Book Review: The Outsider by Stephen King

Book: The Outsider 

Author: Stephen King 

Pages: 577

Read on: Kindle 

Read in: 7-8 hours 

Plot Summary: When an eleven-year-old boy is found murdered in a town park, reliable eyewitnesses undeniably point to the town's popular Little League coach, Terry Maitland, as the culprit. DNA evidence and fingerprints confirm the crime was committed by this well-loved family man. 

Horrified by the brutal killing, Detective Ralph Anderson, whose own son was once coached by Maitland, orders the suspect to be arrested in a public spectacle. But Maitland has an alibi. And further research confirms he was indeed out of town that day. 

As Anderson and the District Attorney trace the clues, the investigation expands from Ohio to Texas. And as horrifying answers begin to emerge, so King's propulsive story of almost unbearable suspense kicks into high gear.

Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy but there is one rock-hard fact, as unassailable as gravity: a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Can he?

Things I Liked: 

• The book's premise is very interesting. A man who was positively identified by multiple people in his small town after having committed a crime was actually on-camera in a different city. How could he be in two different places at the same time? This is classic Stephen King! A fabulous mix of crime/thriller and horror/ supernatural! This book gets you from page 1 and you just can't put it down! 

• The cast of characters in this book is very nice. All the local cops in the small town in Oregon where the first crime takes place are so keen on doing the right thing and punishing someone who had done something so monstrous to a little boy. Then, we also have Howie Gold, who is Terry Maitland's defence attorney and his preferred PI, who are doing everything they can to prove that he was not in town the day of the incident. Their refusal to give up on Terry, even when things go very bad, is something that I really admired. 

• *SLIGHT SPOILER* Then! Surprise! This book has Holly! She is the intrepid and meticulous PI from Stephen King's Bill Hodges series. Holly comes into the investigation and finds interesting pieces of the puzzle that takes this confusing case to a place that makes more sense. I really loved Holly's character in the Bill Hodges books and I was so happy to see her in this book. She is so gutsy and is driven to do the right thing. I just love her! She was such a nice surprise!  *END SPOILER* 

• The mystery behind a person being in two places at the same time is quite interesting (slightly easy to guess what that is, but still interesting!). I liked how the team figured out who that was and how they went after this person. Again, classic Stephen King! 

Things I Didn't Like: 

• Nothing really. Except that the book could've benefited from some sharper editing! There were some chapters from the perspective of this sort of inefficient, sort of corrupt older cop, which we could've done without. 

Rating: 4.5/5