Colorado Kid is a seriously strange mystery!

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Soapstone

Well-Known Member
Jul 13, 2015
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I dont know the references you mentioned, yet.

As to how the body ended up in the location it did, based on the time the body was last seen in a completely different location, in as short amount of time as it took place, it is so bizarre!

I tried listing the facts of the case and I just couldnt seem to come up with a good answer. :S
 

Carldeschain

New Member
Nov 2, 2015
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My theory is that
someone (probably Low Men employed by Sombra) had been threatening James Cogan and his family. He has then done one of two things; taken revenge on these people or committed murder for these people. The people I believe he killed are the two dead people from the fire, that the two useless cops are 'investigating'. The matches and cigarettes weren't just a clue to show where he was from but also who was after him.
As for the Russian coin, I don't believe they existed at that point in time. I believe our man James went todash and this is his talisman. It's another clue that no character from the 'story' will get; the mystery is purely aimed at the constant reader.
Throughout the whole book Dave and Vince really push the idea of this not being a story, placing emphasis on the mystery. The book ends in a very ambiguous way, with more questions than answers. King says people will either love it or hate it, but it's how he intended to write it; everything he does is for a reason. I believe that's another little clue or a nod to the Dark Tower books, as they end in a very similar way. Everything is linked.
I'm very tired and have only just finished the book, so excuse me if that makes zero sense. I just need to share this with someone who cares!
 
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FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
My theory is that
someone (probably Low Men employed by Sombra) had been threatening James Cogan and his family. He has then done one of two things; taken revenge on these people or committed murder for these people. The people I believe he killed are the two dead people from the fire, that the two useless cops are 'investigating'. The matches and cigarettes weren't just a clue to show where he was from but also who was after him.
As for the Russian coin, I don't believe they existed at that point in time. I believe our man James went todash and this is his talisman. It's another clue that no character from the 'story' will get; the mystery is purely aimed at the constant reader.
Throughout the whole book Dave and Vince really push the idea of this not being a story, placing emphasis on the mystery. The book ends in a very ambiguous way, with more questions than answers. King says people will either love it or hate it, but it's how he intended to write it; everything he does is for a reason. I believe that's another little clue or a nod to the Dark Tower books, as they end in a very similar way. Everything is linked.
I'm very tired and have only just finished the book, so excuse me if that makes zero sense. I just need to share this with someone who cares!
It's a good theory, but from everything I've read about this story, I keep coming back to the style it was written in (Hard Case Crime) where you're not always given any kind of resolution. I think Stephen wanted to just have people keep guessing with this one. :)
 

Soapstone

Well-Known Member
Jul 13, 2015
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i havent read all those stories yet, so i dont know how much this story might be connected to his others yet. but it definitely makes me stop to think about from time to time, and i am consistantly trying to puzzle the pack of cigarettes being bought on 1 day in a specific state and trying to figure in how he could have possibly arrived in the town, and the only think i keep coming back to is: it must have been aliens.
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
All y'all's comments were interesting :) I am really anxious to read The Colorado Kid. I guess I need to quit waiting for the price to come down at Amazon... I'm hesitant to spend $19 on a mass market paperback but I know I will eventually so I might as well just do it lol.
 

do1you9love?

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Feb 18, 2012
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Virginia
All y'all's comments were interesting :) I am really anxious to read The Colorado Kid. I guess I need to quit waiting for the price to come down at Amazon... I'm hesitant to spend $19 on a mass market paperback but I know I will eventually so I might as well just do it lol.
Hey there! Nice to "see" you!

If you don't mind a gently used copy, try Alibris.com or Half.com. They'll be much less.

I enjoyed this one very much. I liked that there was no nicely wrapped up ending. In real life, that happens all the time. :cool2:
 
Mar 12, 2010
6,538
29,004
Texas
Hey there! Nice to "see" you!

If you don't mind a gently used copy, try Alibris.com or Half.com. They'll be much less.

