Well, after Stormi and I had a bad run of it with "The Hunger," I can honestly say they last few months have hit it out of the ballpark. And needless to say, both of us had high expectations when we picked Stephen King's newest book , "The Outsider" as this month's buddy read choice. So hope down below to read my thoughts and then make sure to hop over to Stormi's @ Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! for her thoughts as well!
TITLE: The Outsider
AUTHOR: Stephen King
PUBLISHER: Scribner
PUBLISHING DATE: May 22, 2018
FROM GOODREADS: An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is 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 add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive 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.
MY THOUGHTS: So it's kind of hard to review this one without giving much away. A horrible crime is committed in Flint City and the popular baseball coach and teacher, Terry Maitland, is arrested. But as convinced as the cops are that Terry is their culprit, there is also overwhelming evidence that there is no way he could be responsible. Evidence they chose to ignore. This arrest sets a lot of different things in motion and before long, not only do readers find themselves in the middle of a legal mess, but also in a supernatural one as well.
I really fell in love with this book and it was a great one to pick up while on vacation. I found King's writing to be informative and fast-paced and once again focused heavily on character development. The mystery really had me going for a while and although I did think the police made some really critical errors, I still found myself feeling badly for some of them when it all blew up in their face. I've heard it said that many think King has a difficult time with the endings of his book but I have to admit, I was pleased with how this one wrapped up.
Without spoiling things, there is a character that appears in "The Outsider" which is a crossover character from the Bill Hodges trilogy. I knew that going in and even though I've not read those books, I had seen the first season of the Audience series so I decided to dive in. I have to admit that the character that appears is easily my most favorite in the book and one of the main reasons I loved it so much. I also see that Goodreads is now calling this "Finders Keepers #4." Is that really a thing? I think it may have been mislabeled.
So it's been a while since I've read a book by my favorite author but this most definitely reignited my love affair with all things King. In fact, I'm hoping to pick up several more from him before the year is out. I know some people have become hesitant to pick up King's newer works, claiming they don't measure up to his older stuff and hey, to each his own. However, I loved "The Outsider" and hope more people give it a chance.
RATING: 5 PAWS
