The Outsider: A Novel

I have always been a reader and a collector of books, but I have never read Stephen King; my loss I must admit! I have watched some movies and TV series of his work: Misery & Mr. Mercedes for example come to mind; but I have now righted that wrong and have just finished ‘The Outsider’ and am hooked. The title ‘The Outsider’ caught my attention as its also the title of Colin Wilson’s first book and furthermore the title of Jane Casey’s latest novel; two authors whose work I admire and have read. The Outsider features one of Mr. King’s characters - Holly Gibney - who features extensively in this novel; although she doesn’t appear until about half way in. That said she plays a significant, indeed the most significant, role in solving the case. The case in question - the novel in other words - is about the murder, rape and mutilation of an eleven year old boy - Frank Peterson - and the more or less immediate arrest of the chief, indeed only, suspect - Terry Maitland against whom much evidence has been gathered: eye witnesses; bloodied clothing; etc. etc. The lead detective Ralph Anderson is convinced, and happy that, he has got the culprit; but has he?? Terry Maitland - a local sports coach married with a family - who has lived a relatively blameless life now stands accused of this most heinous crime; and although concerned he is not unduly concerned: he knows he is innocent and can prove that he wasn’t even in town when the dastardly deed occurred. So has it been a case of a ‘Rush To Judgement’ as Mark Lane wrote about the Kennedy assassination all those years ago? Detective Anderson has to acknowledge that in spite of the evidence against the accused it is proven that he- the accused - was in a different jurisdiction and he can’t have been in two places at the same time; can he??? That is the conundrum! The blurb on the cover of my copy reads: ‘A breathtaking novel of suspense’! I can’t imagine a more succinct way of putting it; full marks, 5* to the author of those words. To say that the novel is breathtaking is putting it mildly; it is captivating in every sense and I couldn’t put it down. It is not quite a tome, but is a big/long book nevertheless of just south of five hundred margin to margin verbiage filled pages with hardly a chance to take a break or breath… On starting to read this novel I was in complete ignorance of it and only knew about King’s character Holly Gibney; I was interested in reading books in which she featured. So after a little research I came upon, bought and have now read this, my first reading of a Stephen King novel The Outsider. I am tempted to offer some more info re the novel, but feel that like myself you should read it cold with no expectation or knowledge of what to come. I am confident that you won’t be disappointed. It contains many twists and turns all of which are resolved satisfactorily; in a word: brilliant! Highly recommended; buy read and enjoy… Bill Brady

How can a man be in two places at once? When a child is raped and murdered, this is a question Detective Ralph Anderson must find an answer to. Terry Maitland is a pillar of the community and is accused. There’s eye witnesses placing him at the scene. His fingerprints and DNA evidence found on the victim’s body. But Terry has a airtight alibi. The Outsider is a perfect investigatory and suspense novel, complete with King’s usual supernatural edge. The plot is full of intrigue and written in a way that fills the readers head with theories and questions. It includes plenty of utterly gripping action scenes. The Outsider is written in third person perspective. But it has some great transcripts of witness interviews and emails spattered throughout the beginning and middle sections of the book. The pacing of The Outsider is quick and builds suspense brilliantly. All of the characters feel completely real; all have different personalities, flaws and have different ways of handling the situations they find themselves in. Characters include: * Ralph Anderson – The tall, logical and realistic Detective. * Jeanette Anderson – Ralph’s wife and confidant. * Terry Maitland – Suspect & English Teacher. * Marcy Maitland – Terry’s wife and mother to two children. * The Peterson Family – Frank is the child raped and murdered. The impact of the tragedy on the family is shown along with the subsequent tragedies that follow. * Yunel Sablo – Lieutenant in the Police Department, he assists in the investigation. * William Samuels – The District Attorney with unruly hair. * Howie Gold – Maitland’s Lawyer. * Alec Pelley – A retired state Police Detective who works for lawyers defending criminal cases. * Holly Gibney – A woman who runs a company called Finders Keepers. Holly mostly does repossessions, retrievals, bail-jumpers and finding of lost pets. But there’s a hidden depths to Holly including her past experience with the seemingly inexplicable. Holly is a character of mystery and one the reader will yearn to learn more about. * Jack Hoskins – A troubled Detective in the Police Department. * Claude Bolton – Claude is a recovered drug addict and former criminal. He works in a strip club as a Bouncer. He’s kept himself clean and out of trouble. But trouble could be finding him. * Lovie Bolton – Claude’s adorable old mum, even more vulnerable due to her COPD and oxygen requirement. The Outsider is totally addictive, I couldn’t put it down and read it in a few sittings. The Outsider is available to buy on Amazon and at all good book shops. Review soon, Antony

