Now an HBO limited series starring Ben Mendelsohn! Evil has many faces…maybe even yours in this #1 New York Times bestseller from master storyteller Stephen King. An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is discovered in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens–Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, … League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon have DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
As the investigation expands and horrifying details begin to emerge, King’s story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.
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I enjoyed reading
It starts out great. A pillar of the community is arrested for the horrific murder of a child. Great exploration of how such an event affects the accused, the accused’s family & friends, the victim’s family, and keeps rippling outward thru the community. But the accused has an ironclad alibi. In spite of that, law enforcement is convinced of his guilt due to overwhelming evidence and eyewitness accounts. How can both be true? I couldn’t put down the book up until about halfway through. Spoiler alert – don’t read further if you haven’t read it. Around halfway, it became clear to me how it would be explained supernaturally and it reminded me of an old Denzel Washington movie, “Fallen”. For that reason, the 2nd half of the book lost some of its mystery/suspense. Stephen King can be so awesome at his best, but this isn’t one of the best. Still a good read.
This story has such a great ‘hook’, it’s like the book version of “Sweet Caroline”. I’m sure it’s been done before (hasn’t everything?), but the way King builds tension with evidence that Terry Maitland must have committed a horrifying crime, but also can’t have committed a horrifying crime is perfect. I could not have stopped reading this book if I wanted to, I HAD to know what happened.
“. . . or how Terry Maitland could have been in two places at the same time. He kept coming up against those things; they were like pebbles lodged in his throat.”
But, it also brings up one of the major challenges of this book, how do you write an ending that lives up to that start is challenging because at some point you must reveal the answer and it will likely be anticlimactic. But for me, I think King largely pulled it off, I though the book dragged a little in the 50-65% area, but I very much enjoyed the ending. The ending did have echoes of another King book, which I won’t discuss to avoid spoilers, but IT’s an interesting comparison. There are also some similarities to “The Dark Half”, but not enough to feel repetitive. However, I will say there were enough overall similarities to his previous works to make this one feel a little too familiar. It didn’t ruin it for me, but it took away a bit of the excitement and intrigue, as overall, I could sense the upcoming structure of the story.
For some reason this book got me thinking about the ages of King’s characters. Some of his novels rely heavily on period of life. Early in his career, King really nailed teen peer pressure with Carrie and teen angst with Christine and Joyland. At times, he reminisced about lost youth and coming of age with IT, The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, and The Body. I loved when he took on early adulthood with Dead Zone (First Job, Courtship – leading towards marriage, etc.). He hits on middle-aged in many books like Thinner, Gerald’s Game, Bag of Bones, and Lisey’s Story. And now that he’s in his seventies, he is taking on older characters with the Mr. Mercedes series, 11/22/63, and now The Outsiders. And oddly enough, the characters in the book feel a little older than I believe they are intended. But, the period of life focus from King has really worked for me, as I grew up with King and although he’s a bit older, I was able to able to experience his works at the right time in my life.
As to strengths, I already mentioned the fascinating opening. King is also not afraid to ‘kill his darlings’ and there is a sucker punch about half way through. I didn’t see it coming and it pissed me off at first, but ultimately, it worked. I like how King stayed away from Maine and the northeast in this book. As always, King does a great job of making the supernatural believable. His characters have realistic reactions, and, in this book, he brings in some great backstory/history that helps. In addition, I love it when King ties his stories into his other books, and this one ties back to the Mr. Mercedes series tightly. I also believe is a nod back to “The Dark Half” with a fairly overt reference to sparrows. King takes a little swipe at the Stanley Kubrick movie version of “The Shining”, but that’s nothing new.
In summary, this is vintage Stephen King, wonderful characters, a well-paced plot, a bit of gore and horror, and filled with little unique observations of life that make his books so enjoyable. It’s not my favorite King book, but it’s likely in my top ten, and with his catalog, that’s high praise. I’m going to say 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. Overall, a fast crime-story start that evolves into a horror story, but relies more on character and relationships, than blood and gore.
Not one of his best, but enjoyable none the less.
Let me begin with, I am not a Stephen King BOOK fan. By this I mean his stories literally haunt me, taking me to places in my mind where I find it difficult to manage and let the memories go; I cannot read his books. But his writing. Mr. King is simply the master and occasionally I will dip my toe into his water and what a pleasure it is. The way he describes a scene, a smell, a tree for that matter. The man’s writing is genius. That being said, I took a chance, having a long drive from Idaho to Colorado, and listened to this book. In a word (or maybe two or three or more): Wow. Amazing. Incredible. And yes, unforgettable.
The Outsider is not the shocking horror that smacks one in the face with gore, not that I think that is the author’s standard way, but it eases under one’s skin and psyche, playing and teasing with the mind. Not fantastical in a way that is too out of reach, the Outsider toys with the idea that there are shapeshifters among us, persons, or rather beings, that slip into one’s body, taking them over from the inside to do their bidding while their outside appearance remains the same. Oh, it was fun to read this book.
