Product Description

THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89712 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 184 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780843955842
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

From Booklist
King's latest is published by Hard Case Crime, a small imprint hell-bent on bringing the pulps back to life (see "Pulp Faction," BKL My 1 05). A contribution from the master of the horrible and fantastic--who clearly read a few paperbacks growing up--makes perfect sense. But oddly, this is less identifiably a genre work than King's other books. It's neither horror nor fantasy, and, despite the title, it's not a western. There are elements of mystery, but what King has written is actually from a much older tradition: the yarn. One afternoon, on a Maine island, two crusty old newspapermen tell a cub reporter about their investigation into the unusual appearance and death of a stranger. Despite the potential pitfalls of writing the whole thing as a conversation (some readers will tire of the oldsters' knee-slapping and folksy expressions), this is powerful storytelling. King appears to be fumbling in his tackle box when, in fact, he's already slipped the hook into our cheeks and is pulling us inexorably toward the bemusing, maddening--let's just say the ending won't appeal to everyone--final page. If it's ironic that King delivered an experiment to people who celebrate the art of formula, that's OK. One of the reasons the pulps remain popular is that, behind those uniformly lurid painted covers, there always lurked a few writerly surprises. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

a complete waste of time
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.

Writers block or just a block-headed writer?
I gave this book 2 stars - not because it was a bad book, but because it's only about 2/5 of a book. The story itself was more a a local color character study, and an easy pleasant read. The problem is the story was about a mystery, and finished up leaving it a mystery. In other words, the story went absolutely nowhere.

King doesn't follow his own advice. One of the aging reporters in the story explains that nobody wants to read about a mystery that doesn't have a conclusion - leaving a story open ended leaves people thinking the writer failed his job, and they'd be right. King crapped out on this one - although in his self-important preening he takes the view that he did it right. No, Steve, you didn't.

So, you get a quality 2 stars for the 2/5 of a book. You want the other 3, then get back to work and finish the damn story.

What A Yawn--Is King Even Trying Here?
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