Terry Maitland is a happily married man, father of two daughters, teaches English and coaches Little League Baseball in the mid-sized town of Flint City. He’s never had so much as a traffic ticket on his record.
He is also a pedophile rapist and sadist who sodomized with a tree limb and murdered a 11-year old boy. Eyewitnesses saw him give a ride to the boy, whose bike had broken, his fingerprints are all over the vehicle and his DNA is on the boy’s body.
Detective Ralph Anderson has him dead to rights, from all the evidence he has, and arrests Terry during a Little League final game so that the accused murderer has no time or chance to escape.
But Terry Maitland also has an airtight alibi. He was 70 miles away with co-workers and was videotaped at the same time he was observed with the murder victim. His fingerprints prove he was there as do the eyewitness reports from his fellow teachers.
How is that possible?
Before Detective Anderson can figure out what is going on, Maitland is shot and killed on the way to his arraignment by the distraught older brother of the murder victim. Now Anderson wonders; could he be wrong? He has all this evidence placing Maitland at the scene of the crime, but Maitland’s defense attorney has evidence as well placing him 70 miles away at the time of the crime.
What is going on?
Well, it’s a Stephen King novel so you KNOW something supernatural, otherworldly and out of the realm of the ordinary is going on, don’t you?
“The Outsider” merges the everyday normal lives of people with the unbelievable existence of an evil entity. One that feeds off of the fear, hatred and pain of normal people. As Anderson investigates the murder of the young boy and the killing of Maitland, he comes face to face with a being he cannot believe exists.
To help Anderson open his eyes to the reality of his unbelief, King brings in one of my favorite of his recurring characters; Holly Gibney. Holly is socially awkward and perhaps has a bit of OCD, but she’s dealt with this kind of evil before and knows what it involves. In addition to that, her research leads her to what they need to do to defeat what all normal thought says doesn’t exist.
But can they defeat it? It’s killed twice now and wants to kill more. Will Anderson overcome his disbelief and will Holly face her fear so they can survive, or will The Outsider continue its reign of terror?
I am always amazed at how King takes the everyday, mundane lives of people just like you and I, then infuses it with the unbelievable and somehow makes it VERY believable. This book had me on edge and I found it extremely difficult to put down until I was finished with it.
”The Outsider” rated 5 stars from me. If you’re a fan of Stephen King’s writing, I believe you’ll agree.
