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, 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.

The Outsider: A Novel

Erika Kodama

'Goodbye, Ralph. Goodbye! He paused and added, I love you, Holly but not until he ended the call. It was the way he always did it, knowing if he actually said it to

 I had bad dreams after Brady Hartsfield, too. Both times: She touched his hand very lightly, then drew her fingers back. There were a lot at first, but fewer as time passed.

Holly exhaled and stood up, hair windblown, suit coat hanging down on one side, shirt untucked. Ralph thought she looked both adorable and horribly fragile. 

I woke you up, she said. You didn't. Come in. She hesitated, then stepped into the room and sat in the single chair lil W: while he put on his pants. 

Rafael Matsumoto

Really liked the story and the characters involved, but I believe the ending lacked a little drama. Would give 4.5 stars if possible

True Detective meets It. Stephen King can certainly do mystery/thriller.

Alex Johnson

Amulya Garimella

unlike many other reviewers I really enjoyed the mix of typical mystery and horror/supernatural elements. I know nothing about the folklore/legends incorporated but I found it pretty chilling and well-incorporated. I do think it sagged in the middle where characters were basically just repeating over and over again that "he was in two places at once!!" certain characters' disbelief as things got weirder became frustrating—they should have been better-established skeptics.

Yune's dialogue was bad. one character's frequent use of "frack"/"poopy" was extremely grating to me bc she was really great otherwise. just let her swear!!! also the constant iPad mentions and reflections on how technology has changed seemed really out of place...the use of new technology in the bad guy's MO should have been better explored to make those things fit better. the Trump mentions made it seem a bit dated at first but became better incorporated as the book progressed imo, and the American Sniper roasts were funny.

The Outsider

Melissa Palmer

Book #38 Read in 2018
The Outsider by Stephen King

This is the first book I have read by King in years and it did not disappoint. A young boy was horribly violated and murdered by a local teacher and coach...or was he? The police think it is a slam dunk case but have no idea about what is going on....and what the outsider really is. This book had twists and turns until the very end and had interesting characters throughout the book. There was a crossover character from another series by King but reading them prior was not necessary, so this book might have some spoilers in it. I borrowed this book from the public library.

The unnatural villian makes it less realistic and thus less scary. Good book though!

Sarah N

Lara Engle

Well done! A creepy crime and detective story with a gruesome supernatural Stephen King flair. Plus, it includes the return of a favorite character and callbacks to other King stories. I think it helps to have read the Bill Hodges trilogy before reading this one, but really you should read those anyway because they're just plain good.

Very interested book until the last turn on the book! Disappointing!

Dama Aleman

Toni Scola

- A bit detailed 
- Dragged on a little 
- Didn't realize it would turn more "unrealistic"

Audrey Lord

Taylor Nuzzolo

Stephen King never fails to deliver! Great characters I love the reoccurrence of Finder’s Keepers. Also I love the joke about Stanley Kubrick! The plot was fascinating and gruesome. It was a thriller that kept me asking questions until the last few pages.

Rachel Kanyid

This was my first Stephen King novel ever, and I must say I was not disappointed! I audio-booked this and it was a phenomenal audio book! The narrator was one of my favorites of all time, and the story was very engaging.

Amelia 

I’m sorry. But this was so boring and predictable…

Arturo Hernández

Definitely re-using the grotesque sensibility of “IT”, this book takes you back to that idea of a supernatural being able to bend reality at its convenience, thus affecting everyone around.

Even then, for the first two acts of the books, I was quite intrigued about the whole storyline and really invested on its conclusion.

I foresee follow-up tales based on some of the characters that are introduced later on and if so, I would definitely give them a chance (gave me lots of “The Conjuring” vibes).

Siya S

I would give it 5 stars if the ending wasn't going on and on forever. But we all know Stephen King...and I think this one reminds me a lot of his classics. What I mean is 1) this book would still do the trick even if it's 200 pages shorter; and 2) the second half read like a completely different book, which I don't mind but I'm sure a lot of people do.
 Anyway, great story telling, creepy as hell and with a darn convenient and little bit boring of an ending. 4/5 would never read it again.

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, 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.

