I gave up on reading Stephen King many years ago, feeling like he had burnt out on writing interesting tales. I decided to give this novella a try because the new series Haven is based on it. I have quickly come to enjoy the series.

In the book, Stephenie McCann is interning at a paper called the Weekly Islander, which serves the tiny community of Moose-Lookit Island in Maine. One afternoon, she is sitting down with the paper's editor, David Bowie, and a senior feature writer, Vince Teague, when they decide to share the tale of the Colorado Kid with her.

Twenty years earlier, the body of a young man was found on Moosie's beach turned up. It quickly became the talk of the town since no one was sure whether he had died from drowning or choking to death. Either way, most were sure that he had been murdered. To make things even more interesting, the young man was an outsider to the sleepy island town. You can probably guess where he was from.

As with most small towns, everyone likes to talk about everything, and the case has evolved into local legend about who the kid was and what really happened to them. Vince and David both suggest that they secretly know the results, but couldn't let them become common knowledge. They are now more than happy enough to share all the details with Stephanie, as she is learning the skills of being in the newspaper business.

The books was interestingly crafted, and I did enjoy it. I was a little disappointed, but more because it quickly became apparent that the series I like so much is only very loosely based on the novella. In fact, from what I can tell, they only share a title, the quirky Maine island, and the David and Vince as minor background characters. All of the supernatural elements and fun quirky characters seem to be absent. With that said, this is a fun book on its own. It does have me re-considering whether I should try some of King's more recent books. What have I been missing?