The Outsider – Hints of Dark Half and Other Twists

It has been months since I read anything, but because of the ongoing community quarantine, I thought it best to get back to this old habit of mine. My best friend knows I am a huge fan of Stephen King and was kind enough to send me Outsider and Cell as my birthday gifts last year. I knew that these two should be among my Quarantine reads.

Here’s my review of The Outsider.

Flint City was rocked by a violent crime of an eleven-year-old boy. All the evidence pointed to a resident who was their beloved coach, a married man, and a father of two young girls named Terry Maitland. Detective Ralph Anderson executed a very public arrest during one of Maitland’s games, which not only shocked the coach but everyone there. Maitland maintained his innocence throughout the first half of the book, which was not surprising given that he had a solid alibi and that he had witnessed too. 

But the detective has DNA and eyewitnesses putting Maitland within the vicinity of the crime with blood on his clothes, which could not be refuted. And with the general public and in the courts, DNA is all that matters which means that this was an open and shut case. But Maitland still maintained his innocence after all the accusations thrown at him. The question now is if Maitland has an unknown twin brother out there who did the deed, or had someone took pains in looking like the coach?

Just like with any Stephen King books that I have read, right from the start, the author will catch your interest. I could not put down the book once I started it, especially when I got to a twist in the plot that prompted me to consider various possibilities on how this story will unfold. There are some parts in the book that reminded me of the Dark Half by the same author, which I also recommend that you read if you haven’t, because of the sparrows and what it means there. 

In the Outsider, you will meet a familiar character who played a part in Mr. Mercedes trilogy. I like how Stephen King weave his characters in his novels that it felt like a familiar friend greeting you as you turn each page of the book. But I have to say, that after months of not reading anything, this was a good book to start with. 

This is not your usual scary story that will suddenly pop out from somewhere and scare you. That is not how Stephen King writes. What he does is that he piques your interest, makes you question things, and allow your imagination to go places that you haven’t really considered. I haven’t watched the TV series of The Outsider, so I am not sure if they stayed true to the book. If you are looking for a book that will keep you glued to your seat once you open it, I recommend this.