#Titanuary ‘The Colorado Kid’ by Stephen King

About the book…

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.

But 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…?

No one but Stephen King could tell this story about the darkness at the heart of the unknown and our compulsion to investigate the unexplained. With echoes of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon and the work of Graham Greene, one of the world’s great storytellers presents a surprising tale that explores the nature of mystery itself…

Titan Books most excellent Hard Case Crime imprint has published 2, soon to be 3, Stephen King original tales, one of which is the ‘The Colorado Kid’, itself used as the basis for tv show, Haven

Both the series and the book can be enjoyed in their own rights,but are very different beasts.

King’s novel is a love letter to the noir genre ,detective fiction and the unpredictable nature of life.

Haven is a more prosaic mystery show which is extremely enjoyable,but as with the film and book of The Shining ,there are few crossover points.

This book is a HUGE 2 fingers up to those who claim that King’s fiction is bloated and the literary equivalent of a big Mac.

What ‘The Colorado Kid‘ is is distilled essence of what makes him such an accomplished and accessible writer.

As an observer of the human condition, he is rarely bettered. As a chronicler of the twentieth century,his body of work is unparalleled. And here,in this short novella,his storytelling is tight,the suspense is spine tingling and the characters on point.

In the illustrated paperback edition, to celebrate the 10th anniversary, there is a wonderful introduction which gives a background story to the relationship between King and Hard Case Crimes. He was askedto provide a blurb, and instead, wrote this book!

As a Constant Reader and a small town dweller, there are points of recognition wherein the psychology of small town living means there is not only an expectation of the inhabitants to behave in a certain way, but also to keep secrets close. This means for any outsiders that behaviour seems illogical and impenetrable, and sometimes, deadly. As a noir mystery, it is a love letter to the hardboiled mysteries of the 1950’s on which he cut his teeth. As a character study, each of the pencil sketches which he presents the reader with allows room for the imagination to flesh them out.

There isn’t anything about this story that I did not love and I cannot wait to read his next Hard Case Crime title,‘Later‘, which is out in March.

About the author…

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, ‘Mr Mercedes’, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both ‘Mr Mercedes’ and ‘End Of Watch’ received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively.

King co-wrote the bestselling novel ‘Sleeping Beauties‘ with his son Owen King, and many of King’s books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including ‘The Shawshank Redemption‘, ‘Gerald’s Game’ and ‘It‘.

King was the recipient of America’s prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine

Links-https://www.stephenking.com/

Twitter @StephenKing

@HodderBooks