Ratings209
Average rating3.9
"An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories. An eleven-year-old boy's violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City's most popular citizens. He is 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 add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad. As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King's propulsive 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."--
An eleven-year-old boy's violated corpse is found 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 orders a quick and very public arrest. The case seems ironclad, especially when Anderson and the district attorney are able to add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. But Maitland has an alibi, and it turns out his story has incontrovertible evidence of its own. How can two opposing stories be true? -- adapted from publisher info
Reviews with the most likes.
I love Holly Gibney! It was so great to spend some more time with her. She's like King's Marple.
This isn't one of King's major-known books, but in my opinion, I think it compares. There's some graphic descriptions/scenes (esp involving the kid's murder), but the mystery and horror aspect is so RAW and DISTURBING and fucking CREEPY (pardon my language but I cannot adequately express how terrifying this novel is.) King consistently writes books that are weird and out there and unsettling, and this one stood to take the place next to his popular books like The Shining, It, Misery, and so on. I don't hear too many people talking about this one, but there's also a TV show mini-series on this I've yet to watch. Now I think I will. Truly a mind-boggling mystery and visceral horror I LOVED reading. The characters are also all well fleshed out - as usual King has a lot of them, yet each plays a part. And the “entity”/Outsider itself...nightmare stuff.
The first 1/2 of the book was a 5 star read, but that last 1/2 was a 2 star. Pretty disappointing.
Featured Series
3 primary booksHolly Gibney is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2018 with contributions by Stephen King and Damir Biličić.