The Outsider

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton

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.

A bit of a letdown

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.

Narrator volume extremes.

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.

Slow start for a Stephen King

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.

Doesn't Seem Like Stephen King

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.

Is it me, or is he getting even wordier?

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