Bought this on a bit of a whim and ended up flying through it. It starts off as a murder investigation, but there’s a really creepy edge to it from the beginning that keeps you hooked. Proper classic Stephen King – unsettling, clever, and very hard to put down. I liked that it wasn’t just horror for the sake of it, there’s a genuinely good story underneath it as well. The characters felt real and the tension builds nicely all the way through. Definitely one of those books that makes you want to keep reading late into the night. Would recommend to anyone who likes thrillers with a darker twist.

Stephen King said the premise for his story came from Edgar Allen Poe’s tale, ‘William Wilson’ which depicts a character in a British school who encounters another individual sharing his physical features and even date of birth. Poe’s ending is wrapped up in the metaphysical notion that Wilson’s doppleganger is really just an extension of himself, whereas King’s character takes on mythical proportions, gathering in legends such as that of ‘El cucos’, a shape-shifting demon that masquerades as an innocent party to commit heinous crimes. King has moved very much into the realms of crime suspense with his last four novels and his range of lawyerly and police contacts have no doubt aided him in presenting authentic narratives from which to hang the more typical supernatural elements of his stories. As such, King has, in The Outsider, managed to tread the fine line between suspension of disbelief and gritty realism with his usual master’s touch. As usual, his turns of phrase and characterisation lend an absorbing touch that makes his novels draw you back to extended readings in your favourite armchair - albeit with the threat of a cold hand appearing on your shoulder! There was many a point when I was saying to myself ‘I’ll read just another chapter.’ It was nice to see the return of Holly Gibney (introduced in the Mr Mercedes/Finders Keepers/End of Watch trilogy.) Considering her original appearance was to be that of an incidental character (in King’s own words), she’s turned into one of his most enduring figures. Some of the usual King tropes appear, such as the hapless lackey of the bad guy who we kinda feel sorry for because he’s coerced into being an accomplice. We have the likeable but ornery old grandma/grampa figure and also the patient and stoic wife. But King manages to extract original juice from these types which allow the reader to forgive his excesses. The ending is suitably dramatic, authentic and satisfying. I was struck by a constant theme that appears in many of King’s books including IT, The Shining and Duma Key. Namely, that to confront the unthinkable horror, you first have to admit it exists. The gradual ‘conversion’ of the detective Ralph Anderson is deftly handled and moves the transition from a gripping detective story to one of spellbinding suspense. Many will compare this book with King’s masterpieces such as The Stand, It and The Dark Tower series and find it wanting. I guess it’s impossible for any creative to perpetuate the equivalent of the Sistine Chapel or To Kill a Mocking bird (in fact Harper Lee didn’t really attempt it except semi-posthumously,) but here you have an SK tale written by a man still at the height of his powers after all these decades. No doubt a film will follow in due course.

At its heart, The Outsider is a crime/mystery novel, and a quite brilliant one at that. I won’t go into plot details as the synopsis does a great job and for 244 pages King had me in the palm of his hand. I used to find King too wordy, here the writing is much more concise whilst retaining his usual eloquence. I was genuinely puzzled as to how the case would be resolved, the case for and against Maitland were seemingly watertight. Unusually, the story was so good, I purposely read slower than I normally would. I wanted to savour every word, gorgeous sentences and plot twists. I reread multiple passages, this was story telling on a different level. And then we hit page 247… We are now at the point in the story where a new character is introduced, Holly Gibney. Constant Readers will already know Holly from the Bill Hodges Trilogy and it’s very clear that King loves her. She pops off the page and is a joy to read. She also manages to convince a room full of intelligent, law and police officials that what they are looking for is a shape shifting creature of Mexican folklore with nary a question. This immediately took me out of the book. Too many characters were taken into the final third of the book, and all of them were happy to accept the genre shift. As the reader, I was expecting a turn to the supernatural, I really couldn’t see how King could resolve the case traditionally (I’m a little disappointed he didn’t to be fair). I felt that King mishandled the reveal horribly. Am I being too fussy? I don’t think so, especially as two characters in the know die as we enter the final chapters with hardly a contribution to the story once the shift occurs. The fewer people to know the truth about The Outsider the better for me, right from the off it should only be Ralph, Holly and Yune that ventured to the Marysville Hole for the finale. It’s easy to be so critical about the book from the genre shift onwards as everything that went before it was brilliant. Easily the best thing I’ve read this year. Well written, plotted and utterly enthralling. I enjoyed the latter half of the book but it felt somewhat half-baked compared to what went before. I wouldn’t be surprised if it transpires The Outsider was originally two separate stories that King blended together. The finale itself was so disappointing I half expected Shaggy, Scooby and the gang to turn up to remove the villain’s mask. To finish, my negativity is nothing to do with the genre shift, it’s about how it was handled and the subsequent deterioration of quality of the story from there on.

