A review by mrs_reading_runes
The Outsider, by Stephen King
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
TRIGGER WARNING!
In Flint City, Oklahoma, the remains of a brutally murdered, raped, and mutilated child named Frankie Peterson is found. Police detective Ralph Anderson leads the investigation and interviews several witnesses who all saw local little league coach Terry Maitland with the boy before his death. There is also forensic evidence from the crime scene pointing to Maitland's guilt, with his fingerprints and DNA found at the scene and in the van used to abduct Peterson. With all of this evidence, Detective Anderson orders a very public arrest of Maitland in front of a full stadium.
Now of course this is a King novel so nothing is as it seems.
I am still debating if I like King as an author this is the second book of his I read and his books don’t suck me in. It took over 300 pages to really be emersed in the plot because it was dry. Yes the way that the plot was written it seems very obvious okay the guy is a pedophile and a murderer.
Now I give the first 300 pages 1 star. The rest of the book I give 3 stars.
Toward the end the plot picks up and nothing makes sense but pieces fall into place and I am like okay now.
Now without completely giving spoilers I will say that I the characters are lovable and I had a soft spot for all but mostly a private detective we meet late named Holly. The character descriptions aren’t the best so I filled in a lot of blanks but she is definitely the reason I did not DNF this book.
Of course there is some sort of supernatural entity I think that’s just kings still but it wasn’t horror to me it was mostly tacky.
I wouldn’t recommend this book honestly because it took me way to long to read but parts of it were really good but most of it was a no.
In Flint City, Oklahoma, the remains of a brutally murdered, raped, and mutilated child named Frankie Peterson is found. Police detective Ralph Anderson leads the investigation and interviews several witnesses who all saw local little league coach Terry Maitland with the boy before his death. There is also forensic evidence from the crime scene pointing to Maitland's guilt, with his fingerprints and DNA found at the scene and in the van used to abduct Peterson. With all of this evidence, Detective Anderson orders a very public arrest of Maitland in front of a full stadium.
Now of course this is a King novel so nothing is as it seems.
I am still debating if I like King as an author this is the second book of his I read and his books don’t suck me in. It took over 300 pages to really be emersed in the plot because it was dry. Yes the way that the plot was written it seems very obvious okay the guy is a pedophile and a murderer.
Now I give the first 300 pages 1 star. The rest of the book I give 3 stars.
Toward the end the plot picks up and nothing makes sense but pieces fall into place and I am like okay now.
Now without completely giving spoilers I will say that I the characters are lovable and I had a soft spot for all but mostly a private detective we meet late named Holly. The character descriptions aren’t the best so I filled in a lot of blanks but she is definitely the reason I did not DNF this book.
Of course there is some sort of supernatural entity I think that’s just kings still but it wasn’t horror to me it was mostly tacky.
I wouldn’t recommend this book honestly because it took me way to long to read but parts of it were really good but most of it was a no.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence