#13 – The Outsider

Plot

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?

Review

The Outsider is structured very similarly to The Black House in that it opens with an ongoing murder investigation, but eventually turns into more of a supernatural horror novel.  

King made excellent use of written transcripts from police interrogations as well as newspaper articles to help move along the narrative.  I’ve said it before, but I honestly believe King’s writing has improved as he has gotten older.  His ideas may have been better in the 1980s, but his execution is now on the level of a master storyteller.

Thankfully I read the Bill Hodges trilogy before I picked up The Outsider as having that background unexpectedly paid huge dividends midway through this novel.  As I was reading about a new character who previously showed up with Bill Hodges, I wondered to myself, “how many more of these have I missed by reading his newer stuff first?”  We course-corrected immediately.

HBO picked up The Outsider starring Jason Bateman and Ben Mendelsohn.  Generally, it portrayed some of the pure horror, violence, and suspense of the novel with some decent acting performances.  When compared to some other productions based on King’s novel, it was a huge success.

The Outsider started off as a whodunit, evolved into a deeper mystery, and ended with a bloody climax.  It developed characters (both old and new) well, and completely held my interest throughout.  It had all the makings of a classic Stephen King tale.  

Details

Pages: 561

Dates Read: October – November 2018

Quote: “People are blind to explanations that lie outside their perception of reality.”

Best Part: Maitland’s arraignment and the unavoidable clues it left behind.

Hint for #12: My son’s middle name – Roland – is loosely based off the main character in this book, who we meet for the very first time.

 

Until next time, peace be the journey.