The Outsider will leave you thinking, wondering, and wishing for more. I believe there is a movie, perhaps a series, but if you are a reader and willing to open your mind to a bit of psychological mystery about the spirituality of one’s inner self – you must read The Outsider.
Halfway through the book I almost gave up, but the back half makes the book.
I loved this book up until the last 30% or so.
Stephen King at his best of the unexpected!
Some sip a glass of wine or a spot of tea while reading a Stephen King novel. Me? I clutch a crucifix. Whether Maine, Oklahoma, Texas, or Mexico, King reminds us there are monsters striving to become legends worldwide.
His teeth-gnashing tale, The Outsider, begins in Oklahoma and revolves around a child’s murder and Detective Ralph Anderson’s unwavering commitment to catch the killer, whose diabolical and perverse proclivities are about as alien to the sleepy little town of Flint City as Cartier jewelers and Ferrari dealerships.
Witnesses abound and Anderson rapidly arrests a most inconceivable suspect: Coach Terry Maitland, upstanding citizen, father and husband extraordinaire.
When Maitland presents an ironclad alibi, Anderson’s airtight case irrevocably ruptures. DNA evidence is indisputable . . . or is it? Remember: We’re now in Stephen King’s world.
With the assistance of Holly Gibney (a beloved Mr. Mercedes character) as well as his intuitive, spiritual, and objective wife Jeannie, Anderson begins to think outside the box, which propels the story into high gear and (as Stephen King’s fans know all too well) is the only way to solve the crime.
The Outsider
(Holly Gibney #4)
by Stephen King
Wow, this is really horrible, just what a Stephen King book should be! Lol! Creepy, full of suspense, creature of unknown origin, grief, pain, families and communities falling apart! What’s not to love? Haha!
I haven’t read his Holly books yet but that ends now! Wow, I feel in love with her! She is so likeably creepy! At first, before she appeared in the book, I thought it was going to just be a strange mystery, A different kind of King book, I should have known better. Well, now to check the library for the other books!
Review Snapshot : This book reminds me of the old Stephen King books I used to love; chilling, twisty, and dark! I devoured this one and couldn’t put it down!
Stephen King has always been one of my favorite authors, but I haven’t quite been able to click with his newer novels which seem to err on the political side. When I saw the Outsider, I was skeptical to pick it up because I didn’t know if the book would actually BE scary like his novels of the 90’s (which are all FANTASTIC BTW). Thankfully, I decided to give it a chance despite my hesitation because this book is EVERYTHING I wanted and needed! King has shown he still has the ability to scare his readers. He takes us down a dark and twisted path that is truly TERRIFYING and ramps up the suspense page after page.
So, what makes this book so terrifying? The fact that even though we need to suspend reality to understand what is happening in this book, there is a possibility that something like this COULD happen to anybody. Maybe not as sadistically as what happens in this book, but it IS possible. King has a way of taking fears and stretching it to it’s limits just like he does with this one.
I won’t sit here and discuss the plot in depth because you can read the synopsis and other reviews for that if you need it, but I will say that supernatural suspense readers will love this just as much as a horror aficionado. It’s a creepy but compulsively readable book that isn’t hard to read for hours without looking up from the pages.
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Loved the characters in this Stephen King novel. Great storyline. King ar his Best!
this book is awful, god save my soul
The darkness and flow of just bad vibes, like being in the horror movies.
I was certain that this book was not scary and then I had to go check behind the furniture in the room to make certain no one was hiding there. I continued reading the book only during daylight.
Hadn’t picked up a Stephen King novel in a while, and really enjoyed this. I really like when he goes into the more hard-boiled mystery flavor and genre, and he seems to be doing that a lot lately, which is awesome. Great characters, and a mysterious new villain that’s hard to get a handle on in the first half of the book. It really reads almost as a police procedural for that first chunk, mixed with a bit of courtroom drama. I actually read the book before I checked out the miniseries, but I absolutely loved the latter, too (pretty hard to go wrong with that cast, and the writing / directing were fabulous).
Very well written as always.
So this was my first ever Stephen King read, crazy, I know! It was such a wonderful book. The books I usually read have the same kind of tragic story, with a murder and detectives, but Stephen King takes that to a whole new world, to the unthinkable!
This may have been my first Stephen King, but it won’t be my last!
100%
!))%
It had been awhile since I’d read a Stephen King novel. When I picked up The Outsider, I didn’t know what to expect. King keeps you guessing with every new book. I was engrossed from the first page to the last. The twist and turns throughout the story consistently surprise the reader. I read this book in two days. Every page has you wanting to know what’s next. Wonderfully spooky and perfect for the month of October.