The Colorado Kid (Hard Case Crime Book 13) by Stephen King (EPUB)

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…

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐If you’re looking for clues to help you better understand the TV series Haven, as I was, you won’t find them here. But put Audrey Parker aside for a while and read this story with a clean slate, and you’ll be glad you did.As other reviews have mentioned, the ending is no ending, however King never tries to disguise that the resolution may be unsatisfactory; his newspapermen warn their young protégé of that multiple times. Read this for the beauty of the mystery, the flawless writing and the hour you’ll spend in creative thought after you’ve finished it. If you can be about the journey and not the destination, you’ll really enjoy this story.

⭐I’m Stephen King’s second biggest fan. Annie Wilkes holds that honor, sort of. That being said, I confess I have had “The Colorado Kid” both in paperback and on my Kindle for a long time. Usually, I cannot resist a new King book and plunge in as soon as I grab hold of one. It wasn’t until I started writing my own crime mysteries that I took a second look at this little book. A good mystery lays out the clues and leads the reader around different theories, allowing said reader to draw a few conclusions of his own. Starting off with the likable team of journalists who make up a small-town Maine newspaper, King sets the stage for the story of the ‘Colorado Kid’. After Vince Teague and Dave Bowie share some stories of unsolved mysteries of the area with a Boston Globe feature writer, they return to their office with intern Stephanie McCann. It’s there that the tale of the twenty-five-year mystery is told. Vince and Dave talk about other Maine and New England mysteries until Stephanie presses them to reveal the story they wouldn’t share with the outsider. Despite the fact that Stephanie came to the Weekly Islander from Ohio, she had gained the respect of the older men during her three months in the small town. From the discovery of the dead body by a couple of high school students running near Hammock Beach in early spring, through the clues set out in the story, the story is compelling. The evidence is right there in front of them but putting it all together is a challenge before DNA, computers, and the internet. Was the man a murder victim? Had he had a heart attack? Did he somehow commit suicide? Or was it some kind of accident? But the most important question is, who is the man? King’s brilliance is his ability to write dialogue that rings true. It’s like standing behind and listening to the town constable and the local doctor discuss the body and what might have occurred. Each character seems to hold a piece of the story. But it’s only the persistence of “a pair of local newspapermen and a graduate student in forensics” that the identity of the kid comes to light. While the story doesn’t end there, it does add to the mystery of what the body of the dead man was doing on a beach in Maine. I leave it to the reader to discover how the story ends… or doesn’t end. A word of warning, not all mysteries are solved. This book is not about answers but about man’s natural curiosity and need for solid endings. In “The Colorado Kid” King brings to mind the Rolling Stones lyrics, “You can’t always get what you want.” But sometimes you get what you need.

⭐This book made me so mad, I literally threw it across the room when I was done. King obviously had an idea but didn’t know how to end it. So his conclusion, his big solution to the mystery? Nobody knows! Oooo! Come on, that’s not even remotely clever – that’s King throwing his pen in the air and giving up! I don’t completely blame King, though. A good writer needs a good editor, and he obviously doesn’t have one. No good editor would have let this get published. But at this point in his career, Stephen King has the same problem as J.K. Rowling: his publisher will print anything with his name on it, including his grocery list.

⭐I really enjoyed reading this novel although the mystery is never solved.I was intrigued by this novel while I was watching the SciFi series “Haven,” which is based on Stephen King’s “The Colorado Kid.” So, I bought and read the novel. Now, I appreciate the series “Haven” all the more. The writers of the show did a really good combing through this web of mystery concerning the death of the Colorado Kid.Back to the novel, I like King’s writing style, as always, and I appreciate his clarification about the story to the fans. And, I get it. I liked the metaphor at the end of the story because that was a type of closure of this ongoing mystery, which, I agree, is a lot like life. There are things in life that we can’t explain or don’t have the answers for, yet we brave it every day.

⭐Others have complained about the lack of an ending, but this book doesn’t even have a middle either. The circumstances of a mysterious death are explained, and then the book ends. Like King got bored with writing it for some reason.Until the abrupt end, there is little more than a padded short story here. Yet it is still priced like a full novel.And the comparison on Amazon to Dashiell Hammett is shameful. They have nothing whatsoever in common. Don’t be fooled.King even tries to justify himself in the afterward, knowing that people will hate it, but that didn’t stop him from taking my money.

⭐The Colorado Kid gets a lot of mixed or negative reviews here. Most of the readers who complain focus on the fact that this is the story of an unsolved mystery – and it remains unsolved, which apparently some find irritating. Those folks miss the point of the story, which is about the nature of mystery itself and how people react to not knowing things. It’s about the limits of what we can know, and how we cope with not knowing.Note for fans of Syfy’s Haven, that show claims to be based on this book. That’s a stretch – it would be generous to state that it draws a little inspiration from The Colorado Kid, but nothing in this book will help you understand the show.

⭐I bought this one with trepidation…not sure how King would handle the new genre. Turned out to be an interesting tale. The story itself held my attention and it was a quick and easy read. The outcome was somewhat telegraphed early on but that didn’t really take away from the mystery. I kinda wish it had wrapped up more cleanly but King conveyed what he wanted to get across. I would recommend this and might even go deeper into the Hard Case Crime series just to satisfy my own curiosity.

⭐This is a short story padded out with coffee & donuts but is a good read nevertheless – always the least you get from the Maestro. If, like me, you’re a Constant Reader then this is required reading but if you are new to this author don’t let this be your introduction – it’s just not that great. Stephen King has another novel in this crime series called ‘Joyland’ which I reread immediately after this offering just to remind myself what a truly great writer he is when he’s on song. Joyland is proper novel (if still on the short side), beautifully written with a beginning, middle & end in the coorrect order & has a satisfying outcome – something that’s becoming rare what with all the sequels & prequels which abound these days. Joyland would be a great introduction for any King newby as it has a bit of everything that he’s best known for without being OTT for a reader who’s not read him before. The Colorado Kid is an experiment – not to be repeated, hopefully.

⭐I’ve bern waiting for this reissue for a while because it’s one of the King novellas I missed when it was first released by HCC.Initially I was swept away in the story, as usual the characters are great, and I thought it’d be one of those stories where King is just enjoying himself with words.About three quarters of the way he just lost me. I started to become increasingly irritated by the lack of answers (yes, that is real life but if I’m reading I want to be in the hands of someone who’ll give me SOME resolution.)The other issue that I had was that you can’t have a character called David Bowie without at least making a tiny reference to the singer. By the end, my irritation was bordering on irrational.

⭐A diversion of sorts from Mr King’s usual fare, but not a bad one at all. This mystery? story was the inspiration for the tv series Haven so if anyone reads this after seeing that they will have images of a few of The protagonists in this tale. Do not, however, expect the main thrust of that series to make an appearance, do expect a fine little story that will leave you with questions.

⭐A very satisfying read – as long as you aren’t expecting all the answers! Fortunately (and ironically?) this illustrated paperback edition DOES have a beginning, middle and end, in the form of an introduction by Charles Ardai, the main story, and an afterword by King. Be sure to read them in order.I’m sure anyone reading the story cold (not having been warned the mystery is never fully solved) would feel a little cheated. Would that be perversely satisfying in its own way? I’ll never know! But I’m happy with what I did get out of it.Just one question in my head still. Who was the lady with the red purse???

⭐I hadnt heard of this book until earlier this year when I discovered the TV series Haven which is loosely based on The Colorado Kid. So, I ordered this book via Amazon, and wasnt disappointed. The book is an excellent read.

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