Friday, November 25, 2005

The Colorado Kid


Well, I like the cover, which was painted by Glen Orbik . . .

Actually, there are several other things to like about this odd little book. One is the dedication, which reads: “With admiration , for DAN J. MARLOWE, author of The Name of the Game is Death: Hardest of the hardboiled.” Now, I happen to think that THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH is possibly the best hardboiled novel ever written, so I’m glad to see King mention it in a book with a wide readership. Maybe some people who pick up this book because it was written by King will go on to become Dan J. Marlowe fans. Another thing I like about THE COLORADO KID is that it’s short and reads very fast, and in these days when I don’t have as much reading time as I once did, that’s an important consideration. The characters are affable and the setting is well-drawn. But that ending . . .


In his afterword, King says that the book is about the nature of mystery in life, and that he thinks readers will either love it or hate it. I can see the first point, but the second doesn’t really apply to me. The mystery to me is whether I even like this book. I think I do, but I’m not sure. I don’t consider the time I spent reading it wasted, which has to count for something.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

James, Ditto on Marlowe's "Game" being the best hard-boiled book. I think it tops Paul Cain's "Fast One" as far as the action, level of violence, and the intensity of the story. I need to read it again, but I'd also love to get the original edition. The Gold Medal copy I have says it's a revised edition, which I assume was done prior to Marlowe turning the Drake adventures into a regular series (gotta love a character with the same name as me!). I didn't like any of the follow-ups (stopped after a few), and think "Game" deserves to be a stand-alone. You can't beat the final line prior to the epiloge: "The last thing I heard was myself, screaming." Gives me chills just thinking about it!

Juri said...

I think ONE ENDLESS HOUR, the first sequel to the saga, is almost quite as good as the GAME. The ending is grotesque, hilarious, scary and touching at the same time.

James Reasoner said...

I agree about ONE ENDLESS HOUR. It's awfully good, and anyone who reads THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH needs to read the sequel, too. I haven't read any of the later books, when they turn into an espionage series. They're supposed to be okay but nowhere near the level of the first two.