A Novel

Carol Bailey

It's been a long time since I've read anything by Stephen King. This was, for me, a good one to pick up. It's really a murder mystery/crime/thriller at the heart of it. I will admit there were some points where I was talking outloud to myself because I was so invested in what was happening and some of the responses from the police and the district attorney were making me say "Seriously????"
Of course it is a Stephen King novel so nothing can be "just" a crime novel.
I read this in 2 days but that was 2 days of pretty much reading all day. The good news is I didn't want to put the book down. A rarity lately. I really enjoyed this story and I'm pretty pleased with the ending although, I'd like to see the character Holly again

Janice Hopper

Well, this was pretty good. 

The first part presents the puzzle: how can an upstanding community man suddenly be found guilty of a really heinous crime against a child? Moreover, how can he do it when he is also incontrovertibly HOURS AWAY, with LOADS OF WITNESSES?

That's what keeps you going through the first half. How can these two totally contradictory things be true? You puzzle and puzzle till your puzzler is sore.

Then you get the reveal, and that's when the tension really starts. 

I understand this book references some othe books by King, but I haven't read them and have no information about that.

I listened to the audiobook from Scribd., with Will Patton as the narrator. I have to say that I really enjoy Patton's narrations. His souther (or is it western?) accent is easy to listen to, he uses his voice to build tension and has enough differentiation between characters to make it easy to understand who's speaking. 

Good stuff. I listened for hors the first day, took a day off, and powered throgh to the big finish on the second listening day.

Inês Ariana de Freitas Pita

This book was very captivating in the beginning, I was reading it non-stop. However, the pace started to slow down at the end and I felt as if the author was just dragging the plot to wrap things up. If you are someone who casually enjoys reading thrillers, this might be the book for you. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who enjoys surprising endings or a good amount of plot twists.

Hellboy TCR

3-3.5 stars. Overlong but well written.He is still pretty good @ practicing what he preached in "On Writing".

”Doesn’t look like a monster, does he?”
“They rarely do.”


INSTANT classic… i’m still amazed every single time I read a King book. he’s on another level

Kirsten Simkiss

To be honest, I think this would be more 3.5 stars for me than 4, but I decided to be generous. It's a decent read and I did enjoy it as a whole. Still, I feel like this book could have done more with itself.

Reading this book was like putting the characters from Criminal Minds to work on a mystery that should have been solved by the characters of Supernatural instead. It was an interesting way to handle such a monster in the world, albeit not particularly original. Still, I didn't actively dislike any of the characters and I was actually pretty sad about losing some of them there at the end, though my fave survived so I wasn't completely heartbroken. Overall, the story line and the characters were great - not spectacular, but just great.

To be honest, the biggest detractor to this story was just that it repeated itself a lot. It made simple things way more long-winded than it ever needed to. I'm not sure how many times they brought that stupid melon analogy up, but it was pretty constantly there. It must have been at least six or seven times. Similarly, the same is true for many characters, saying the same thing over and over. It's one thing to be a reminder, but it's a whole other thing for it to be constantly said over the course of a half-dozen chapters. I also felt like the plot could have been a lot tighter than it was.

I also felt like the ending was almost anti-climactic. The final confrontation was almost a let down, considering how much they built up their main villain. The concept of the monster was interesting and easily held it's own, but when it got down to that final facing of the monster, it seemed like it was over too fast and that the monster wasn't really all that big of a threat in the end. Meanwhile, the person it convinced to become it's protector? THEY became the climax. It was backwards and a little disappointing, honestly, but it wasn't the worst ending to a book that I've ever read.

Getting back to the main monster, I liked the concept of it and I liked that I hadn't previously heard of the monster. I love learning about different mythological creatures and monsters. It was an interesting mix of vampire, shape-shifter, and ghostly specter. Could he have handled it better? Absolutely. Did he handle it well? Definitely.

