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Stephen King
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The Outsider Paperback – May 22, 2018

by Stephen King (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 59,524 ratings
Editors' pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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When an eleven-year-old boy is found murdered in a town park, reliable eyewitnesses undeniably point to the town's popular Little League coach, Terry Maitland, as the culprit. DNA evidence and fingerprints confirm the crime was committed by this well-loved family man.

Horrified by the brutal killing, Detective Ralph Anderson, whose own son was once coached by Maitland, orders the suspect to be arrested in a public spectacle. But Maitland has an alibi. And further research confirms he was indeed out of town that day.

As Anderson and the District Attorney trace the clues, the investigation expands from Ohio to Texas. And as horrifying answers begin to emerge, so King's propulsive story of almost unbearable suspense kicks into high gear.

Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy but there is one rock-hard fact, as unassailable as gravity: a man cannot be in two places at the same time. Can he?
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  1. Print length
    477 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hodder & Stoughton
  4. Publication date
    May 22, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    6.02 x 1.34 x 9.21 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1473676401
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1473676404
  8. See all details
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  1. ‘Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder & Stoughton (May 22, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 477 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1473676401
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1473676404
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.41 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 1.34 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 59,524 ratings

About the author

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Stephen King

Stephen King

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Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award. Both MR MERCEDES and END OF WATCH received the Goodreads Choice Award for the Best Mystery and Thriller of 2014 and 2016 respectively.

King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King's books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald's Game and It.

King was the recipient of America's prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
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Top reviews from the United States

Kierra Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Horrifyingly amazing
Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2023
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Absolutely love this book, it is by far my favorite of his novels. I couldn’t put it down. Kings writings are always so intense. I read this book for the first time years ago when it first came out and it has been on my mind since. It is the perfect mix of horror, detective mystery, and the supernatural.

Side note: I highly recommend reading the Bill Hodges trilogy first. The events don’t connect, but there is an important character, Holly, who is in both. I absolutely adore Holly and all her weirdness. I relate to her a lot.

The depiction of the first crime scene of the young boy was honestly haunting, it generally made me feel sick to my stomach. The confusion surrounding Terry’s whereabouts kept me on the edge of my seat. Terry so obviously stares into security cameras and leaves all kinds of damning evidence behind, but fully denies being involved and in fact has an alibi. How could he be seen and on video being at two different places, miles apart??

King dives deep into each character, showing how each of them is effected by this tragedy. A couple suicides are committed or attempted. One character unfortunately even has a heart attack due to the stressful events. The Peterson family obviously being effected the most, has the most heartbreaking ending.

We also learn about a eerily similar case in Ohio involving two young girls. The tragic details of this case were also very unsettling and sad.

When it’s revealed that a sinister supernatural entity is the true culprit, everything truly starts to fall into place. It has been sticking around to inflict even more pain and confusion to the small town, the entity feeds on it. The young daughter of Terry being haunted and tormented at night by the outsider was one of the most chilling moments.

This book is extremely devastating. Although Holly and Ralph put a stop to all of the outsiders sadistic plans, no one truly has a happy ending.
14 people found this helpful
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James Lopez
4.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, although not without some clumsiness.
Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2020
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I enjoy writing as much as reading, and Stephen King is the person responsible for that. It's been a while since I've read for fun, so this has been a great break to take over Christmas.

Overall? The story was extremely fun. The plot kept me in suspense, and there were plenty of enjoyable characters as well as deplorable ones.

HOWEVER, there were moments I had to pause and walk away. One of which came in the very second or third paragraph. I understood King was trying to set the scene, but the use of two black teens saying "it's the five-o" was undoubtedly shoehorned in. Nobody says that. Another instance like this came from the one Mexican character (who was definitely used for the sole purpose of feeding us lore that inspired King).

He said "ese" at least five times, which is five more than I've heard any of my Mexican relatives say it. Again, nobody says that.
Then the infamous Willow Rainwater. She talks about putting on her buckskins and feathers and "goofy dancing." Just because you have an indigenous character saying something... abrasive, doesn't make it okay. There really was no reason for any of those details, and in moments like that, Stephen King's age shows.

If he ditched the poor efforts of inclusion (just cast those people into the roles when it inevitably hits the screen, or maybe write those characters the way he does any of his others - the main characters, basically), and stuck to the question of whether or not the police were wrong in what they did, it would've worked more effectively as a political/topical think piece.

Now for the story itself, the other reason I can only give this four out of five (and there are spoilers ahead): the build up was so fantastic, only for the ending to be a flatline. Admittedly, endings are ridiculously hard. Saying SK can't write an ending is a tired trope, but this is just another stack of evidence against him. Truthfully, when they finally revealed Ralph Anderson's son (Derek) was the same age as the murdered boy who started this whole thing, I thought that was the nail in the coffin. Anderson had been warned multiple times to stop digging, and I was convinced that he would return from his heroic adventure to find his son murdered the way he found the Peterson boy.

Alas, that didn't happen.

