I must tread carefully in describing The Outsider, Stephen King's 2018 detective thriller. Is it fair to call it that? That's what it's masquerading as. But this is a horror month and, doggonit, this is a horror book.
Lurid and propulsive, the writer's 576-page novel is an ode to mystery procedurals; to boot, a King favorite, author Harlan Coben, actually pops up and plays a significant role in the story. I haven't read enough Coben to know how much King is playfully ripping off his contemporary, but the legacy of a genre pumping through the veins of The Outsider. In the beginning.
A child murder. A mild-mannered suspect. A whodunnit that stretches across the backwoods of Oklahoma. Turn the page, turn the page, turn the page.
The crime at the heart of King's book is genuinely horrendous. On an early morning in Flint City, OK, the remains of 11-year-old Frankie Peterson are discovered off a park walking path. Forensics determine that he's been raped, mutilated, and murdered — it's unclear at first in which order. King will test the stomachs of his most normie readers with these early descriptions, much like the long ascent to the top of a roller coaster will make you regret every step you took to get there. The drop in The Outsider is wild.
Detective Ralph Anderson is relentless in his investigation, which should be catnip to anyone with a Mare of Easttown hole in their heart. And very quickly, he finds a culprit: local little league coach Terry Maitland, perhaps the most beloved man in town.
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