The Stephen King Goodreads Discussion Group is embarking on a comprehensive re-read of his works, from start to finish. It has been a considerable time since I truly immersed myself in Uncle Stevie's captivating world. At a rate of one book per month, I am fully committed. My aim is to read and review each one with utmost honesty and reflection.

Background - "The Colorado Kid" was initially published in October 2005 as a Hard Case Crime paperback.

Length-wise, my oversized paperback lists it as 186 pages, while my Kindle shows it as 133 pages.

Plotline - This is the tale of a man discovered dead on an island off the coast of Maine. There is no identification on his body, and it is evident that he is not a local. With a significant local police presence, two elderly newspapermen take on the challenge of uncovering his identity and cause of death. However, the more they learn, the deeper the mystery becomes, and the less they truly understand.

Thoughts and Reflections - This entire novella can be encapsulated by King's quote in the Afterword: "I’m not really interested in the solution but in the mystery. Because it was the mystery that kept bringing me back to the story, day after day." It is a conceptual exploration of what if a mystery cannot be fully resolved? King tackles this challenge directly.

What I liked was the journey of sorting through the clues and attempting to connect them. We, as readers, are trained to expect a coherent answer and closure. However, King turns this on its head, exploring the theme that stories don't always have neatly wrapped-up endings. Life is filled with mysteries that remain unresolved.

What I didn't like was mainly two things. Firstly, the frustration of the open-ended and unresolved ending. Secondly, the story-telling format, which made it less engaging for me as it was a third-party retelling. I felt a lack of emotional involvement with the victim.

There is also another interpretation of the mystery, with some fans connecting it to King's "Dark Tower" universe.

Overall, after reflecting on my reading experience, I am giving "The Colorado Kid" 3 out of 5 stars for its thought-provoking nature and the quality debate it has sparked.

2021 -

My husband, daughter, and I listened to this audiobook during a drive from Bangor, Maine to Salem, Massachusetts. Strangely, we chose it for its length. Much like the audio of Joyland that we listened to from The Bronx, NY to Bangor, Maine, it ended precisely as we took the last exit. So incredibly weird!

TCK is one of my all-time favorite works by King, and I collect various editions, including those with foreign covers. My family is well aware of my deep love for it, yet none of them have read it. I must admit, they were rather angry when it was over. They were extremely dissatisfied with the lack of resolution. They both liked the reader and the delivery, but that wasn't sufficient to ease their disappointment.

You simply can't please everyone all the time.

I reread this because I recently started watching "Haven" on Netflix. Although Haven is not based directly on this book, it is inspired by the place and characters within the book. I adore the show. The best part is how the writers and set decorators cleverly insert numerous small references to King's work throughout the years. Sometimes, a tiny fragment of a story from one of his novels is told, a scene plays out on the screen exactly as it is described in his pages, and Paul Sheldon and the Misery series are mentioned when a birthday gift is one of his books. The list goes on and on. The most enjoyable aspect of the show is looking out for these "Easter Eggs." I only wish I had watched it from the very beginning when it aired because now I know there are online message boards where people compare what they noticed after an episode ends.

Now, let's return to the book. I have no issue with the concept of this story. King is my favorite writer, and I constantly vehemently oppose the label of "Horror Writer" being attached to him. It's his writing style that I love. The way he brings three-dimensional characters to life with just scribbles on a page. People whom I feel I truly know and would recognize on the street. He accomplishes this here with the two old newspapermen who are sharing the story and the young intern who is listening. I like them. I渴望 to read more about them! There is definitely no horror to be found on these pages.

I even understand the reason why he doesn't provide an answer to the mystery. The old men explain that life has no plot, no through-line, no story arc, and so on. I agree. I also think that's precisely why we love novels, movies, and newspaper articles. We need that through-line to compensate for its absence in our lives. I was completely captivated by the men recounting the story of this man found dead on a beach in Maine, half a continent away from where he started his day in Colorado. I understand that the law may be unable to piece together the puzzle. I know this could potentially happen in real life. But this is a novel, for goodness sake! I want that through-line. King toys with us because he knows he can get away with it. He can frustrate me by not giving me a resolution, fully confident that I will still purchase his next book on the day it is released and read and reread it countless times over the years. Confident as he is. (I say that with love, nothing but love.)

I am currently only on the fourth episode of the second season of Haven. I find the premise they use for the show to be infinitely clever. Each time I begin a new episode, my hope is that Audrey (the main character) will come across the answer to what truly happened to the Colorado Kid. It's a supernatural television show. Don't tell me that a full team of writers can't figure out something that I will accept. I'm quite gullible. I'll accept a lot. Or a little. Just give me something.

