Killing Time in St. Cloud

After returning to St. Cloud a man becomes involved in a complicated web of lies, feuds, and secrets that leads to murder.

Judith Guest and Rebecca Hill began writing Killing Time in St. Cloud around 1985, choosing to pick a genre in which neither had previously written. They chose to write together, partially to deal with the isolation felt while writing by oneself, but also because they held "similar values and orientation towards experience".{{Cite news|last=Robinson|first=Evalyne|date=January 15, 1989|title=Review: Killing Time in St. Cloud|work=Daily Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/230968901/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}} Each author wrote alternating chapters and they both chose to include several narrators in the novel.{{Cite news|last=Slater|first=Joyce|date=November 20, 1988|title=Two Authors 'Killing Time in St Cloud', A great idea that died in the making|work=The Atlanta Constitution|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/400327180/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}} It took them 2 and a half years to complete the novel and both stated that they found the process fun, but found setting up the novel challenging.{{Cite news|last=Kretschmer|first=Emily|date=October 9, 1988|title=Guest and Hill enjoyed work together on novel|work=Star Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/191157378/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}}

Killing Time in St. Cloud was released in hardback on October 1, 1988 in the United States, through Delacorte Press, followed by a mass market paperback the following year from the same publisher.{{Cite book|last=Guest|first=Judith|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/17954339|title=Killing time in St. Cloud|date=1988|publisher=Delacorte Press|others=Rebecca Hill|isbn=0-440-50069-9|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=17954339}}{{Cite book|last=Guest|first=Judith|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20943386|title=Killing time in St. Cloud|date=1989|publisher=Dell Pub|others=Rebecca Hill|isbn=0-440-20427-5|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=20943386}} A paperback edition was released in the United Kingdom by Penguin in 1990.{{Cite book|last=Guest|first=Judith|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21405960|title=Killing time in St. Cloud|date=1990|publisher=Penguin|others=Rebecca Hill|isbn=0-14-012032-7|oclc=21405960}}

Critical reception for Killing Time in St. Cloud was mixed.{{Cite news|last=Pate|first=Nancy|date=January 22, 1989|title=Absorbing St. Cloud could have been better|work=Hartford Courant|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/373760481/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}}{{Cite news|date=March 25, 1990|title=Authors collaborate on emotional murder-mystery|work=Florida Today|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/177607041/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}}{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=Peter|date=December 24, 1988|title=Despite a sprightly pace this mystery is just a glorified soap opera|work=The Vancouver Sun|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/495102307/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}} Joyce Slater of The Atlanta Constitution criticized the novel, stating that "Ms. Guest and Ms. Hill apparently intended to combine elements of the traditional novel and the formula mystery, then ended up with something that is neither. "Killing Time in St. Cloud" lacks the richness of characterization necessary for the second." A reviewer for the Daily Press was similarly critical, criticizing the "aimless, trite dialogue and stock, one-dimensional characters".

Michael Dorris of the Chicago Tribune was more favorable, describing it as a "first-rate, beautifully written novel."{{Cite news|last=Dorris|first=Michael|date=November 20, 1988|title=Dazed by school|work=Chicago Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/388905488/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}} The Star Press's Bill Spurgeon was also positive, praising the novel for its characters and plotting.{{Cite news|last=Spurgeon|first=Bill|date=December 11, 1988|title=It's 'Killing Time in St. Cloud'|work=The Star Press|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/253194784/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}}

Shortly after the release of the novel in 1988 Guest and Hill announced that film rights to the novel were purchased by David Geffen and Co. They voiced their support for the movie to be filmed in St. Cloud and also stated that they wished to write the screenplay themselves.{{Cite news|last=Olson|first=Debra|date=October 16, 1988|title='Killing Time' authors want film shot here|work=St. Cloud Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/223162050/?terms=%22Killing%20Time%20in%20St.%20Cloud%22&match=1}}

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{{portal|Novels}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061108002817/http://judithguest.com/stcloud.htm Killing Time in St. Cloud] on Judith Guest's website.

Category:1988 American novels

Category:American crime novels