The Outsider Audiobook By Stephen King cover art

The Outsider

A Novel

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The Outsider

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Will Patton
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Evil has many faces…maybe even yours in this #1 New York Times bestseller from master storyteller Stephen King—also an HBO limited series starring Ben Mendelsohn!

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is discovered in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens—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 have DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying details begin to emerge, King’s 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. Genre Fiction Goodreads Choice Award Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Thriller & Suspense Supernatural Horror Suspense Paranormal Scary Fiction Horror Thriller

Featured Article: Stephen King’s 20 Best Audiobooks—The Definitive List


Stephen King is one of the most prolific American authors of all time. He has published 61 novels, more than 200 short stories, and six nonfiction books—and he shows no sign of stopping. His most recent novel, The Institute, was published in September of 2019, and we’ve already pre-ordered his novella anthology If It Bleeds, which is set to be released in 2020. With such a large portfolio, choosing one listen to start with can be daunting.

Featured Article Stephen King’s 20 Best Audiobooks The Definitive List
Gripping Mystery • Genre-blending Narrative • Unexpected Twists • Interconnected Universe • Emotional Delivery

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The first half of this book had me not wanting to put the book down. For the last half, I was just hoping it would hurry and be over. I think the 11 hr. book would have been 7-8 hrs if every character didn't speak sooooo slooooowly. I can understand having a couple of characters who speak at that pace, but the slow voices made the book drag. The narrater did a great job at changing the voices for each character, but I became very frustrated waiting for every sentence to be finished.

A bit of a letdown

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It was difficult to listen to this narrator. He goes from a whisper to a shout in the same sentence. I understand that he does this for dramatic effect and to distinguish between voices of different characters. It is difficult to find a volume setting where one can hear the near whisper phrases without being blown away by the near shouting.

Narrator volume extremes.

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I used to get hooked in a Stephen King story right off the bat, but it hasn't been that way for me the past four or five years. I thought this was the same. Will Patton was marvelous and the story is creative with the typical descriptive locales and well-rounded characters you feel you've always known; however, the story took almost halfway before I felt like it was actually going anywhere.

Slow start for a Stephen King

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Fast paced, but strangely did not get the feeling it was actually written by King, after a lifetime of reading his books. It seemed...juvenile. The narrator's attempts at doing voices was extremely annoying, particularly Holly's syntax. Also, fur the record, an extra 400 mg of Motrin (2 tabs @ 200 mg otc disagree) doesn't damage your kidneys, people take 800 mg@a time regularly. It has a kidney, and is hard on the stomach. Tylenol has a liver metabolism and is dangerous to take more than 2 tabs of a 500 mg dosage. King is usually better researched than that. We won't discuss the fact that it was given for a gunshot wound. That's hilarious.

Doesn't Seem Like Stephen King

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I feel asleep, missed 45 chapters, and didn't miss a God dmned beat. Geesh Louise.

Is it me, or is he getting even wordier?

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