The Outsider by Stephen King

I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  It is quite some time since I last read a recent Stephen King release so I was a little bit worried how this would go.  On starting the book I initially wished that I hadn't bothered as this marks a foray in to a more typical Thriller / Procedural genre rather than the out and out horror I have come to expect from the author.  After I didn't get along with his Dark Tower series and his foray in to Fantasy I was worried about this for obvious reasons.  Still, I'd parted with my hard earned so might as well give it a shot.

I am genuinely glad I did!

In true King style it is needlessly verbose in places, descriptions can stretch for a page or more when half the space would have done the job just as well.  To be honest, I think there is something about the sheer volume of words and the hubris needed to say "No, 50 words is necessary not the 10 that would do the job" that really appeals to me.  His characterisations are also well developed with plenty of depth to each person in the tale and, again, another of his trademarks, locations that seem to have has much personality and individuality as the people.

The basic plot is laid out in the very brief Publisher's blurb.  A young boy is found dead and mutilated and eyewitness accounts place local Coach and all around good guy Terry Maitland soundly in the frame.  Unfortunately for all concerned not only does Mr Maitland have a solid alibi it is caught on local news footage as well.  Having not done their due diligence the town's DA pushes for an arrest with no prior suspect interview and as the scope of the alibi is revealed everything begins to fall apart.

To be entirely honest the inclusion of a Supernatural Element to the tale is a bit of a let down.  It feels almost glued on as a sop to the Horror Fans; a reason for them to buy the book and keep reading.  Without that this could have been an incredibly strong piece of procedural fiction.  That said, as soon as Holly Gibney is introduced and her Finders Keepers Agency it became apparent to me that Mr King has a track record for the supernatural procedural book - The Bill Hodges Trilogy.  So, maybe it isn't just a cop out to mix the otherworldly in.  Until I've read them I couldn't comment and I WILL be reading them - this book has seen to that.