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The Outsider: A Novel
The Outsider: A Novel
The Outsider: A Novel
Audiobook18 hours

The Outsider: A Novel

Written by Stephen King

Narrated by Will Patton

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

Now an HBO limited series starring Ben Mendelsohn!​

Evil has many faces…maybe even yours in this #1 New York Times bestseller from master storyteller Stephen King.

An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is discovered in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens—Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon have DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying details begin to emerge, King’s story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

Editor's Note

Bizarre, wild ride…

Stephen King’s wild ride of a thriller has been adapted into a series on HBO starring Jason Bateman, Cynthia Erivo, and Ben Mendelsohn. The unsettling story begins when a seemingly straightforward investigation into a monstrous crime reveals supernatural forces at work.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 22, 2018
ISBN9781508252221
Author

Stephen King

Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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Reviews for The Outsider

Rating: 4.31037790618839 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

3,652 ratings271 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The audio book version is awesome. The narrator is one of a kind. One of my favorite characters he voices is Holly, the lightness and pauses in her voice sets her apart from everyone else.

    As far as the story goes I loved it too! I feel as if many SK books have about half a dozen places they could be ended early and most readers would be none the wiser but this one was amazing through and through.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Book was pretty interesting overall but the guy reading it sounds like he’s wearing ill-fitting dentures.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Oh Wow, can Will Patton narrate or what????
    Great story!!!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you can, listen to Will Patton narrate this audiobook, because his voices and performance were absolutely phenomenal. Love a good book with a narrative performance that allows me to immerse myself in the story. I have my qualms with King's writing (i.e. describing a woman's breasts during an action sequence) but I think this might be my favorite of his work. His other novels seem to all take a very similar tone and I find that can often become tedious and boring. This one feels fresh, bringing in characters from Finders Keepers, creating a narrative that really flows IMHO, with characters who I'm able to feel attached to and become invested in their futures. The actual horror here is not just the monster, but also the absolute destruction of these families and how they continue on.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Will Patten was fantastic and I wish he’d read ever audiobook I listen to.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Will Patton did fantastic narrating this! Loved the story.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Thank goodness for my memory issues! I can enjoy great works like this for the first time, every time!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    it kept me interested from start to finish, just the way I like a book to be

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Will Patton did an excellent job narrating this large novel

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Will Patton reading this made the story!! He is amazing

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Way too long. Listened to it at 1.8x for the latter half of the book. It was unnecessarily stretched. Typical story in which the "villain" does not do anything the "hero" and the climax sucked. Disappointed

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Will Patton did a great job. Kudos
    Really enjoyed listening

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Started out interesting but took quite a bizarre turn. I suppose it's very King. Writing is excellent as you'd expect but the story really felt it had little point by the end.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    PLEASE stop getting this guy to read your books !! He’s horrible!!!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    mix between desperation/regulators/Mercedes... definitely see a series in the pipeline

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great story. Narrator has an awkward delivery for some of the characters, but overall a good experience.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was a bizarre and very interesting book . Full of twists and turns everywhere what u know is a lie what you think you know is wrong what you expected is wrong the story flips you on your head and makes you believe the unbelievable though character development, sadness loss and at the end making you question yourself if there is truly supernatural forces in the universe well the universe is endless who knows

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Dude I am not a guy that sticks around to finish a book,But man this was a really good book what makes it better was Will Patton reading it.He made each character come to life ! You always could tell who was talking .It could of had a plot twist at the end but never the less 5/5

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Patton Is a wonderful narrator. Best to the King’s work.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Kind of slow dragging but a good novel to be spooked by.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    loved it...yet another classic from Mr. King...loved Holly!!!! great read

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My first Stephan King book (I know, I may have been living under a rock on this one) and I LOVED it! Awesome narrator. Can’t wait to explore King’s other books!!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    great
    hats off,
    loved this novel
    psychological thriller
    suspense and action

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautifully oerformed by Will Patton! Are there Grammys for audiobooks yet??

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Beginning was great, then it kinda fades to boring. Not an edge of your seat kinda book

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    LOVED IT! Another fabulous book in the Mr. Mercedes series...keep them coming Mr. King and please keep Will Patton reading them!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Good tie in with character from Mr. Mercedes series. The origin story wasn't the best, but it was still fun to read (listen to).

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was OK. It was weird how long it took for Holly Gibney to be introduced to the storyline, for me the book could've been shorter and less descriptive, but I guess that's just Stephen King's style. The end was exciting, though.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gripping. Addictive. Nobody does it better than King. The greatest narrative genius since Dickens. Pure fantastic story telling. Shades of It in this tale.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    amazing book that kept me engrossed. the narrator was perfect.

    1 person found this helpful