Very good as expected. Terry Maitland is accused of a horrific crime. The police have DNA evidence and eye witness statements, the case seems like a certainty for the local police......but Terry Maitland has a cast iron alibi so what's going on? Quite a lot actually and from here King has created another fantastic tale. You can place this novel alongside Finders Keepers, Mr Mercedes and Duma Key (all fantastic) in that it's actually more of a police procedural rather than the horror of King's earlier years. He's evolved in his later years and I'm really enjoying this new lease of life he seems to have found. The pacing and page length are excellent and the ending satisfying. He's never been great at endings (see the terrible seventh Dark Tower novel for an example) but it was well done this time. It's an incredibly easy read thanks to King's accessible prose and natural ability to make characters likeable. A familiar face makes an appearance during the novel and their presence added greatly to the story. It's not all good; I would have liked more explanation of what the antagonist was. Another worrying trend is that King is inserting his own political beliefs into an apolitical novel. Everyone has the right to their opinion but putting it into a novel where there are zero political underpinnings is just awkward. Virtue signalling is cringeworthy at the best of times but shoehorning it into a novel is just sad. That's just a slight bugbear; the book overall is great. 8/10.

Good quality book.

Enjoyed reading this book. Another Stephen king scarey thriller.could not finish it at night had to trad the end in daylight

Thoroughly enjoyed this story. When a little boy is murdered, all witnesses and evidence lead to a children’s baseball coach. But the coach has an airtight alibi, even camera footage of him in another part of the country. This is when the story gets really interesting. In true King style, things go from ordinary to downright weird, but always gripping. The Outsider is a great read with an appearance of a familiar character. Loved it! . When a little boy is murdered, all witnesses and evidence lead to a children’s baseball coach. But the coach has an airtight alibi, even camera footage of him in another part of the country. This is when the story gets really interesting. In true King style, things go from ordinary to downright weird, but always gripping. The Outsider is a great read with an appearance of a familiar character. Loved it!

犯人が簡単に特定できてしまう子供を狙った残虐なレイプ殺人事件が、実は人間に変貌することができる怪物によるものだったというホラー・サスペンス。小説を読んでも、すぐ話に引き込まれていってしまうと思うが、オーディオブックがなかなかの迫力である。章立てが数分から十数分と短くて聴きやすく、さあ次はどうなるんだろうと思ってしまう。 18時間と比較的長いが、怪物を洞窟でやっつけて、そこで終わりかとおもいきや、さらに1時間以上物語は続く。現実の世界では事件は怪物によるものでしたでは、片づけられず、無実の人の潔白を裁判記録などに残さなければいけないということで、Stephen King氏はうまくお話をまとめている。最後の2分ほどを、未解決の恐怖を残していくのかと、どきどきしながら聴いていると、ハッピーエンドになっていてホッとする。 手持ちのStephen King作品を聴こうと思って見つけて聴いたのだが、５年ほど前の現役サラリーマン時代に通勤電車のなかでKindleを見ながら聴いて夢中になって乗り換えを忘れそうになったことを思い出した。なかなかのエンターテインメントだと思う。 KindleもAudibleも日本より先に米国で営業を始めていて、どちらもAmazon.comのアカウントで始めた。Kindleはその後、アカウントの統合ができて日本のアカウントで昔買った本も読めるのだが、Audibleのほうは統合はできないみたいで残念だ、とはいえ昔買ったオーディオブックもアカウントを替えれば残っているので最悪ではない。ただコイン制が無くなって、会員割引はあるものの聴きたい本は100%聞き放題対象外という現実はかなりの値上げになっていて残念だ。

Tous les livres de cet auteur, sans exception, bien que j'ai mes préférés. L'imagination ne lui fait jamais défaut, il ne se "répète" pas même après toutes ses années et tous ces romans, on est toujours surpris. Si SK n'existait pas, il aurait vraiment fallu l'inventer.

