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axios 's review for:
The Colorado Kid
by Stephen King
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Colorado Kid: 3/5 Reviewed: 7/30/21
By: Stephen King
The first Hard Case Crime novel by Stephen King, The Colorado Kid is a mystery novel that has a lot of charm. The characters feel native to their hometown, with slang and characteristics reflecting their occupation and the setting. The mysterious story is told by two elderly staffers of The Weekly Islander to a young reporter interested in the tale. And in their telling of the story, a lot of rambling drags out certain sections of the novel. I do understand that these are old men, and this is good character work, but certain parts of the novel felt a little dragged out because of it. Also, for how short the story is, it takes a while for the actual explanation of the mystery to get going, with the characters stopping to get drinks or food on multiple occasions. I feel as though the novel could have been shortened a little, and it may have resulted in the story being more engaging.
The mystery itself is intriguing, with a lot to be interpreted by both the reader and the characters. Stephen King does a great job creating clues to the mysterious death, without any of them being concrete enough to reveal for certain what happened. He shows us evidence and what-ifs and lets us interpret it. I appreciate an author who doesn’t simply hand the reader all the information and treat them like an idiot. Beyond this, I didn’t feel emotionally invested in the plot, especially with how much time had passed between the actual death, and the recounting of the mystery. It didn’t feel quite inconsequential, but almost. This was an okay read, but not one of King’s best.