Samyann
The Outsider is a murder mystery. The victim is a small boy. The little guy is sodomized and brutally murdered, all vividly described by King – some readers will find this particularly difficult to read. The town quickly accuses the baseball coach because of incriminating evidence. If you’re like me, you can assume the title of the novel might tell you that they have jumped the gun. Maybe? The guy is a local family man with kids. But, the evidence is pretty convincing – like DNA and fingerprints. No spoilers, but read on!
As evidenced by the cover, you’ll be correct to assume it is typically hide-under-the-covers-creepy stuff – pure Stephen King … brighten the lights. You either like King, or you don’t. Regardless of your opinion, everybody into the macabre will agree the guy is a fantastic story-teller. Although The Outsider isn’t quite up to the standards of other King novels, devoted fans shouldn’t be disappointed. But … it’s not my favorite King novel. If you’ve never read/listened to Bag of Bones by Stephen King, give it a go as it is one of his best, in my opinion, albeit long. The Bag of Bones audiobook is read by the author.
Will Patton is an excellent choice to narrate The Outsider, breathy, spooky. His voice makes one think of an innocent, sweet, guy who will smile as he pulls the wings off a fly. Reading tempo nice. Some differentiation between the voices problematic, but it’s certainly listenable. Pay attention, and you’ll have no trouble discerning who-says-what-to-who.
Violence description (the little boy), no sex scenes, infrequent language use some may find offensive. Close to nineteen hours of listening, well produced, released in May 2018 by Simon & Schuster audio.
Macabre fans enjoy!
