Stephen King The Colorado Kid

The Colorado Kid

Stephen King

Hardcase Crime (Dorchester), Oct 2005, $5.99

ISBN 0843955848

The two elderly reporters of the Weekly Island and their intern Stephanie, are discussing unsolved mysteries with a Boston Globe reporter. Afterward Vince and David tell Stephanie about a case they shared with nobody until now; the story of THE COLORADO KID, a man who in 1980 is found dead on a beach on Moose-Look Island off the coast of Maine.

An autopsy shows that a piece of meat is wedged in the back of his throat, and the cause of death is given as asphyxiation. The two reporters know he is not an islander and nobody recognizes him. It is only luck that the intern who was with the police that night remembered a cigarette tax label on the cigarette pack in the shirt the man was wearing, and remembers they didn't come from Maine. As police find the pack in the evidence room and see that it was bought in Colorado, the reporters send a picture to all the Colorado newspapers, and that leads to the victim's wife identifying the body, but that is not the end of the mystery only the beginning, and is one that has haunted the two reporters for a quarter of a century.

Readers are either going to love this book or hate it, but they will always remember it; that is the trademark of a Stephen King story. Like his horror novels, this work is very atmospheric with plenty of descriptions so that readers can see in their minds the events unfolding. The two elderly reporters are likable old coots with distinctive personalities and an ability to tell a mesmerizing story that keeps Stephanie glued to her seat wanting to hear the whole tale, just like the audience.

Harriet Klausner