Book Review // The Colorado Kid by Stephen King

Barnes & Noble Author

Summary (Hard Case Crime website):
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, and it’s more than a year before the man is identified.

And 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...?

Characters you will meet:
Vince Teague: Founder of The Weekly Islander
Dave Bowie: Managing Editor of The Weekly Islander
Stephanie McCann: The Weekly Islander intern
Colorado Kid: John Doe that eventually is discovered to be… you’ll have to read!

I'm a huge Stephen King fan, but The Colorado Kid left me wanting more. And, after reading the Afterward, I wish I read it first. I would have been warned I would be left high and dry still wanting the famous mystery that normally Stephen King so richly delivers. Oh, a story he does deliver, but if you’re waiting for the traditional whodunit, this novella does not deliver. You’re left to your own imagination.

I don’t want to stop you from reading this Stephen King mystery, only just warn you that once you warm up to the characters and beg to know what happened, you're left… hanging.  It’s a cliff hanger that’s not going to be continued. You’re left to your own devices to figure out the culprit because trust me King delivers a back story like no other.

King gives us warm characters, like Vince and Dave, that are believable and you find yourself easily befriending them as you read. And, as for mystery, honestly, if a strange man was found dead on your local beach, wouldn’t you have piqued interest? The story is there and you will no doubt keep turning the page to learn more.

Yes, I’ve dogged it a bit, but honestly I did like The Colorado Kid. Page after page, I read wanting to figure out exactly who the Kid was. Many times, I thought I knew as I spun theories around inside my head. As Vince and Dave tell the story to young Stephanie, I found myself settling easily into her character, as if I was her and they were telling the story directly to me.

Another thing I really liked, it was an easy read. The story flowed from page to page, so it entices a reader to continue reading. King doesn’t deliver choppy material where sometimes readers can find themselves easily bored. But, you need to remember, this is a story told in flashbacks and memories.

Now, for those of you that are fans of SyFy’s Haven, you will be disappointed if you are looking for a beginning read to the TV series. You won’t find it here. And, I’ll admit that although a Stephen King fan, I had no interest in reading this novella until I started watching Haven. I expected the series to have been fed from this written word.

The sci-fi series is loosely based on The Colorado Kid. It shares some main foundation characters, and the Kid is mentioned a few times, but outside of the mystery theme, the story is completely different. You will not find any character trying to figure out the troubles, nor will the sci-fi background of Haven be scattered among the pages of The Colorado Kid.

We purchased this book in order to complete this review. We are not affiliated with the author or publisher.