Stephen King’s 2018 release of The Outsider attempts, but does not quite succeed, to raise the standards of his previous books. The novel’s ominous title and interesting premise immediately draws the reader in. Taking place in Flint City, Oklahoma, King begins the action with an unspeakable crime that leaves Frankie Peterson dead in the forest. All evidence points to the beloved Little League coach Terry Maitland, which stirs disbelief from the community. Maitland pleads innocent throughout the investigation, but after evidence proves his innocence, Maitland is shot dead on his way to trial, raising confusion and curiosity from Detective Ralph Anderson. This inspires Anderson to continue his investigation, and the mystery slowly turns into the discovery of a supernatural entity, referred to as “The Outsider.”

In all honesty, it is at times difficult to understand what is happening in the midst of the chaos in the beginning. King establishes his characters well, with each character fleshed out in detail. The citizens of Flint City create a calm environment that becomes disturbed with the murder. However, the characters can be confusing to differentiate at the start. They segway in the inbetweens of each scene, and I had to backtrack on who was speaking and their relation to the plot multiple times. Characters that seemed unimportant sprang back up and vice versa. 

Although The Outsider portrays its story well, its plot twist is seemingly revealed from the synopsis, taking some value away from the book. As a reader, I understand that King usually points to the supernatural in his novels as the executor of these gory crimes, making the reveal of the creature seem lackluster. Nevertheless, the events that depict the true danger of the entity were engaging, such as Grace’s description of the entity having a “Play-Doh face and straws for eyes.” King’s writing style truly shines within these moments of description, which often boosts the story.

In addition, the ominous creature is later revealed to feed off of its victim’s fear and despair, making it awfully similar to the creature from It despite the two of them being classified as separate entities. As “the Outsider” can take on different forms, its continued acts of terror portray a similar plot line to King’s It. 

The Outsider is interesting, with Stephen King’s use of third-person narration depicting an acute portrayal of fear and aggression, demonstrating why readers continue to come back to his books. However, the plot was subpar in its general flow, making it an overall “alright” read.