The Outsider

The Outsider is a Stephen King novel and the start of a series of books based on a character, Holly Gibney, that originated in an earlier series, the Bill Hodges Trilogy, which consisted of the following books: Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch. I’ve read that series, and I don’t think that you need it to follow the events of this book so if that seems like a big commitment, let me put your mind at ease. I’m wary of starting any book series until it is finished because of the history behind King’s The Dark Tower series, but even though I had no idea that I was starting a series when I started reading The Outsider, I did not get that familiar pang of regret when I realized that I had started reading a series that had just begun.
The Outsider is a long book, but a quick and absorbing read. The police have an unlikely murder suspect backed by scientific evidence and eyewitness testimony, but the suspect has a solid alibi also with similar supporting evidence. The characters are left trying to reconcile the impossible conflicting evidence. Readers are deep into the book before the supernatural is raised as a possible explanation and further still before Gibney is brought into the action.
I enjoyed The Outsider. It felt as if King set up an impossible problem for himself to solve, how to get readers to empathize with a person accused of a heinous, unforgiveable crime, then solved it. I liked how King toggled between the prosecutor and the lead detective then the defense attorney and the accused’s family’s perspective, but as the book unfolds, he largely abandons that dance and devotes the majority of his focus on the lead detective, the lead detective’s foil and Gibney. Considering who is responsible for Gibney even getting involved in the case, I think that it was a misstep because by the end of the book, I was wondering if Gibney got paid and reimbursed, which never gets addressed in the book and makes me itch. I care about practical details and dangling threads like that aggravate me, but I realize that I may be in the minority when it comes to such details.
As King gradually transforms The Outsider from a police procedural mystery into one of his usual supernatural books, King fans will notice his trademark characters and moments including the eleventh hour bonhomie of an assembly of odd characters to fight evil. One of those characters is introduced early in the book so the abrupt shift in attitude towards that character felt abrupt and somewhat contrived, especially as we get to know about the people in that character’s life. King wanted a firecracker and to inject some humor as he plunges into the supernatural, but it felt like a huge contrast to the earlier depiction of the same individual. I am noting, not judging, that King seemed to lose interest in some characters and gain interest in others. It helped with the overall momentum of the story, but made other parts (to be fair, less important parts), feel forgotten and discarded.
The Outsider is one of the rare King books that take place outside of Maine. I’m not sure how readers from Oklahoma or Texas will feel about his characterization of their residents. Early in the book, he makes a reference to Black Lives Matter, which ultimately goes nowhere and isn’t germane other than to set the novel in a specific time. Then he has a brief appearance by a Native American woman, which made me recall my concession that King probably should not write in the voice of a character that belongs to a group that he does not belong to and experiences discrimination since generally his dialogue feels interchangeable, not character dependent, when all the characters belong to the same demographic, regardless of gender, and too folksy.
Now that I’m in my forties, when he writes about characters in their forties, I think that King is writing in the voice of what it was like for him when he was in his forties, but now he is older so it isn’t representative of a person actually in their forties in America during the twenty-first century. I don’t know how old he is without looking it up, but I don’t think that he realizes that he isn’t actually writing as if the character is in their forties, but his age. Also I never noticed it before, but the majority of his women characters are stay at home moms who are completely absorbed and living vicariously through their husband’s work, ready to drop whatever they’re doing to listen to their husbands, which isn’t a bad thing, but I don’t think that it is realistic. I know women in their forties who are stay at home moms, but they are still too busy to drop everything when their husbands are having a bad day and get a cup of coffee and sit with him to discuss it I’m not saying that either spouse should not want to do it. It sounds great, but I don’t think that King realizes that he is actually writing characters that are older and come from a different era with a different way of prioritizing family needs, but stating that they are in their forties. I just pretend that the characters are older than explicitly stated and keep it pushing.
I actually enjoy Gibney as a character, and I remembered enough about her to be psyched and not groan when she appeared in The Outsider. She makes an excellent repeat player and now that King has reintroduced her to his readers, I’m hoping that the some future books will centralize her character instead of making her a supporting character although it was a nice surprise to see a familiar figure and to get sucked into another series unexpectedly. I think that surreptitious approach will help attract otherwise cynical readers.
I liked the supernatural character and was not familiar with that being before The Outsider, which is astounding because all I do is consume sci fi and horror so I thought that I’ve seen it all. I did land in the neighborhood of that supernatural being, but lacked the specifics. I am slightly disappointed that we didn’t see it in action, just the effect of its evil doing. I also felt a little cheated during the denouement that this being seemed to have a weird effect on people, but those who ultimately encountered it did not share the same physiological response as others, and there is no explanation for it other than the being was acting outside of its preferred routine.
The Outsider is considered a new book, but the library kept pushing it on before I even realized that I requested it. I do think that King’s popularity is waning because it is easier to get and renew King’s books from the library. I enjoyed a little Law & Order with my supernatural so I enjoyed this book and thought it was entertaining if you’re a fan of his work, but trigger warning if you can’t stand stories with kids in danger.