shannon_a

So a few weeks ago I discovered that the Siffy ("SyFy") channel had a new summer offering called Haven. I got excited when I discovered it was based on a Stephen King novella called The Colorado Kid and that the TV show was being produced by the novella's publisher, Hard Case Crime editor Charles Ardai. I'd previously read three of the very pulpy Hard Case Crime novels, the three written by Charles Ardai, and two of those were superb (and the third intriguing and clever).

So, I ordered a copy of The Colorado Kid from the library and finished it a couple of days ago.

It's a nice little story, definitely one of the strong King works from the last few decades. It's a very quiet piece, set on an island near Maine that centers on three people talking about an old unsolved crime. It's really a story about questions, not answers, that sets up an intriguing situation and then invites you to think about it yourself.

And it doesn't have a bit of science-fiction in it (as for whether it contains "syfy", who can say)--though the TV show is said to be a supernatural drama.

In anyc ase, the novella was definitely worth reading. I don't know how much mileage the TV show will get out of it, except as a snapshot of a rural Maine community, but I'm still interested in the show too, based largely on Ardai's involvement.

I finished up Songs of Innocence, the second John Blake novel. Little to say, other than the fact that it was excellent--one of the best mystery novels that I've read any time recently, thoughtful, surprising, and full of superb noir.

If you like mysteries, go pick up the two Aleas novels.