October 2014 -

I've caught up on Haven and now seem to be addicted to this story of The Colorado Kid! This is my third reread in 6 months, and this time (while listening to the audio), it felt almost as if I was getting a "fix." I didn't just savor the story; I took notes, looked up obscure facts, and researched things that I would otherwise have no interest in. Haven has explained "James Cogan" in the series, but my brain (and heart) believes that I can explain The Kid in the book. I'm certain I can!

I read in the Stephen King group here on GR that someone dislikes the show Haven because this book is a perfect unsolved and unsolvable mystery. She feels that Haven takes away that perfection and instead presents a small paranormal mystery that gets solved every week in 47 minutes. I can understand her feelings, but I love Haven for precisely the same reason she dislikes it.

King wrote the perfect mystery novel. There's nothing paranormal, plenty remains unexplained, there are no answers, no through line, or plot. The novel is actually more of a character study of the two who are telling the story and the one they are telling it to than it is a narrative. Often in life, we don't receive answers. Some things are simply inexplicable. Okay, okay, but not in a King book. In his books, he shows us why anything can, and usually does, happen. Even when it requires magic, evil, or the paranormal to make it happen. He convinces us that it's possible and shows us how.

Haven takes this perfectly unsolvable mystery, written by King, and transforms it into what we expect from him. They can coexist simultaneously. In Haven, the outside world is informed that all the little inexplicable things that occur within the town limits are due to gas leaks, bad weather, road rage, or whatever you can think of. In reality, all kinds of paranormal chaos are constantly erupting! When you think about it, the story Vince and Dave are telling Stephie in the novel is exactly the sort of story Haven would tell an outsider. As you read the novel, you start to sense that the old-timers sharing this tale with Stephie is their way of accepting her and making her a true resident of the town. What if they are just feeding her the official story?

I picked up this book, I believe, at a small bookstore in Flagstaff, Arizona while visiting my sister at college.

I read King’s other “Hard Case Crime” book Joyland a few years ago and enjoyed it for the most part. In my review of Joyland, I described the book to be more of a cozy mystery. I’m putting The Colorado Kid in that category as well, along with Dolores Claiborne and Gerald’s Game.

Not because the mystery is incomplete, but because it’s more character commentary then anything else.

The Colorado Kid is set on Moose-Lookit Island off the shore of Maine, where a couple of teenagers found a dead man sitting on a beach. 25 years later a young women by the name of Stephanie McCann is wanting to be a journalist and is interning for a local newspaper “The Weekly Islander”, run by Vince Teague and David “Dave” Bowie.

After an interview with a Boston Globe journalist named, Mr. Hanratty, a person from “away”, the two men decide school is in session and proceeds to tell Steffi an unsolved mystery that they did not share with the outsider.

The rest of the book is that tale. What we constant readers must realize is that some stories aren’t feature stories with a beginning, middle and end because not all life is like that. Sometimes it’s messy and we don’t get everything tied neatly with a bow.

I loved the way the story was told not rushed, but didn’t bore you either. I enjoyed the company of those two “geezers” and loved the way they treated Stephanie their new “young blood”. They allowed her to learn and form her own opinions. School is always in session, for those that want to learn.

This book is a great read for those who enjoy a good mystery with well-developed characters. The setting of Moose-Lookit Island adds to the charm and mystery of the story. King does a great job of creating a sense of place and making the reader feel like they are right there on the island with the characters.

The relationship between Stephanie and the two older men is also a highlight of the book. It’s a refreshing change to see a young person being mentored by two experienced journalists who are more interested in teaching her the ropes than in taking credit for her work.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Colorado Kid to anyone who is looking for a good mystery that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. It’s a great addition to King’s already impressive body of work.

King himself states that readers will either have a great affection for or loathe this book.

For me, I lean more towards the latter. There is something rather extraordinary about this book, and I definitely did not take pleasure in it. Perhaps it's because this book doesn't read in the typical style of a King story. I'm not truly engaged with the characters.

Although I'm completely fascinated by the mystery, its ambiguity and the fact that it remained an unresolved mystery until the very end really bothers me.

Now that I've finally read all of King's publications under Hard Case Crime, here's my personal ranking:

Later > Joyland >> The Colorado Kid.

This ranking is based on my own reading experience and personal preferences. Each of these books has its own unique qualities, but for me, Later stands out as the most engaging, followed by Joyland, while The Colorado Kid falls a bit short in terms of my enjoyment.

However, it's important to note that everyone's reading experience can vary greatly, and what I didn't like about a particular book, someone else might absolutely love. That's the beauty of literature - it offers something for everyone.

A nice little story that’s more about the characters (and their lingo) than the mystery itself.

It's a tale that delves deep into the personalities and the unique ways they express themselves. The focus here is not so much on solving a complex mystery but rather on getting to know these individuals.

However, one must not read it with the anticipation of a payoff or a satisfactory conclusion. Because, unfortunately, that's not what this story has to offer.

It's a journey that meanders through the lives and conversations of the characters, but it doesn't lead to a neatly wrapped-up ending.

