The Outsider, Stephen King: Book Review

The Stephen King renaissance continues apace, from the sublime (the IT adaptation) to the ridiculous (the farcical big screen version of The Dark Tower). The horror maestro's 5,224th novel - he's a bit like the Fall of commercial fiction - finds him going full True Detective: small town Little League coach Terry Maitland is accused of the murder of an 11-year-old boy, and Detective Ralph Anderson (whose son was once coached by Maitland) sets out to investigate.

The catch is that while DNA evidence points to Maitland's culpability, he has a cast-iron alibi, in the form of CCTV footage of him at - meta alert! - a Harlan Coben book signing. This is the cue for some vaguely supernatural shenanigans, while there are the obligatory nods to the current political tumult Stateside. Pregnant with a meaning that never fully arrives, The Outsider is not exactly top-flight noir, although King aficionados will be in heaven - or should that be hell?

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