Kings of Colorado - a review

Kings of Colorado David E. Hilton 2011 Simon and Schuster First, I should admit that I am well acquainted with the author. We work at the same place, what one might call his ”day job” while waiting for his book to hit the bestseller list. Second, ignore the cover, this isn’t a western. Now, as someone whose general choice of reading material generally falls into a fairly well-defined genre, science fiction and fantasy, this is an important piece of information for me to pass along. Kings of Colorado is not a western, nor is it science fiction or fantasy. In fact, it is not something that I would normally have been attracted to, especially based on the book cover. But, “never judge a book by its cover” has rarely been more true than it is for Kings of Colorado. The story starts slowly with William Sheppard being laid off. This event isn’t really important to the story, but serves as the catalyst for William to record the events of his childhood. Back in the early 60s at the age of 13 Will Sheppard stabbed his father and was sentenced to two years at a Reformatory Ranch in Colorado. The author does an excellent job of creating a family situation where most of us might have reacted as the protagonist did. The father is abusive, not just of the son, but more importantly of the mother and it is the abuse of his beloved mother that pushes Will over the edge. Some might complain that the abusive father is an over-used plot element and they’d be right, but it works here, in part because it is not dwelled on overly long. We are quickly moved along through this dysfunctional family picture to the first crisis point and then Will begins his journey. A long bus ride from Chicago to the high mountains of Colorado ends at Swope Ranch, his home for the next two years. Swope Ranch uses the boys to break horses. Wild horses are captured and brought to the ranch where they are broken and then sold. There are several guards, one mean, one nice and the rest sort of in between. If this all sounds a bit formulaic, well…I could say it is, but it seems more formulaic as I write this review than it did while I was reading it. I suppose that I am saying that it works, and when the formula works then it isn’t a problem. The Ranch is no easy place. It may be called a Reformatory Ranch but there are few attempts at reform, though there is plenty of punishment. Fights are encouraged between the boys and some of the guards bet on them. Will develops a circle of friends and the story revolves these friends almost as much as Will himself. Will also finds a friend in the Ranch nurse who treats him after his first fight, and the series of injuries that mark his time at the Ranch. The climax of the story comes during a trip out from the ranch in search of some lost horses. Now, you have an idea about the story, but I will leave all the details for when you read it. This novel is violent. I would say this is the biggest reason why, despite a 13 year old protagonist, this is not a young adult novel. The violence is important to our understanding, both of how Will ends up at Swope, as well as how Swope affects him. Unfortunately, because of that violence, Kings is depressing at times. A few times I considered whether I really wanted to continue reading. Fortunately, the author has made Will a likeable enough character that I wanted to find out what happened to him. This points out one of the strengths of the novel, the characters. The author has created a believable and in a few cases likeable cast of characters. Yes, a few of them, especially a couple of the antagonists, are sort of stereotypically bad, but this works well, because the story is told exclusively by Will. We see everyone through his eyes. Those who torment him most are one dimensional to him, because he never gets to know them. Just as most of us never really get to know the people we don’t like. I found the story engaging and at times even compelling. The author has done a good job of keeping himself out of the story and letting Will come through as the storyteller. The story feels right. The characters aren’t forced in ways that feel unnatural. Without going into fanciful flights of prose, the author gives as details about the high mountains and horses that help the reader feel like they have actually seen, heard and even smelled Swope Ranch. After Will leaves Swope the novel moves along quickly giving us a brief glance at his life after Swope, until the day, decades later, when he finally feels compelled to write an account of his days at Swope Ranch. Will’s life after Swope is quite average. It was only after finishing the novel that it occurred to me that Will’s victory is more than just surviving Swope, it is managing to build and live a good, if average, life. Will has another moment of crisis after writing about Swope, but the depression that brings on that crisis seems more about being old and alone, his wife of many years having died a few years before, than it is about the tragic events at Swope. At that moment I felt greater sympathy for Will Sheppard than at any other time in book. After this crisis, the book ties up with a happy ending that would seem more out of place if it were happier. Now, that sounds odd to me as I write it, but it seems to hit the mark in its own way. I’d hate to give away the ending, so I won’t say too much about it, but Will returns to Colorado, and we get the sort of cathartic ending that the novel seems to need. Kings of Colorado is an impressive first novel. It is engaging and rewarding, but it isn’t a fun read. So, if you are in the market for something that is not a fluff read, check it out.