Wir Sind Die Könige Von Colorado (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
this book is about a 13 year old boy named William Shepard who stabbed his father in the chest with a Davy Crockett explorers pocketknife. he had to spend two dreadful years at the Swope Ranch Boys' reformatory high in the mountains in Colorado. Will was not a bad kid at all, he stabbed his abusive and alcoholic father because he was preventing him from beating his mother to death. him and three of his friends call themselves the Kings of Colorado because of the card game that they play. Will wants to also become a horse breaker, but he really has to earn the others trust. this book is a thriller and a page turner, it was definitely one of the best i have read in a while. I think many readers probably did the same thing as I when they finished this novel: they solemnly closed the book, heaved a sigh, and sat for a moment to digest what they had just experienced. Writing a review about a book like this almost seems pointless, other than to provide the reader with generalities about something which can only be properly understood by actually reading, and thereby experiencing, it. Except perhaps for Robert Olmstead's Coal Black Horse, I can't remember the last time I read a story that contained so much emotional impact; indeed, part of that sigh that readers heave at the end of the book is meant to catch one's emotional breath. The most compelling feature of the novel are the characters, the relationships they develop with one another, and the relationship the reader develops with the characters. On one had, the reader is invited into the very exclusive inner circle of the novel's protagonists Will, Benny, Cooper and Mickey. It is a membership that comes with the great rewards that only close friendships---brotherhoods---can provide, but the great emotional investment that comes with this membership exacts a heartbreaking toll as the novel progress. At the center of this emotional bedlam are some of the most depraved characters one is likely to come across in literature; in fact, I think Silas Green and Frank Kroft can easily hold company with the likes of Bill Sikes (Oliver Twist), Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), and Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs). The novel simply refuses to be put down. Only during some of the story's more tender moments does the anxiety subside enough for the reader to collect his or herself. There is a great deal of violence but also a tremendous amount of love in this story; it is a story whose premise is partly built upon the reality that bad people---really bad people---exist in this world for no other purpose than to inflict pain on others, and partly built upon the reality that there are things in the human spirit that no amount of meanness, violence, or injustice can completely break. And in the end it is the good in us that persists, not the bad. I only have two criticisms for the book: first and foremost, there is no mention of Reaper after page 231, something that seems intentional on Hilton's part, but those intentions are not clear, and this is something that hurts the integrity of the story. Second, the development and structure of the narrative is fractured in places, which gives the novel an unfinished feel, as if, at times one is reading from a draft. (Then again, the story is told retrospectively by Will, who is narrating from a diary, so some allowance for structure and development must be allowed). In short, this is an incredible novel, and it's worth noting that this is Hilton's first novel and that, amazingly, he wrote most of it, according to a brief afterword, in his apartment's stairwell. I think we can expect great things from this talented writer.
What do You think about Wir Sind Die Könige Von Colorado (2011)?
What a great read! Thought-provoking, and well-written. A nice surprise.
—meenu
Terrific book, well-written but sad and ultimately very realistic.
—Junebug
This book was sad and violent. I enjoyed it,though.
—Chris
A real winner...excellent story and writing.
—indie93
