Stephen King I think, to many is a literary legend however I was never drawn to his books of supernatural horror and I only started reading King novels a few years ago with the release of ‘Mr Mercedes’. Even then I wasn’t quite sure what drew me to read it and I approached it with a certain scepticism but having read it and really got into the main character in Bill Hodges, I really enjoyed it and the rest they say is history.
Other than ‘Misery’ however I did not go back and read all King novels and I only read his new material, all of which I have enjoyed. I have however enjoyed pretty much all of the films that have been based upon his novels with perhaps the exception of IT which I just found plain weird !!!
Anyway, ‘The Outsider’ is the latest of his books and it starts in very gruesome fashion. A Young Child is found sexually assaulted and murdered in the woods just outside of Flint City. The evidence, DNA and witnesses lead to one and only person who could have done it and that’s Terry Maitland or Coach T as many know him, local school teacher and coach of the local baseball team who are having their best year ever.
Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son has been coached by Coach T is furious at the heinous crime carried out and with the evidence so obvious he and local District Attorney Bill Samuels agree that Mailtland should be brought down and arrested publicly at the end of season decider baseball match. Mailtand protests his innocence and claims he has a stonewall alibi, but how with the evidence could this man be in two places at the same time.
As the case is further investigated Maitland is gunned down as he is taken to his arraignment by the brother of the murdered little boy. Anderson is suspended and starts to doubt himself and the evidence, but how can it be wrong. Despite his suspension, Anderson continues to investigate the crime with the help of the DA, the lawyer of Maitland and State Police Officer Yume and the suspicion of an Outsider planting evidence against Maitland grows, but who is The Outsider and can this crime be linked to other heinous murders of young children.
Not getting anywhere far, the team bring in Hollie Gibney, the shy and demur partner of the legendary Bill Hodges who appears in earlier King novels. Gibney helps the investigation but then puts forward a very strange and unbelievable assessment of what she believes has happened which starts to answer a lot of questions but gives a chilling amd grusome twist to the plot. Will they find The Outsider amd finally put a stop to these heinous child killings or will some one else meet him.
The Outsider is a good crime thriller with a super natural edge sat around it, bringing King’s two genres together into one. Personally I found some parts of the plots totally unbelievable but that didn’t always detract from a good read and wondering when and where the next plot twist was going to come from.
I’ll give ‘The Outsider’ a 6 out of 10 rating on my scale and would say that this is a good daytime at sea read on your cruise. You will need plenty of time to read it as it’s a long novel but beware, reading before bedtime could give you some very strange nightmares.
If you haven’t read Stephen King before, I’ll recommend going back and starting with Mr Mercedes, but if you’ve read him before, The Outsider won’t leave you disappointed but at the same time not totally blown away in my opinion.
More information on the legendary Stephen King and his many many books can be found at :
https://www.stephenking.com/
I hope you have enjoyed the review and as ever feel free to make a comment or start following my regular book reviews 😊😊
Happy Reading
Canberralover
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