Still, it has its charm in the way it presents the idiosyncrasies of the people within its pages.

Even without a traditional resolution, it manages to engage the reader and make them curious about the characters and their world.

So, if you're looking for a story that's more about the characters and their language than a thrilling mystery with a clear conclusion, this might be the one for you.

Just don't go in expecting something that it's not.

This was an unusual book, and it was definitely not in King's typical style.

I did have some enjoyment from it, but in the end, it was rather underwhelming. Given that a man has been found dead on a beach, you don't really glean anything of great interest about him or his death. As a result, you often find yourself not paying close attention.

And I understand the point of the book that not everything has a neatly packaged answer. However, this particular book just left me more frustrated than anything else. At times, it was a struggle to keep going because the story felt rather stale and lacking in excitement.

On the positive side, the characters were well-developed and engaging, and the interactions between them added depth to the narrative. Additionally, the story of the Colorado Kid was intriguing and full of mystery. The way King concluded the book was also satisfying. These are some of the redeeming qualities of the book. I would also highly recommend reading the afterword by the author, where he provides insights into why he chose to write the story in the way he did.

Overall, while the book had its flaws, it still had some elements that made it worth reading.

This book was published at the end of 2005 and logically it was written after the last three books of the black tower.

Perhaps this explains some things about the completely "insanely" unusual finale.

The story within this book seems to take a different turn compared to what readers might have expected.

The events that unfold lead to a conclusion that is both shocking and thought-provoking.

It makes one wonder about the author's intentions and the deeper meaning behind the strange and unexpected ending.

Could it be that the author was trying to break free from the traditional narrative structure and offer something truly unique?

Or perhaps there are hidden layers of symbolism and themes that require further exploration.

Whatever the case may be, this book has definitely left a lasting impression on its readers.

This is one of the more unique books I’ve picked up. It has more of a non-ending than an ending, in the most poetic and interesting way.

It's a very slow burn book, but it literally allows you to play detective as you learn along with Stephanie, one of the three main characters who works at a small newspaper company in Maine.

One of my favorite aspects of it is how truly thought-provoking it is.

Oh, and there are two perks. The book is so short that it can definitely be read in a couple of hours, and the graphics that accompany each chapter are really fun and great!

There was a callback to 'Secret Window, Secret Garden' which I read back in 2020 (it's part of the collection of short stories in 'Four Past Midnight') to an event that took place at Tashmore Lake. The Stephen King nerd in me smiled at this because that's the fictional location of Mort Rainey's lake house from the short story 'Secret Garden, Secret Window.' This book was published in '05 and the movie Secret Window (my absolute favorite movie of all time) came out in '04. Yes, I know all of this from memory as I've seen the movie about 150 times and read the short story once.

Two elderly gentlemen from the local weekly newspaper are sharing the story of a dead body discovered on the beach with their young intern.

This isn't just an interesting little mystery; it's also being used as a teaching tool for the intern. That's all well and good.

However, the story ends abruptly, leaving me with several questions.

Sorry, Mr. King, but this isn't your best work.

I was really hoping for a more in-depth exploration of the mystery and perhaps some resolution or further explanation.

The sudden end feels rather unsatisfactory and leaves the reader hanging.

Maybe there was more to the story that wasn't told, or perhaps it was intentionally left open-ended.

Either way, it doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

I would have liked to see a bit more development and a more conclusive ending.

Oh well, there's always room for improvement, I suppose.

It should be noted that I belong to the (rather) minority category of King's readers who liked "The Kid from the Cantaloupe" (mainly for its narrative virtues). Instead of other comments, I leave here three hasty, epigrammatic remarks: (i) the "kid" from the Cantaloupe is not a kid at all. (ii) A mystery story can exist even without its solution. In such a case, however, the story becomes even more captivating and the reader's attempt to solve the crime (?) in terms of logic is almost torturous. (iii) Whoever mentions King's narrative "nonsense" again, better bite his tongue!

King's works often have a unique charm that吸引读者. "The Kid from the Cantaloupe" is no exception. Although some may criticize it, for those who appreciate its narrative skills, it offers a different kind of reading experience. The first point I want to make is that the so-called "kid" in the story has a complex and mysterious nature that is not simply that of a child. This adds an element of surprise and intrigue to the plot.

Secondly, the absence of a clear solution to the mystery in the story actually enhances its allure. It challenges the reader to think deeply and try to figure out the truth on their own, which can be a very engaging and stimulating process. Finally, I would like to emphasize that King's writing style is not to be dismissed lightly. His use of language and his ability to create vivid and immersive worlds are what make his works so popular. Therefore, those who simply label his writing as "nonsense" are not doing justice to his talent.

When I was a kid of about seven or eight, there was a question my sister and I started asking each other every Christmastime.

