well. Show Less
LibraryThing member 391
King can tell a story. The Colorado Kid is a very fast read, and pretty enjoyable.
LibraryThing member StefanY
Definitely not King's best, but an entertaining read none-the-less. The story follows a tale told by two elderly Maine island newspapermen to their young protege about a mysterious death on the island that was never solved. The main story revolves more around the process of attempting to solve the
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mystery and the young protege's finding herself and deciding on a course in her life than the actual mystery itself. All in all I found it to be a quick read that was hard to put down and found myself satisfied at the end even though many would find the conclusion to be less than satisfactory. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaLynne
This is a mystery about a mystery. Not much longer than a short story, I read it in one sitting, out on the porch with a beer, and it was perfect. There's not a lot of meat to it and the ending is pretty vague, but it was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
LibraryThing member datrappert
Certainly the worst King book I've ever read. I had hopes that this would be good, since King's shorter books (e.g., Carrie or Misery) tend to be a lot better than his overblown magnum opuses such as The Stand. I have usually enjoyed his short stories most of all. (I know this is opposite of most
This is just lazy writing. The whole story is two old newspapermen sitting around talking to their young intern about an unsolved mystery from 25 years before. And that's all it is. It gets pretty tedious, what with all the cute asides about Maine and the inane conversational gambits of the three characters. King keeps telling us how fascinated the intern is, leaning forward to catch every word. Meanwhile, the book is so tedious that even as short as it is, and as big as the print is, it takes three days to read.
King feels compelled at the end to offer an afterword strongly defending his decision not to actually tell a story!
Almost as bad is the ridiculous text on the back cover: "With echoes of Dashiell Hammett's THE MALTESE FALCON and the work of Graham Greene...."
Give me a break! If this didn't have King's name on it, it would never have been published.
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people - so sue me.)This is just lazy writing. The whole story is two old newspapermen sitting around talking to their young intern about an unsolved mystery from 25 years before. And that's all it is. It gets pretty tedious, what with all the cute asides about Maine and the inane conversational gambits of the three characters. King keeps telling us how fascinated the intern is, leaning forward to catch every word. Meanwhile, the book is so tedious that even as short as it is, and as big as the print is, it takes three days to read.
King feels compelled at the end to offer an afterword strongly defending his decision not to actually tell a story!
Almost as bad is the ridiculous text on the back cover: "With echoes of Dashiell Hammett's THE MALTESE FALCON and the work of Graham Greene...."
Give me a break! If this didn't have King's name on it, it would never have been published.
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LibraryThing member BobAvey
Pulp Mystery With a Twist
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
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 Stephanie McCann, a University of Ohio student, working as in intern at The Weekly Islander, the small newspaper for Moose-Lookit, the town where the tale takes place, would give up on the life she had known and her husband to be just so she could stay in Moose-Lookit and work for the newspaper. I was also disappointed in the way King ended the story. I know why he did it, especially after reading his notes on the subject, and I think he's probably right, but I was still disappointed.
The Colorado Kid is a good, fast read that I'm sure you will enjoy.
- Bob Avey, author of Beneath a Buried House
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
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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 Stephanie McCann, a University of Ohio student, working as in intern at The Weekly Islander, the small newspaper for Moose-Lookit, the town where the tale takes place, would give up on the life she had known and her husband to be just so she could stay in Moose-Lookit and work for the newspaper. I was also disappointed in the way King ended the story. I know why he did it, especially after reading his notes on the subject, and I think he's probably right, but I was still disappointed.
The Colorado Kid is a good, fast read that I'm sure you will enjoy.
- Bob Avey, author of Beneath a Buried House
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LibraryThing member johnmischief
Does Vince know the full story ?(SPOILERS) The revelation at the end of the book that he took the photo of the lights above the baseball pitch suggest to me he might,but he aint telling.
Regardless of this King spins a nice yarn about mysteries told by three warm and engaging characters.
not, it
Regardless of this King spins a nice yarn about mysteries told by three warm and engaging characters.
not, it
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seems a very popular book. But i loved it. Show Less
LibraryThing member WillyMammoth
I understand where King was going with this book: "In real life, nothing is as cut and dry as it is in a story. In real life, sometimes there's no real resolution. So I'll write a book about it!" And while that may be the case, I feel that it's really just an excuse for an author who wrote himself
And while King has a very good point (that in real life very seldom are the resolutions neat and tidy), I didn't need him to tell me that. The reason most of us read fiction is because people want an escape. Moral and intellectual edification are all well and good (and I myself enjoy such a read from time to time), but that's not what the vast majority of readers want. It's that whole "conflict and resolution" thing your 6th grade English teachers were always talking about. If people wanted to read unfinished stories without resolution, they could just live their ordinary lives or read the newspaper. There's something inside of all of us that yearns for resolution, and stories (written, verbal or visual) fulfill that need. So to build up a promising tale and then end it with a cliffhanger and a sorry justification is like promising the reader a cupcake and then shoving your thumb up their ass instead. It's not at all satisfying, and in the end it really just pisses them off.
...well, maybe not for some people, but that's another story.
Anyway, King is a good writer, and this story has all the tools it needs in order to deliver a great tale. It just fails to deliver what it seems to promise. The "great revelation" about how the real world works isn't enough to redeem it. And while the point is valid, I don't think it was the right venue. That's why I gave it two and a half stars.