This is a book I would recommend to horror lovers, but be advised that this has graphic descriptions of sexual crimes inflicted upon minors and the murders of those same children. It doesn't go on and on about them, but it really squicks some people out so I figured I'd mention. This isn't a book I'll be reading over and over again, so I recommend maybe ordering this through your library first to see if it's something you really want to own.

thomas 

The No.1 Sunday Times Bestseller

Sian Wadey

** spoiler alert **
           I was really intrigued by this book, the premise of a man being charged with murder, but actually has an ironclad alibi, was fascinating and I wondered how Stephen King was going to wriggle himself out of this one. But herein lies the problem, because instead of it being a mind-bending thriller, he used a supernatural 'out' to explain what happened, which felt underwhelming. It's a real shame, because the first half of this book was excellent. I really enjoyed the style of the witness interviews being inserted alongside the events, and I really liked Ralph Anderson and felt for him during these strange times. It was just disappointing how the second half turned out.
I also have a bugbear with the lack of female characters. Apart from Holly Gibney, all of the other central characters were male. One of them could easily have been female, you do get female police officers, lawyers and detectives!!! Any female characters that did appear were wives, mothers or pregnant.
I have always enjoyed King's style of writing, but I couldn't shake the fact that it felt like I'd read this before.

Celeste Richardson

Full review now posted!

What if you were accused of a crime that you didn’t commit? What if there were eye witnesses and DNA evidence and fingerprints all putting you at the scene? But what if you had an airtight alibi, and evidence to back it up? It’s a fascinating and disturbing thought, which is always the basis for every King novel. 

This was my first experience reading a King novel as soon as it comes out. I read Sleeping Beauties and Gwendy’s Button Box when they were published, but each of those had a co-author and thus didn’t sound exactly like King in tone or prose. This book was unequivocally King, and only King. With all of his other solo authored books I’ve read, I knew at least a little bit about them because they were published years ago and were so well known that they had become part of popular culture. Even though there were surprises in these books, I knew the basic plot before I ever read the first page. Not so with The Outsider. I had no idea what would happen outside of the synopsis. Which was absolutely awesome for me. I usually have no problem guessing plot twists before they happen, but there were multiple instances in this book that legitimately surprised me.

If you’ve read and loved King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, you’re going to love this book. There’s some crossover here, particularly the presence of one particular character who shall remain nameless. I’ve only read the first book, and I thought it was just okay, but now I kind of want to go back and read the rest of the trilogy. Can you read this book without having read any of the Bill Hodges trilogy? Absolutely. But if you have read it, I think there will be an added depth to your enjoyment.

The mystery and procedural elements of the story were incredibly solid, but of course there was a supernatural element and that’s where King generally shines. While the supernatural element was fun, it reminded me of an episode of, well, Supernatural, and that element didn’t feel super original to me. Things involving the supernatural element were actually easier to guess than the procedural elements, and that predictability is the main reason I gave this four stars instead of five. King did a great job on his varied cast of characters, and of showing both sides of the story. Characterization is one of King’s strong suits, and this book is no exception. But, as always, while I find the characters interesting and sympathetic and three dimensional, there’s always something of a disconnect where I can never quite insert myself into their minds. And that’s the other reason for the four star rating.

There was one thing that made me super happy about this book: King stuck the landing! Something I think almost all King fans can agree on is that King isn’t the best at endings. Sometimes you’ll read a thousand page book that just falls apart in the last twenty pages. That didn’t happen here! There was a legitimate ending, and I was happy with it! I seriously cannot express my glee over having a decent ending in a solo King novel. It made me super happy!

If you’re a King fan, you should read this. If you’re a mystery fan, a procedural fan, or a fan of the supernatural, you should read this. If you’re a fan of all three, you should definitely read this. The Outsiders is one of the most accessible and easy to read of King’s novels that I’ve read so far, so if you want to dip your toes into the world of Stephen King, this wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

For more of my reviews, as well as my own fiction and thoughts on life, check out my blog, Celestial Musings.

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

Por dios! Ahora quiero leer más obras de SK. Cómo es posible que nunca antes haya leído nada de el? La verdad el libro es entretenido, misterioso, con suficiente terror y suspenso, bueno para ser el primero además. Y por dios que buen trabajo hicieron con la adaptación. Además yo también. Intercalé con el audio libro y la narración de Will Patton muy buena.

The Outsider: A Novel

Reviews

Highlights