I enjoyed this one very much. I liked that there was no nicely wrapped up ending. In real life, that happens all the time. :cool2:

Thanks for the tip :) but I have given up on buying used books. So many are sprayed with perfume which clogs up my sinuses :(
 

Shoesalesman

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2010
1,814
4,093
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Just finished this book for the first time yesterday. I like the fact that the mystery is still technically "a mystery". Sometimes things just can't be explained or rationalized or have nice shiny bows put on them... and that's what's unnerving in life. Or unnerving if you let it. Good little book with a bigger life lesson inside.
 

jeremy1357

Member
Oct 11, 2015
8
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Carl, I had the same thoughts. Here's a couple more along those lines.
To me this screamed of todash but more of the Traveling Jack verity. Time is funny in the territories or whatever level of the tower he was traveling on. The coin could have been anything on the other side just like Jack had one. The meat could have come over too. I like the idea of the match and cigs being linked to the fire. Didn't think of that one. I also thought he may have been running from Lowmen at home and with the new baby he had to make a run for it. I know SK implied it was suppose to be an unresolved ending but based on his body of work and the fact the in the DT he sys that every other book he has written flowed from the DT, I think as the very least he want the CR to read into this story.
Great read. I'm sure that as I work through more of his books I will refer back to this and try and fill in more blanks.
 

chief4db

When it doubt, run!
Feb 11, 2015
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I think its one of two things. one which what I tend to go with is that king wrote it with a message that life isn't always nice and neat wrapped in a box with a pretty bow. even the later part of the book references that. if your looking for an actual what happened the time line is impossible. so its either his talisman, aliens, time travel or some sort of paranormal activity.
 
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Dynamo

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May 12, 2017
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I read it long before I read the DT books (plus once after) and just took the whole thing literally the first time, as if it were just a hard-boiled crime story with nothing sci-fi or supernatural about it. At one or two points in the story the thought of such things crossed my mind but it was such a grounded story where the characters never entertained any of those ideas that I went thought King was telling me there was a "rational explanation" for all of this. I didn't really find the case all that interesting but liked the characters and the way he left it a mystery. It may have irritated me if I'd been completely sucked into the case but probably not. It was like an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, particularly without the SOLVED update. Or the crappy re-enactment. I had been leaning toward the Cold War intrigue angle before I knew the DT stuff although I think one of the old guys dismissed it but I wasn't convinced by his reasoning. I did think the Starbucks reference was odd because I was pretty sure it wasn't around then, or at least not beyond Seattle. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed some similarities to The Reach. At the time I thought it was just re-using some ideas but later thought it might have had been something more. Or maybe the dude just choked on his damn steak.
 

RichardX

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2006
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I took this one for a straightforward mystery with no supernatural elements. So here is my take. If this were a "real" world and not fictional incident, then
my theory is that Cogan is secretly an unhappy guy. Bored with his life. Maybe he meets a rich client who clues him in on the availability of a free private jet ride. He gets the call that a seat is available to Bangor one day out of the blue and decides to split. Maybe in the excitement he decides to try a cigarette and buys a pack. On the plane he meets someone from Maine and tells them he is travelling on a whim. This person tells him about these islands. Cogan expresses interest. The person can give him a lift there to the ferry. Cogan picks up a sandwich somewhere for later. After he takes the ferry maybe he hits up a couple of bars, gets the munchies, and decides to head down to the beach for a midnight snack and accidentally chokes. Someone comes along and steals his wallet.
In a fictional book, maybe things need to be spiced up:
So the Russian coin is a signal that some type of meeting or rendezvous is set for that night. That would led us to conclude that perhaps Cogan is the initiator of the meeting and is waiting for the signal because he knows when and where to go and has to be able to make the arrangements in a hurry. We also know he is somewhat fearful of who he is meeting with. So a criminal enterprise. But Cogan decides to carry on. Why? He is expecting some type of big payment. That would suggest perhaps a blackmail or kidnapping plot. Maybe Cogan has arranged to blackmail or kidnap some gangster or his family member. Maybe he has an associate who is already on the island with the goods or person. The haste is to ensure the gangster doesn't have the time to plan a trap. They just have time to get there for the exchange. Being on an island might allow Cogan and his associate to make the transaction and then escape via boat while the other party is stuck. After the deal goes down Cogan accidentally chokes on his sandwich. His associate doesn't have time to get rid of the body so he lifts the wallet to give him as much cover as possible making it difficult to ID the body and then splits.
 

Edward John

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Aug 15, 2019
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Its based on The Dark Tower, the colorado kid isnt too dissimilar to Roland, both can travel through time, that explains the coffee cup from Starbucks and the Russian coin, which werent introduced at the time of the story being told, ergo; the Colorado kid is a time jumper.