The Outsider by Stephen King

February 2020

I was down at my son David's place in Dec 2019 and briefly saw a bit of a new Netflix series called The Outsider that he was watching. When he told me it was based on a Stephen King book, my ears pricked up. It was not one that I had read so I checked it out, finding it was very recent (published in May 2018 and almost immediately snapped up for TV production rights). 

Being a big Stephen King fan, I decided I had to read it so I sourced out the second-hand book options. I ended up purchasing a second-hand ex-library hardback copy from England for the princely sum of US$1.50, plus postage. A month later, it arrived, total cost around A$12. Now that's hard to beat for a recent hardcopy version of a best selling book.

The premise is one that only Stephen King could bring off with such style:

In Flint City, Oklahoma, police detective Ralph Anderson arrests popular teacher and Little League coach Terry Maitland in front of a crowd of baseball spectators, charging him with raping, mutilating and killing an eleven-year-old boy. Anderson has eyewitnesses and clear forensic evidence pointing to his guilt. Yet subsequent investigations confirm that Maitland was out of town when the murder occurred, at a writer's conference in a neighboring town. Conference site security footage also provides confirmation of Maitland's alibi, as do multiple eyewitnesses.

It's a long book (nearly 500 pages) but I found that I couldn't put it down once I had started (unlike some other King books that do tend to drag on and on and on). King is at his best when pursuing supernatural themes and this is no exception.

The character of Holly Gibney from King's Bill Hodges Trilogy (Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, End of Watch) is a major character in the book. The novel outlines some events from the trilogy and its aftermath. I recommend you should also read them at some stage.

I judge a book's impact on my by how long it takes to read and how much it intrudes on my life. This rates 10/10 on both counts! Do yourself a favour and read it.