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)

A bit of a letdown

The first half of this book had me not wanting to put the book down. For the last half, I was just hoping it would hurry and be over. I think the 11 hr. book would have been 7-8 hrs if every character didn't speak sooooo slooooowly. I can understand having a couple of characters who speak at that pace, but the slow voices made the book drag. The narrater did a great job at changing the voices for each character, but I became very frustrated waiting for every sentence to be finished.

Narrator volume extremes.

It was difficult to listen to this narrator. He goes from a whisper to a shout in the same sentence. I understand that he does this for dramatic effect and to distinguish between voices of different characters. It is difficult to find a volume setting where one can hear the near whisper phrases without being blown away by the near shouting.

Slow start for a Stephen King

I used to get hooked in a Stephen King story right off the bat, but it hasn't been that way for me the past four or five years. I thought this was the same. Will Patton was marvelous and the story is creative with the typical descriptive locales and well-rounded characters you feel you've always known; however, the story took almost halfway before I felt like it was actually going anywhere.

Doesn't Seem Like Stephen King

Fast paced, but strangely did not get the feeling it was actually written by King, after a lifetime of reading his books. It seemed...juvenile. The narrator's attempts at doing voices was extremely annoying, particularly Holly's syntax. Also, fur the record, an extra 400 mg of Motrin (2 tabs @ 200 mg otc disagree) doesn't damage your kidneys, people take 800 mg@a time regularly. It has a kidney, and is hard on the stomach. Tylenol has a liver metabolism and is dangerous to take more than 2 tabs of a 500 mg dosage. King is usually better researched than that. We won't discuss the fact that it was given for a gunshot wound. That's hilarious.

Is it me, or is he getting even wordier?

I feel asleep, missed 45 chapters, and didn't miss a God dmned beat. Geesh Louise.

A dud without Will Patton's narrating.

First off...I'm not a Stephen King fanatic. IT is probably the only book I can honestly say I enjoyed. I personally prefer to give new authors more of my time/money. Yet I saw a review on this book (from a fanatic...I should have known better) and decided to give this book a try. The story isn't really unique as I'd hope and it's definitely not scary, yet it's still a good listen. The real star of this book is the narrator and in particular his performance as Holly Gibney. Less than half way through the book I wasn't emotionally attached to any character, I'll I had was some sort of crime mystery and that's about it. At that point I would have honestly given this book a rating of 2 stars. Yes when Holly is introduced in the story, the way Will Patton spoke...was unique...interesting...and it eventually had me rooting for Holly. That performance honestly saved this audio book.

Slow going until the second half …

I read this right after The Shining that was full of suspense and a real page turner. This story was in stark contrast. The entire first half of the book was devoted to the anguish and bewilderment of a man and his family on his arrest for a gruesome murder he did not commit. After two hours listening to these obvious sentiments, I almost gave up and skipped to the later chapters to see if it got better. Then the suspense picked up and King’s story-telling ability shone through. I’m glad I read on.

Superb Narration. Solid story.

The antagonist's motivation seemed cliche, but other elements made the story unique. Recommended if you've enjoyed previous books by Stephen King!

Amazing voice actor, mediocre story.

The voice actor did amazingly, but the actual story seems to be a rehash of many of King's previous tales, nothing surprised me, no component felt like anything more than one of his old tropes. Not to say that's bad, more disappointing.

A little bit formulaic

It was entertaining and King has great characters which carried the story. It definitely followed a pretty straightforward formula.