"The Outsider" - Book Review -

“The Outsider”

Written by Stephen King

Reviewed by Diana Iozzia

The Outsider is a recent novel by the renowned horror and supernatural writer, Stephen King. The story begins with the finding of the body of young eleven-year-old boy, Frank Anderson. The murder itself was extremely gruesome; Frank was sodomized and then killed by bites to his many organs and then a lethal one to his neck. Fingers point at Terry Maitland, Frank’s baseball beloved baseball coach. The murder envelops the town in a dark shadow, with parents and children in an uproar, thinking they trusted Terry.

To continue, I enjoyed how the story developed, introducing many appealing characters. The main detective, Ralph, of the police department is wise and pleasant. We see him often, interacting with other detectives, his wife, and investigators. Ralph was such a happy surprise, since many of King’s police characters have been brash, crude, and just downright offensive. Ralph and his wife become embroiled in the investigation. Over time, we are introduced to a great investigator character, who hails from the Mr. Mercedes series, Holly.

The first third of The Outsider had me thoroughly invested, stuck in suspended animation, as I waited for more clues to be revealed. A major shock involving Terry was so well-executed, I was gob smacked. Unfortunately, the detectives begin to notice that Terry could not have been involved in Frank’s murder, because how could he be in two places at once? Hoping this to continue in an Agatha Christie-like mystery, I was excited. Sadly, it becomes apparent that the monster who committed the murder is supernatural, rather than human.

Personally, the scariest moments and characters in King’s work incorporate evil humans, rather than evil beings and entities. The Green Mile, Children of the Corn, The Shining, Carrie, 1922, Misery, Dolores Claiborne, and Under the Dome have evil characters. Although there are some supernatural baddies or evil influence from beings in these favorites of mine, the majority of the malevolence manifests in the humans. I have never been frightened in It, Pet Sematary, ‘Salem’s Lot, Bag of Bones, and The Stand. I would have loved this book if we just had a murder mystery, with a wicked serial killer walking around Flint City.

The villain, the “outsider”, was a completely different character to what I would have liked. A Mexican folklore villain who imitates the appearance and voice of others, who feasts on the fear of children? Did we need another Pennywise monster?

Lastly, my final disappointment was the audiobook. I have enjoyed Will Patton’s audiobook reading before, but his dark and gruff voice made the narration seem underwhelming, as he seems to overact each sentence. Less is more, in audiobooks for me. I stopped listening to the audiobook and switched to a print copy, because I was unhappy with his cadence and tone.

I recommend this book if you find King’s monsters to be scarier, but I do not recommend if you like evil humans to be scariest. I will not be keeping this book in my collection, nor watching the television adaptation of the novel.

I rated this novel at three of five stars, because King still delivers an interesting plot with great characters, but I would have hoped for so much more.