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. I’m starting to feel like a broken record with this theme, but before diving into The Outsider, a word of warning: if you plan on reading the Bill Hodges trilogy at some point, I think you’d be out of your goddamn mind reading The Outsider first. Which…is something Stephen King was totally in favor of when The Outsider was released.

I remember him tweeting about it, saying it was a standalone book that could be read without reading the Bill Hodges book. Which…ok, this is technically true. And I also know how unlikely it is that an author would take to Twitter on release day and say “DON’T BUY MY BOOK!”, but fucking hell, Uncle Stevie. Saying that The Outsider contains spoilers for the Bill Hodges trilogy is putting it extremely mildly. While the stories aren’t necessarily connected, there are so many key elements of the trilogy that are mentioned in The Outsider, and I think at best, it would certainly diminish the emotional impact of those books.

So, anyway.

To start with, I think this is a book that should come with some content warnings, as it features descriptions of the brutal sexual assault & murder of children. It’s really fucking dark in that regard. I mean, it’s Stephen King. You know he’s going to take you somewhere dark, but still…it’s rough.

The book has an incredibly strong opening, with a really cool mix between prose & eyewitness interviews with police. I don’t read very many thrillers, but I really enjoyed this aspect of it. It had me off balance, like watching a badass Netflix murder show, and not knowing exactly what went down, but knowing that some Incredibly Bad Shit went down.

So how can a man be in two places at the same time? Because that’s the central premise of the book. Terry Maitland, beloved teacher & Little League coach, arrested for the sexual assault & murder of an eleven-year-old boy. His DNA is all over the crime scene. Multiple eyewitnesses saw him covered in blood & acting strangely. It’s a slam dunk case for Detective Ralph Anderson.

Except for the fact that Terry has a watertight alibi.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN……

There’s a lot going on in The Outsider…it’s a little bit of a lot of different things. The police procedural element is the biggest part of the story, but we also spend a lot of time seeing the impact that Terry’s arrest has on his family, and oof…it’s heartbreaking. There’s a lot of brutal & emotional scenes in this book.

All told, I enjoyed this one a lot. It’s an insanely addictive read…I had days where I’d read 200+ pages, which is pretty rare for me. That said, this one is pushing 600 pages, and like some other King books, I think it could have been just a bit leaner.

We’re lucky to live in a world where Stephen King is still writing stories. Because, goddamn, the guy can tell a story like no one else. Buying & collecting & reading his work has been a big part of my life since I was around fourteen years old. The Outsider is a great addition to an absolutely unparalleled body of work…this is that book you’re looking for to keep you up past your bedtime, flipping the pages and holding your breath.