However,
I knew something was off when King randomly introduced Holly from the Bill
Hodges trilogy into the book. Now, I read all three of the Bill Hodges books,
and it’s an excellent series. The first two books are great. The last book
suffers from a supernatural twist which didn’t make sense with the rest of the
books, and in a way, “The Outsider” does that too. There’s a very important
scene towards the end which doesn’t feel like it had the impact it should on
me, the reader. Let’s talk a bit about the actual plot, which doesn’t have a
bad set up. Then again, King is a master of set ups, and that hasn’t changed
even in his later career. A heinous crime has taken place. A boy is found dead
and raped, and partly eaten. For those who are regular readers of King, the
whole part eaten part doesn’t really raise an eyebrow. Throwing in something
totally bizarre is King’s trademark
The police are ready to arrest the
beloved little league coach and English teacher Terry Maitland, who seems to be
an all-around good guy. They have iron clad proof, however. They get ready to
make a big public arrest. This first part of the novel has transcripts with
witnesses, plus they have fingerprints, and they are even excited to put him on
death row. This is Flint City Oklahoma, an unusual setting for a Stephen King
novel. Hicks exist in most Stephen King novels. However, these hicks are
special. They aren’t northeast hicks. They are middle America hicks, and the
police happily tell Terry Mailand about the needle and the death penalty without
a lawyer present. The police chief Ralph Anderson truly is excited to arrest
Terry Mailand, like it’s a treat for him. Yup, we really are in Trump country
this time.
However,
like most King novels, there’s a twist. Terry Mailand was at a conference for
English teachers in another part of the state, and there is even a video tape
of him asking a question of a famous author which played on public access cable.
The tape was timed at the same time of the murder. Both him doing the crime and
him not doing the crime both check out, and that’s a good twist. However, this
is a Stephen King novel and what would it be without a twist that throws the
entire concept of reality out the window. So, it sets up the premise of how could
of done it and could not have done it all at the same time. There is over two
hundred eighty pages all taking place in the small city in Oklahoma. Then out
of nowhere, a phone call is placed, and he get Holly from the Bill Hodges
series on the case.
Now, I
like Holly. She is an anxiety prone, anti-depressant taking women who truly
loved Bill despite the age difference and is keeping his business going. She is
a very likable creation. Bill, Holly and
Jarmone from the Bill Hodges trilogy were the most likable characters Stephen
King had created in years. However, in this book, Jarmone, the young African
American teen who helps Bill and Holly throughout the Hodges trilogy is on
vacation, so we won’t see him in this book. Bill, as people who read the
trilogy knows, died of cancer at the end of the Bill Hodeges series which they
mention in this book as well. I was a bit conflicted about this surprise when
reading it. On one hand, it was great to see Holly, see how she’s doing, but on
the other hand, what was she doing randomly in this book? Yes, it was good to
see her again but this whole book had been setting up its own universe for over
two hundred eighty pages, so this felt very out of left field. Hodges was some
of King’s best work in many years, but still, this felt disjointed after so
many pages in this separate novel.
The book felt a bit too long. This
isn’t new to regular readers of King. There are some padding problems, where
you might get a hundred plus pages you don’t really need. The first part of the
book is about the aftermath of Terry’s arrest. The effect on him, his friends,
the family whose child was murdered, and the police trying to piece together if
they went right or wrong in the first place. Then the second half turns into a
pitch for a spin off from the Bill Hodges trilogy, then the last part the whole
team goes to Texas to confront a supernatural monster. Out of nowhere, there’s
a twist about Mexican folk law, and while I was still reading, as King has the
J.K. Rowling magic touch of you will read this no matter what, the whole
monster felt out of left field. However, I am not going to say you shouldn’t
read this new book by Stephen King, as it still is a good page turner. However,
I would suggest the Bill Hodges trilogy over this tome which is 576 pages.
However, like this book, the third Bill Hodges book “End of Watch” has a twist
which makes no sense.
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