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into a corner and couldn't think up an interesting ending. King has a tendency to do that--write a really cool story and then, when he can't figure out a good ending, simply concluding it in some haphazard way. "The Mist" is another good example of that predisposition. And while King has a very good point (that in real life very seldom are the resolutions neat and tidy), I didn't need him to tell me that. The reason most of us read fiction is because people want an escape. Moral and intellectual edification are all well and good (and I myself enjoy such a read from time to time), but that's not what the vast majority of readers want. It's that whole "conflict and resolution" thing your 6th grade English teachers were always talking about. If people wanted to read unfinished stories without resolution, they could just live their ordinary lives or read the newspaper. There's something inside of all of us that yearns for resolution, and stories (written, verbal or visual) fulfill that need. So to build up a promising tale and then end it with a cliffhanger and a sorry justification is like promising the reader a cupcake and then shoving your thumb up their ass instead. It's not at all satisfying, and in the end it really just pisses them off.
...well, maybe not for some people, but that's another story.
Anyway, King is a good writer, and this story has all the tools it needs in order to deliver a great tale. It just fails to deliver what it seems to promise. The "great revelation" about how the real world works isn't enough to redeem it. And while the point is valid, I don't think it was the right venue. That's why I gave it two and a half stars.
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LibraryThing member adpaton
Say what you like - Stephen King is a wonderful writer. Who else could get us to invest so heavily in three characters and a little local mystery which ultimately has no solution, and yet to finish the book feeling quite satisfied. Please note, I use 'quite' in the sense of considerably rather than
A young woman, a journalism cadet, does what we used to call 'field work' with a small island newspaper in Maine under the guidance of the old men who keep the paper going: she finds, to her suprise, that she loves the life of the hamlet reporter and she soon comes to love her elderly mentors who repay her regard by telling her a story.
A true story, but an unsolved mystery and so full of hypotheses and suppositions. Not the sort of story that would insterest a mainstream paper because there are no answers, no solution, but a puzzle the men have chewed at for several decades and which they now share with their student.
A quiet, slow, gentle story with a pace belying the tragedy revealed over a liesurely chat on the verandah this is King at his most masterful, driving a simple tale onward by force of his storytelling, lazily turning overc rocks to reveal the rather unappetising underbelly.
I bought this from the really cheap rack at the local hypermarket and am glad I got it at a rockbottom bargain basement price: I completely acknowledge King's brilliance as a writer but most admitt I prefer his full-scale horror productions above little polished gems such as The Colrado Kid...
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completely.A young woman, a journalism cadet, does what we used to call 'field work' with a small island newspaper in Maine under the guidance of the old men who keep the paper going: she finds, to her suprise, that she loves the life of the hamlet reporter and she soon comes to love her elderly mentors who repay her regard by telling her a story.
A true story, but an unsolved mystery and so full of hypotheses and suppositions. Not the sort of story that would insterest a mainstream paper because there are no answers, no solution, but a puzzle the men have chewed at for several decades and which they now share with their student.
A quiet, slow, gentle story with a pace belying the tragedy revealed over a liesurely chat on the verandah this is King at his most masterful, driving a simple tale onward by force of his storytelling, lazily turning overc rocks to reveal the rather unappetising underbelly.
I bought this from the really cheap rack at the local hypermarket and am glad I got it at a rockbottom bargain basement price: I completely acknowledge King's brilliance as a writer but most admitt I prefer his full-scale horror productions above little polished gems such as The Colrado Kid...
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LibraryThing member Anagarika-Sean
Pretty good. I love how the story was presented, and how it leaves one do decide what the final outcome is.
LibraryThing member catapogo
mixed definitely. he warns you through the whole story that, well, it's not really a story. no actual ending. but when it happens i was still disappointed. and then his darned end note made me feel shallow b/c i was disappointed. oh well.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
A tale told to a cub reporter by two older newspapermen. It's a story of a man found on a beach, a story closer to truth than fiction and a story that asks more questions than it answers.
I found it interesting but would love to know where they got the inspiration for the TV series from this! The
I found it interesting but would love to know where they got the inspiration for the TV series from this! The
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only real relationship is in some of the characters names. Show Less
LibraryThing member phaga
I didn't think I was going to like this one at first, but I wanted to read it anyways out of curiosity. Surprisingly, it was actually really good. I'm hoping King decides to do a few more in this style.
LibraryThing member TinyDancer11
I never thought I'd see the day that I'd be so bored by a Stephen King book.
LibraryThing member sturlington
Who knows what Stephen King is doing these days? I personally think he is cleaning out his desk drawers, donating his previously unpublishable stories to small, new publishers like Hard Case Crime, using his name to boost their profiles. Nothing wrong with that, if the story is worth reading. I
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didn’t think this one was. It’s a narrated tale—not my favorite literary device—told by two old coot newspaper owners to their cute, young intern about the unsolved mystery of a man from Colorado who turns up dead on a Maine island beach. The mystery never does get solved, which apparently is the point of the whole thing, but I didn’t get it. It’s more frustrating than entertaining, if you ask me. Also, I couldn’t really see how this story fit into the publisher’s niche of retro hard-boiled crime. Again, I suspect King of cleaning out his desk, rather than writing a good, new tale that works. Show Less
LibraryThing member LCoale1
I'm not a big fan of Stephen King, but I really enjoyed this book. It had good pacing, unlike most of his books [excluding Carrie]. However, I honestly started it during my first period class and had it finished by sixth. That made me a little sad, but that's more my fault because I'm a really
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quick reader. I liked that the book was up front about the myster being unsolved. I also liked that it was unsolved; now I have something to ponder while I go to bed. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2005-10
Physical description
184 p.; 18 cm
ISBN
0843955848 / 9780843955842