Review Of The Outsider By Stephen King
You may be thinking that you’re not a fan of Stephen King, that his writing doesn’t appeal to you, or that you’re just not familiar with him as an author. King, has published more than 50 best-selling titles over the past 44 years. He is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, many of which have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television series, and comic books. In short, he is a story telling master. Maybe you think the book doesn’t sound interesting. From the author himself "The Outsider" was one of those "magic books" that seemed to tell itself. ”
The story centers on a little league coach named Terry Maitland who is accused of the murder of 11-year old Frank Peterson. The boy’s body is found in a local park. The crime is supported by DNA evidence and there are multiple eye witnesses – and yet Maitland has an irrefutable alibi since he was out of town with colleagues when the crime occurred. The crime turns the town upside down. Anderson and other law-enforcement types wrack their brains to figure out how one person could be in two places at the same time. The story switches from a third-person narrative to witness interviews, newspaper articles, police, forensic, and morgue reports which allow the reader to build their own nightmares of what happened. It’s an open and shut case. Until it isn’t. I realize that not everyone is a fan of mystery/horror books. You may feel that these books are scary, lengthy or slow, but I encourage you to break out of your comfort zone and enter the dark side, well so to speak.
Mystery-thrillers are stories with twists and turns which create more questions than answers. They keep you on your toes guessing about the truth and about what will happen next. This book straddles the world of crime and horror. King uses compelling narratives and characters as he explores the themes of good versus evil. He knows humans, their inner workings and their darkness – monstrous things. He understands the things that truly make us human. To quote the author, “We came from blackness, it seems logical to assume that it’s to blackness we return. ”
I was drawn in from the entire time I was reading the book. It’s one of King’s best. He continues to be the master of horror and does what he does best, delivering convincing characters alongside a larger-than-life horror story. King knows that the most respect person in a small town is somebody who works with kids and if that somebody has an issue there is nobody more reviled and hated. He crafts the story around Terry Maitland who has an impeccable community reputation. He stretches your mind to its limits when he makes you as a reader, believe that the suspect Terry is both guilty and completely innocent. He then introduces the supernatural stating “People are blind to explanations that lie outside their perception of reality. ” The book is powerful, gripping and fun. I would like you to read Stephen King’s Outsider.