4.5 Stars!! Terrific! Top-Notch Thriller from Mr. King. That was really fast-paced & fabulous thriller/mystery/horror from Stephen King. I'm glad that I purchased this book from Amazon. First I was confused as whether to buy this or Mr. Mercedes but I'm truly happy that I bought this one. The first 250 pages were truly intense & you may not want to keep the book on shelf but keep flipping the page to read what is coming next even if it takes you whole night to read. The characters, the plot, the writing, everything was superb. Though, I've one complain with Mr. King for spoiling some information from his Mr. Mercedes book concerning Bill Hodges. But nevertheless, I'll also read that after some time. Now, I'm waiting for the movie to watch. I hope it is as good as this book was. P.S On my way to purchase all the other King's book which are highly recommended.

... all his BEST to his loyal readers! Me, who follows The Kingster through high and low since I was a teenager - and he at his first arms - was really surprises of the ability to give us another thrilling tale. This time of the sort that goes into the field of the so-called "supernatural". But... what is natural and what not? It will be You to decide - after reading this masterpiece! I had it "done" in a night and a day... It starts as the Crime of the Century for Flint City, somewhere in the South. A small boy is abducted and horrendously abused and murdered. Who is that monster that was able of such a heinous deed? A culprit is soon found - Terry Maitland, the year-long Football and Baseball Coach of Flint City's precious male offspring! But after a spectacular arrest in public, Terry and his lawyer can prove that he has an alibi which is more than bulletproof. DNA evidence and fingerprints confirm the crime was committed by Terry and even testimonies are sure - it was Terry, Terry, Terry. After an apex of what aberrant behavior even Your friends and neighbors are ready, willing and able to do, an absolutely shocking truth comes to light: Because further and very intensive research confirms Terry was indeed out of town that day. In the company of no-one lesser than... no-no, I do NOT spoiling that! ... another excellent crime-writer! And even on video! And Detective Ralph Anderson is asking himself: Can a man be in two places at the same time, supported by prints an DNA in both of those places? But after a short while, Anderson, the Maitlands, their lawyer and other persons do NOT ask themselves: CAN a man be in two places at the same time? But HOW can a man manage that impossible task? Anderson and the others - and the anxious reader too - are digging into Terry's every step he took in that infamous year. And in Ohio, an "old" acquaintance from the Mercedes Man trilogy is doing meticulously the footwork. And slowly but surely other findings of the most irritating and disturbing kind are emerging around Flint City, too. But those consequences - launched more or less obviously by an infamous "Outsider" - will prove to result really disastrous. And the human mind has to accept that certain things between our Earth and the Big Yonder exist... And I do NOT go into further details - because I am not the person to spoil a perfect read like this, especially for those who love their horror more sinister and looming and disturbing - until the very end. This is a real thriller, which right at the beginning shows that it has not been masterly written by Steven King for the feeble-minded! The first killing is so horrid and repulsive - I really wanted to stop reading! The autopsy of that poor boy is really something else, even for a Master of the Pure Evil. And our natural sense of justice wants the perpetrator urgently to be punished. A thought that obviously troubled the citizens of Flint City, too. The outcome is all Yours to judge, to give Your sincere opinion. How the writer handled a totally abnormal fact like this. In my eyes the thriller is outstanding - under almost every aspect it presents to the shocked reader. And the touch of reminiscence former heroes and heroines of Steven Kings's earlier books give it a bit of a nostalgic touch, too. And... I am sure that there will be more than one reader that may go back, and re-read Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch (The Bill Hodges Trilogy Book 3) . And give it a sigh about the good, old times - when crimes were - probably - differently to digest...