The Outsider

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively listenable stories.

An 11-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.

©2018 Stephen King (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Narrator Will Patton turns this story into an audio blockbuster.... King's usual sprawling cast of characters is also present, and suffice it to say that Patton does them all justice." (AudioFile)

King still wears the crown!

Not sure why there are so many negative reviews, I often wonder what people expect from a King novel. I couldn’t stop listening to this audio book Patton’s reading was utterly brilliant. He has a quite voice but his performance really draws you in deep. The story build beautifully reminded me a lot of True Detective but with a much better ending. Similar to Revival in how it builds and builds right up to the end only on a smaller scale. However I enjoyed the ending a lot more than Revival’s end. Both are great stories though King still proves why he wears the crown

classic king, a slow start but good finish

Could easily be called the 4th finders keepers book, but easily a stand alone novel for someone who has not read those. the beginning was a little recycled felt very much like liseys story close to identical just slightly different circumstances and characters. I was very pleased when Holly Gibney was brought into the story about half way through. good book highly recommend look forward to the next book coming out!

IT 2.0

Will Patton is my favorite narrator for the Stephen King books. This book, though enticing as it was, kept reminding me of IT. Wasn’t anything new, but overall a good read. I felt the book could have been longer. The pace felt too quick near the end. Will Patton definitely made the book for me though. I enjoyed the shots at the Shining movie, and the incorporation of Holly from the Mercedes Killer series (an amazing series btw).

it's ok

it did get boring at times, I thought it was great at first but lost interest.

The same thing again

I always enjoy King, but this book, while entertaining, was formulaic. It isn’t much different from IT and a couple of other King novels. shape changing bad guy get it in the end. Worth the read, but not original.

Strong first half. Mediocre second half.

The first half of the book was amazing. Very Very mediocre second half. Terrible end.

Ok book to many paid promotions in story

walmart must of had a big part in its making cause it says walmart like 20 times good grief not to mention all the other things really felt like i was watching you tube with all the name brands thrown in my face but otherwise the story was good i suppose not my usual cup of tea but good

not King's best

not King's best. slow start, mediocre ending. don't make this your first SK read It

Bill’s brilliant; story just okay

Bill Patton gives an amazing performance, and I think the book’s worth a listen for that reason alone. The story, though, drags a bit and—beware—is pretty gruesome. (Though I guess that’s what you’d expect from King.) I’d have enjoyed the tale more if the victims suffered a slightly less horrible fate. Would have still been quite creepy if they were mutilated and murdered. Violation, in addition, seemed heavy-handed. If you have kids, you might want to pass on this one.

Not terrible...

I'm not quite at the end of this book yet, but I just felt the need to write a review because I'm about to throw my phone (the device I'm using to listen to this reading) at the wall. I will add to my review should anything major happen to change my opinion.

The story itself is just okay. It's not one of King's best books, but it's also not terrible. I was not warned that it is tied in with the Bill Hodges trilogy, so it was a surprise that Holly (my least favorite King character) suddenly showed up. It's bad enough that I find her character annoying, but the awkward, staccato way in which Will Patton reads her chapters is nearly unbearable. Every time I get to a Holly chapter, I've turned the narration speed up to 2x to just try and plow through. I know I can't skip the chapters entirely because the information is important to the overall story.

I feel what makes this book a slog through is too much time spent on the police procedure side of the story. Usually, when it comes to a Stephen King novel, I'm drawn in by the characters and the town. With the Outsider, I can't really tell one character from the next. It takes a few minutes into the chapter (which doesn't work out well if the chapter is under five minutes) to remember which character is which and how they tie into the rest of the story.

I've read quite a few King novels and the one thing I've always loved is no matter how out-there or ridiculous the supernatural entity may be, King writes his stories in a way that they seem plausible. From the very beginning of this book, I've already guessed what the creature is and waiting for the characters to catch up has been tedious. And the more evidence that piles up and points to what the creature is, the more frustrating it gets that the characters won't catch up.