#53 – The Colorado Kid

Plot

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…?

Review

J.J. Abrams talks a lot about the idea of a “The Mystery Box.” Imagine you are handed a locked box, one that you have no idea what is inside. He says that if you keep the box closed anything could be inside it – and only when you open it does the box lose all its value. I thought a lot about that analogy when reading The Colorado Kid.

Critics of this Hard Case Crime will often cite how the book is boring and doesn’t go anywhere. To me, that is missing the point of the story – which is not every question needs to be answered. Some stay in The Mystery Box forever because the answer would not be nearly as satisfying. If only LOST could have remembered that point at the end of Season Six.

I’ve mentioned how much some of the endings to these novels disappoint me. It’s important to call-out that endings don’t mean complete closure. When I speak of “endings” I’m simply referring to the final pages of the book. I don’t need everything to be buttoned up if it fits with the story being told. In this case, The Colorado Kid has a great ending – BECAUSE nothing gets resolved. The Mystery Box stays closed, and the story is better for it.

Details

Pages: 178

Dates Read: September 12 – September 19, 2015

Quote: “Sooner or later, everything old is new again.”

Best Part: The discovery which led to John Doe becoming The Colorado Kid.

Hint for #52: The only Stephen King novel that is a single-continuous narrative. It was turned into a Kathy Bates movie and an opera.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.