The Outsider by Stephen King is a mystery, thriller, horror, and crime fiction novel. Stephen King sure has an incredibe hold on the horror genre, as the pages kept my attention ceaslessly throughout.
The beginning of the book delivers a unique look into the story and immediately caught my eye. I appreciate that right off the batreaders are given the gore and horror of the book yet still left with so much mystery and cluelessness. It was almost shocking; the book instantly illustrates the horrifying murder of character Frankie Peterson. This really drew me in and made me want to continue reading.
Though this book was very disturbing, it did not normalize murder, which is something I dislike in story telling—when it feels as though the murder or disturbance is trying to be normalized or brought about in a casual manner. For that reason, the gore and morbidity of the book were well done. It drove me to feel disgust, which is the perfect reaction needed in a horror story.
The gruesome murder of Frankie Peterson not only impacted his family but also became the catalyst for enlisting the Maitland family in the storyline. Terry Maitland, a widely-known and well-loved name, was publicly arrested during his baseball game, ultimately exposing him to all of the town and permanently altering their views on him.
From the opening of the story, Terry’s wife, Macy, stuck by him and never doubted his innocence. Spanning from everyone they’ve known to the outside public view, Terry Maitland was entirely rejected. Macy continuously advocated for her husband, remaining dedicated to the idea that he was guilty of the utterly inhuman murder of Frankie Peterson.
When Terry Maitland is taken into arrest and bombarded with questions, it seems that the collective evidence is flawed, and this is when the book takes a turn.
Ralph Anderson, the detective who later regrets the public arrest of Terry Maitland, becomes restless and uneasy about the case even when it was closed because, internally, his thoughts shouted that things were not to be as they seemed. Even when Ralph Anderson is temporarily removed from his detective work, he, along with a few others, decide to further investigate the case.
His wife accompanies him and thus trickles the thought of her supernatural suspensions into the case; though he was in much denial of this, and with a complete outlook on the evidence, none of it makes any sense.
This book has you on edge for the entirety of it because, again, it doesn’t add up. Also, the characters are very likable and contain much depth. I grew to admire the character Ralph Anderson because of his perseverance through the case and the way he was written. I also grew to love Holly because of her quirky and sharp personality.
If you’re on a search for a book with murder mystery and unsettling cluelessness, then I recommend this book.
This book gets a 10/10 from me.
