The Outsider

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 18 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listenable stories.

An 11-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.

©2018 Stephen King (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Narrator Will Patton turns this story into an audio blockbuster.... King's usual sprawling cast of characters is also present, and suffice it to say that Patton does them all justice." (AudioFile)

King at his Best!

I was very patiently waiting for this title to be released <yeah right> Now Ive listened to it in a day, so Yes its GREAT! I don't want to give any spoilers, but suffice it to say, King just keeps on delivering as only he can! Well worth the credit!
Now the hard part... waiting for the next King masterpiece.

Recycled Stephen King

Lacks the originality of storyline that I like when Stephen King is “refreshed”. I think Stephen realized this part way into this recycled mush and so they brought in Holly from the Mr Mercedes series (which I liked)...maybe this was to allow further stretching of the TV series? I encourage Stephen to have his son hit him with some fresh ideas (Sleeping Beauties also better than this one). Sorry Stephen sometimes those publishers deadlines work against your creative potential.

Worst female voice

Ugh, I hated this narrators version of a female voice. Holly’s was THE worst, so annoying. That made the story much less enjoyable. Story was ok... not what I had expected from Stephan King

I wish i was more surprised

storyline a little weak. performance was excellent. I wish his tales twisted a bit more..no surprises.

Please stop this narrator!!!

I am over 2/3 of the way finished with the book, but I feel I could write a review based on what I listened to/read so far.

The murder mystery at the beginning and the ensuing investigation were great. I kept wondering how it was going to fall together. And then it did, and it was very meh. I think I was hoping for something different, so my expectations may have been off. I feel like the story was pretty formulaic and not very original, which saddens me because I am a huge fan. I absolutely love King's writing and how he puts words together. So that is beautiful as always.

The narrator. So many reviews are saying he made it worthwhile, and I just don't get it. For one particular character who King brings back from a former book, the narrator is on my last nerve. It's the most annoying reading ever. It's almost like William Shatner is (pause) reading a book (pause) and every third (pause) word is HIGH pitched (pause) so it's some weird (pause) staccato song. That's mainly the reason I wanted to write this review, because I think it's so bad.

This won't stop me from reading anything King writes, but it may stop me from buying them immediately and waiting on a sale.

Great start but a fumble of the plot.

really liked it but there is a shift in the plot that I didn't like.

It is Stephen King after all....

Same-o-same-o Stephen King. You can count on him to entertain you each and every time. Will Patton is a good narrator as well. I have just tossed yet more money into the King coffer$. LOL Recommend. ;)

Finally a book worth listening to

I'm an avid King fan. His books are generally amazing in both content and prose, no formulas, no repetitive storylines, always fresh and enthralling. However, most of the audiobook performances, like the majority of his b-movie style TV productions, seem to fall flat. There have been a few that have made use of narrators able to do the material justice but in my personal opinion those have been few and far between. This go-round was a perfect pairing of story and narration. Will Patton did an outstanding job.

I was hooked from the beginning and listened to the entire thing within the course of a long weekend. Which for me is unusual, as I tend to get bored easily and jump from book to book depending on my mood. So that in itself is indicative of a well-done audio.

Some reviewers stated that King should've stuck to his Maine locale, but I found the non-use of his fictional town domains to be refreshing. What starts out as a horrible but intriguing murder mystery quickly becomes a paradox of who and how and in the process we meet many faces, one, in particular, familiar to some. I did also enjoy one scene that I would not have wanted to read alone at night... I'm rather glad that the out-loud narration seemed to make it less scary than my head-voice would have portrayed it. And though the ending seemed a little lackluster, for me, it was still fully worth the ride.

Great book but I felt it a bit slow on plot

The narrator is great. I struggle to finish it because the plot was a bit slow. The book is very well written.

Good story past the first 20%

I found the first part extremely painful, but once past that it was excellent. Also amused by the readers interesting version of the PI's voice.