The Colorado Kid

A Hard Case Crime Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Jeffrey DeMunn

Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2005 Stephen King (P)2005 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division.

The right narrator make all the difference.

This is one of my favorites to listen to over and over. This narrator and this story are perfectly matched.

Dark Tower Connection

I was concerned after reading some of the reviews of this King short Novel. But as I listened I made an immediate connection to the Dark Tower and Insomnia. This would explain the mystery that is the central theme of the novel. I think if Stephen King ever revisits the Dark Tower universe that the other side of the story may be told. In 2009, King announced an upcoming eighth book, The Wind Through the Keyhole this could be it. The Characters are excellently constructed and the Narration fits the local speech on Northern Maine To confirm the connection from Wikipedia I found this, ???While for the casual reader there may seem to be no explicit links to King's magnum opus Dark Tower novels, the author noted on his personal website on October 7, 2005 that an apparent research error regarding the rise of Seattle, Washington-based Starbucks Coffee may hold other implications. Wrote King: "The review of The Colorado Kid in today???s issue of today's USA Today mentions that there was no Starbucks in Denver in 1980. Don???t assume that???s a mistake on my part. The constant readers of the Dark Tower series may realize that that is not necessarily a continuity error, but a clue.??? This might also be a clue to the inclusion of a mention of Blockbuster in the story, which did not exist until 1985. I think Starbucks was an error, because of his wife or maybe he travels the universes and time a lot. Either way for a King Fan this is good New England yarn and another clue in the Larger King Universe.

Fun and interesting

I have always wondered what had spurred the Haven show. This book gives you some back story to the case that sparked Haven, and some interesting character play between the two who run the local paper. It is not a prelude to Haven, but is a good read as a stand along book.

As always Mr. King has not disappointed.

Great story!

As a big fan of the “Haven” tv series, it was nice to become familiar with its origin story.

I Liked it a Lot!

it was very good a compelling Listen I enjoyed it I think you will too

A Good, Solid Lope

Most of Stephen King’s work walks for a short while to lay proper groundwork and get warmed up. After that stage, the vast majority of his work proceeds to run, and some of it even works itself into a furious sprint. The Colorado Kid provides a solid, a consistently pleasant lope. It will not have you shivering under your bedsheets the way The Shining did for me when I was a kid, but it was satisfying. Mr. DeMunn’s performance was, as best this flatlander could tell, flawless. And kudos to SK for resisting the temptation to solve the mystery of the Kid!

If you have to know what happens, don't buy it.

The story is very laid back and the pace putters along, much like the two old guys who act as narrators. But the story is good and, even though the story-in-the-story begins with a "do you know any tales that are truly unsolved mysteries?" question, you still hope that in the end you'll find out what really happened.
You don't.
But it's still vintage King and the characters are interesting--if maybe a bit boring this time around--and you do find yourself not just caring, but thinking about the story days later.
On the other hand, it's also pretty short and the whole non-ending is kind of annoying and, again, the characters--and story--are sometimes a little boring. I'd give the story three and a half stars if I could.
My favorite review was Anthony in Utah who described it as follows: "The best way to describe this booklet is to imagine a CSI episode told to you by two old men who forget how the show ended."
That's it exactly!

Not what I expected

A decent listen from my all time favorite writer. Ending was not what I expected which made me question why I listened to the whole book. Truly, on of those that the joy was the journey not the end

I totally get that this is a story about a story. It's just a boring story.

I totally get that this is a story about a story. It's just a boring story. Told in a very annoying slow paced way by two old men. It makes me think of listening for over 3 hours to the secretary at the fraternal order of Elks reading off the minutes of the last meeting.

Stephen King is my favorite story teller of all time, but in my opinion this one is just dull. You can't like every single thing a writer writes just because he/she wrote it. It makes all of your opinions invalid. You must look through a true critics eye. Searching for what you like and taking notice of what you don't. Then you can have a clearer idea of what writers work for you. In this case, as I make my way through the Stephen King library I found myself feeling like I'd gotten tripped up by a bad story.
All of his amazing books make you feel a very profound emotion... This one made me feel bored and annoyed.

Not Typical Stephen King

The Colorado Kid is a story about the recounting and speculation of the unexplainable appearance of a dead body on the coast of Maine. It is entertaining, but the reader should not expect closure. This is a story “with no through line” as one of the characters was fond of putting it.

Jeffrey DeMunn brings each character to life with his mastery of accents.