Maybe SK got tired of writing depressing endings. Maybe he threw in the towel. All of it happened too abruptly for me to say. Initially, I was hoping that there would be no monster or supernatural element. I hoped that those doubts would be effectively squashed by the end, when we realize that this horror was just a tragic, real thing that happens.

Complaints aside, it was a solid read and kept my interest for the three days it took to finish.
5 people found this helpful
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Mjaysonh
5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024
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Twists and turns with a great storyline. The story kept me guessing the whole time. Holly is reprised as a guest.
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Richard
5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2024
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The usual Stephen King character development that makes you feel connected to the story kept me reading. I suddenly noticed it was near midnight but I didn’t want to stop reading. This is a good bridge in the Holly saga that keeps her story going. That said, this is a story that evokes deep fears and awakens memories of the spooky stories told around campfires so you don’t want to close your eyes. Great read!
2 people found this helpful
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Tony Brooks
5.0 out of 5 stars The Outsider. Supernatural. Great Read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2024
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Holly Gibney is back. A horrific crime against a child in a small town (Flint City) perpetrated by the local youth coach/Teacher. Seen by a dozen witnesses, there was no doubt it was him. However, at the time of this crime, he was 100+ miles away, at a convention, with his own dozen witnesses.

Terry Maitland is arrested in front of the whole town, booked, jailed and ready foe his arraignment. On that day, he was gunned down. A stranger was lurking, Detective Ralph Anderson saw him, but when they reviewed footage, no one was there.

When Howie Hold (Terry's lawyer) hires Holly to assist, this is where everyone on this team need to have an open mind, need to see that an Elaborate Cuco could be walking among them!

Great read, I loved the Mr. Mercedes series, and I love the character development of Holly.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Dorely
5.0 out of 5 stars Necesitas leerlo.
Reviewed in Mexico on December 2, 2022
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Soy una miedosa totalmente pero con ganas de adentrarme más en el mundo de Stephen King, despues de haber leido otros tres libros de el decidi que era hora de algo mas ‘fuerte’. Si tu tambien estas indeciso entre que seguir leyendo te lo recomiendo, te atrapa de una, y se lee super facil a pesar de que es un tremendo ladrillo. El libro va muy bien hasta que casi lo acabas donde me decepciono un poquito el final jaja. Pero sin duda alguna se puede omitir eso porque consigues lo que quieres un buen libro para pasar los dias y si terminas cuestionandote que demonios con llamemoslo el personaje malo. Eso hasta que llegas al final para reconfortarte y decirte a ti mismo bueno no existe…
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Carlos De Amorin
5.0 out of 5 stars Muy entretenida!!!
Reviewed in Spain on May 1, 2023
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Como siempre, mister King te mantiene en tensión hasta el final. No defrauda. Ahora por la suguiente aventura del mundo King...
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Rafael Colombini
5.0 out of 5 stars O MESTRE.
Reviewed in Brazil on August 5, 2018
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Não adianta alguns críticos torcerem o nariz para o King, o mestre do terror, que já está na casa dos 70 ainda possui uma escrita impecável e esse é um dos melhores livros de 2018. Se você é fã do King e gostou muito de Mr. Mercedes, esse livro é a escolha certa. É um suspense polícial de qualidade, com um toque de sobrenatural, são mais de 500 páginas e você não consegue parar de ler, você se sente como uma testemunha, lendo todos os depoimentos e tirando as suas próprias conclusões. Algumas pessoas se decepcionaram com a trilogia Bill Hodges, em especial com o terceiro livro, onde a história vai mais para um lado sobrenatural, FIQUEM TRANQUILOS, aqui o formato é bem diferente e garanto que será agradável, os personagens são bem construídos e o enredo também. Aconselho a lerem a versão em inglês, a edição está bem bonita, da até vontade de usar como decoração depois. VIDA LONGA AO REI.
12 people found this helpful
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Hyderali Shaikh
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific! Top-Notch Thriller from Mr. King
Reviewed in India on November 2, 2019
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4.5 Stars!!

Terrific! Top-Notch Thriller from Mr. King.

That was really fast-paced & fabulous thriller/mystery/horror from Stephen King. I'm glad that I purchased this book from Amazon. First I was confused as whether to buy this or Mr. Mercedes but I'm truly happy that I bought this one.

The first 250 pages were truly intense & you may not want to keep the book on shelf but keep flipping the page to read what is coming next even if it takes you whole night to read.

The characters, the plot, the writing, everything was superb. Though, I've one complain with Mr. King for spoiling some information from his Mr. Mercedes book concerning Bill Hodges. But nevertheless, I'll also read that after some time.

Now, I'm waiting for the movie to watch. I hope it is as good as this book was.

P.S On my way to purchase all the other King's book which are highly recommended.
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Danic
5.0 out of 5 stars Tout a été dit, mais j'adore
Reviewed in France on October 3, 2019
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Tous les livres de cet auteur, sans exception, bien que j'ai mes préférés. L'imagination ne lui fait jamais défaut, il ne se "répète" pas même après toutes ses années et tous ces romans, on est toujours surpris. Si SK n'existait pas, il aurait vraiment fallu l'inventer.
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