The Outsider

As a devoted Stephen King fan, I read - maybe I should say, devoured, this novel in three days as soon as I received it. I have to hand it to Mr King, the man can certainly tell stories! This one was a page turner, although to be fair, his books usually are. The story was very well told as only he can tell it. Briefly, Terry Maitland is a coach of prepubescent boys, one of whom is found murdered, grossly and very viciously. Terry is arrested because his DNA and other factors lead the police to believe they have found their killer. However as it turns out, Terry also has a verifiable alibi including witnesses and even a tv interview. The pace is heightened when unexpected things occur and new information is sought. I have read so many King novels and short stories that I am used to his style and prose. Every now and then he gives us little surprises and The Outsider contains several. If you have read some of his later novels, you will get the inside joke. The only complaint with the book and why I didn't give it 5 stars was because I felt the concluding chapters bogged down somewhat and didn't really explain everything well, In my honest opinion, I like that Uncle Steve is with it and makes references to many of our tech devices, social media and other items that did not even exist five or ten years ago. A nice touch to bring the story into 2018.