It’s probably not the question you’re thinking of, but it’s a common one and the answer also happens to explain the mystery of the Colorado Kid.

The question is simply this. “What’s better Christmas or Christmas Eve?” For me the answer was always easy… Christmas Eve.

My guess is that it’s Stephen King’s answer too. In his Afterward to the Hard Case Crime Novel, he almost comes right out and says that the reason the Colorado Kid has the ending it does is because he wants us to enjoy the process, the getting ready, the figuring things out, the guessing and looking for clues the way kids do on Christmas eve when they’re hoping for certain presents but not exactly sure what they’re getting.

King of course goes one step further in the Colorado Kid. To make sure we appreciate the wishing and hoping and guessing etc, we find, on Christmas morning, that he’s taken away the whole tree and all the presents too… especially that biggest one we wanted most: THE SOLUTION TO THE STORY.

Enjoy the process, he says, and just to make sure you do, I’m going to withhold a little bit… just a few details that would have allowed you to understand the Colorado Kid’s motivation and the actual details of his death.

To help us understand what he’s doing and make it all a little more interesting, King frames the CK mystery with another mystery. This one is easy to solve. A very nice young woman (Stephanie McCann) who has a young man who probably wants to marry her very soon, has come to a little island off the coast of Maine to do an internship with a small local newspaper.

Vince Teague, the 90-year-old guy running the paper and his 65-year-old partner, Dave Bowie, both like her and are considering offering her a full time job (maybe even more than that) at the paper. But before they do they want to see if she really has a sense and a passion for newspaper work and reporting. So they tell her about the biggest mystery that they’ve ever come across and as they explain it they try and find out if she’s up to the task. She is.

There’s also the allegorical message which king spells out in his Afterward. Life’s a mystery, whether we want it to be or not. We live our whole lives with the uncertainty of where we came from and where we are going, no matter how solid our religious belief system or the lack thereof. So enjoy the mystery of it all… it’s what life is about.

That still is not enough for you? Okay. In spite of warnings from both newspaperman Dave and Stephen King in his Afterward, I’ll emphasize one thing and tell you what I think happened to the Colorado kid. Here goes: James Cogan left his wife and suburban home and little son and went to his job at an ad agency in Denver. At around noon he left the building to get lunch and instead slipped into a limo he had hired to take him to Stapleton International airport. There he got onto a private plane and flew to Bangor Maine. He went to the town of Tinnock, ate fish and chips at Jan’s Warfside, and then took the last ferry to Moose-Lookit Island. He gave the boatman a cup of tea on the crossing. By then he had ditched his suit coat and his wallet and donned a yellow jacket. From then on no one saw him or knew where he was, but the next morning he turned up dead, propped up against a dumpster on the beach. He had choked to death on a piece of steak… a midnight snack. There was a pack of cigarettes on the nearby sand but only one cigarette was gone. The stamp on the bottom of the cigarette pack was from Colorado and this allowed the newspaper guys to trace his identity back to Colorado and find his wife. Oh, Cogan didn’t smoke. Oh, and the change in his pocket included seventeen dollars, some US change, and a Russian ten-ruble coin. Oh, and there is a possibility that a muscle relaxant added to the steak that he was eating could have caused him to choke to death… which would have made the death murder not accidental. Oh, and one more thing that I’ll be you missed: James “looked almost good enough to be the subject of one of those romantic poems by Mr. Poe.” His wife? Well, old man Vince says, “I was sort of expecting a pale and dark-haired beauty. What I got was a chubby redhead with a lot of freckles.” (The old “good-looks disparity” motive.) You want to solve the puzzle? King says, “I could have provided half a dozen (endings) three good, two a-country fair, and one fine as paint.” How about this one?

“Stephanie started back toward her own desk than something caught her eye on the wall length bulletin board at the far end of the room. She walked over for a closer look.” The left hand of the bulletin board was layered with old newspaper clippings. In the very bottom corner was a yellowed snippet from the Boston Globe. It simply read, Prominent Russian ballerina Elena Miskaya was found dead in her hotel room last night… apparent cause of death, choking on a small mouthful of chicken Kiev. Ms. Miskaya had been touring the US recently as part of an advertising campaign for the Moscow ballet. She was the wife of noted Russian chemist Vladimir Miskaya.

Okay, the KGB-spy ending would have been better, but harder to explain.

Wow, just wow!

It's quite a remarkable change of pace for Stephen King to pen a mystery instead of his typical horror book. However, I found myself thoroughly loving it.

Certainly, there will be those who will take a shine to it, while others may not. But one thing is for sure, you'll never find yourself bored when delving into its pages.

The story is filled with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat, constantly guessing and trying to solve the mystery along with the characters.

The way King crafts the plot and develops the characters is truly masterful.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a thrilling and engaging mystery read. It's a departure from King's norm, but it's one that definitely pays off.