The Colorado Kid (Hard Case Crime) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Stephen King (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The Hard Case Crime series is a wonderful idea: a mix of original and reprinted hard-boiled detective novels by some of the best writers in the field, packaged to look like lurid 1940s and 1950s thrillers. And getting Stephen King to write a new novel as part of the series was quite a coup. King is the author of record when it comes to fiction set in America in recent decades, and here he is with a noir detective story. Alas, what he actually turned in was a cozy, a sort of Jan Karon take on the hard-boiled genre. And at the end, it turns out to be rather arty - if by "arty" you mean "doesn't answer any important questions." Fresh out of journalism school, Stephanie McCann is an intern at a weekly newspaper in an obscure corner off the coast of Maine. She is writing homey features and reporting on trivial stories, but she rather enjoys it. Then a big-city reporter comes to town to gather stories about "unsolved mysteries." The paper's owner and the managing editor send him away unsatisfied, and then tell Stephanie the only real unsolved mystery on the island. The banter between the two old men provides all kinds of local color, but it also means the pace of the storytelling is glacial. It takes most of chapter one to explain why they filch the cash the big-city reporter left to pay for a meal. We're in chapter five before they start telling the story that gives the book its title. Years earlier, two high school sweethearts found a dead body on the beach. There was no identification, and only a few items found with the body gave any hope of telling where he was from. It isn't until too many chapters later, after much meandering, that the old men tell Stephanie (and us) how they found out the man was from Colorado, which led to the identification of the body. Nor do we actually care, since none of the characters do. They're only telling the story in order to explain that it's not a story at all-a conclusion with which readers will heartily agree. The real mystery: why would the editors publish a story that will only frustrate anyone looking for the kind of hard-boiled detective novel they're promised on the cover? Stephen King is a very good writer, so even when telling a non story at elaborate length he is quite readable. I would have enjoyed this piece in a magazine. It's the misleading presentation that will rankle.
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From Bookmarks Magazine
There’s nothing like a good noir crime novel, and The Colorado Kid is nothing like a good noir crime novel. King’s refusal to play by the time-honored rules of the genre exasperated critics, who might have been more forgiving had King delivered a compelling story. The plot, related by two crusty newspapermen entirely in conversation, develops at a glacial pace, and the characters’ exaggerated Yankee accents bog down the dialogue. Granted, the story’s endearing protagonists won over a few reviewers, but even the most generous critics were forced to concede the book’s many flaws.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Hard Case Crime; First Edition edition (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0843955848
• ISBN-13: 978-0843955842
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (206 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #86,246 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Hard Case Crime Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a complete waste of time, January 23, 2006

By	almosthappy (San Diego, CA, California) - See all my reviews

I have no problems with a story that has questions unanswered. As a matter of fact, the story of The Colorado Kid is an intriguing one. If executed properly, it would make a wonderful addition to the new Pulp series. However, the execution is frightfully dreadful. The whole setup, with the two jolly old guys and the wide-eyed intern, is embarrassingly contrived. I literally cringed at many parts of the story. After writing so many books that range anywhere from mediocre to brilliant, it's amazing that Stephen King is still capable of writing something that's so reminiscent of a high school sophomore's first attempt at novel writing. I read this book on a flight from Washington DC to Southern California, I wish I had opted the in-flight movie instead.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What A Yawn--Is King Even Trying Here?, October 12, 2005

By	Iska Bibble (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

No Grit...No Teeth...No Real Mystery... Nothing Noir...

How was this book even remotely relevant to the publisher, Hard Case Crime? It wasn't "Hard" when stereotypical New England duffers recount quaint and whimsically in their safe little newspaper offices the tale. And a "Crime" was never established. No danger... No peril...

It was long on characterization, short on plot. And gripping plot and action is what sparks life in good mysteries--not King's folksiness. This isn't a new genre, or something ground-breaking, it seems to be exploring a self-indulgent fancy.

I count The Green Mile as one of my all-time favorites, but this was a real disappointment. Hope his career doesn't end on this sad note

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Misdirection doesn't work in storytelling, June 9, 2006

By	D. Berdanis "endymion9" (Joliet, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book suffers from the same symptom that M. Night Shaymaylan's The Village movie suffers from. You can't advertise and sell a book as being in a certain genre and have the "twist" be that the story is actually in another genre.

If not labeled a Hard Case Crime story, but instead labeled a reporter coming of age story, it might have worked. At least at the two to three star rating level. But to advertise as a Crime novel and violate the zero-th rule, to have a complete story is worse than violating many of the other spelled out crime novel rules, like no character introduced in the last 10% of the story can be the killer, etc. The zero-th rule isn't normally spelled out because any writer and reader just knows that rule and normally would never think of violating it. By violating it Mr. King dares our wrath and deserves it.

This story was quite a come down after I just read the excellent Bag of Bones.