Book Review
Oct. 15th, 2020 10:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Outsider
by Stephen King
The Outsider begins as a mystery and police procedural that ensues after the brutal murder of a child. Witnesses and forensic evidence clearly point to popular teacher and little league coach Terry Maitland. However, other witnesses and forensic evidence firmly establish that he was out of town at a conference at the time of the murder. As police detective Ralph Anderson investigates and tries to reconcile the conflicting evidence, he uncovers a deeper and more horrifying mystery.
This novel was a bit more of a slow burn than I was expecting from King. The plot starts out very solidly in crime fiction territory and takes a while before it becomes something creepier and more unsettling. I really enjoyed the horror aspects, which were a nice blend of folklore-inspired supernatural horror and the real-life horror of a brutal murder and lives shattered. I also really liked the characters and especially their relationships. It's nice to read about people whose family relationships and marriages may have their quirks and minor tensions but are essentially healthy and loving. It's an effective way of bringing out the horror, too.
by Stephen King
The Outsider begins as a mystery and police procedural that ensues after the brutal murder of a child. Witnesses and forensic evidence clearly point to popular teacher and little league coach Terry Maitland. However, other witnesses and forensic evidence firmly establish that he was out of town at a conference at the time of the murder. As police detective Ralph Anderson investigates and tries to reconcile the conflicting evidence, he uncovers a deeper and more horrifying mystery.
This novel was a bit more of a slow burn than I was expecting from King. The plot starts out very solidly in crime fiction territory and takes a while before it becomes something creepier and more unsettling. I really enjoyed the horror aspects, which were a nice blend of folklore-inspired supernatural horror and the real-life horror of a brutal murder and lives shattered. I also really liked the characters and especially their relationships. It's nice to read about people whose family relationships and marriages may have their quirks and minor tensions but are essentially healthy and loving. It's an effective way of bringing out the horror, too.
