The Outsider is a crime fiction/horror novel by American author Stephen King. The book was published on May 22, 2018 by Scribner. The outsider is written in English Language having 560 pages. The plot was divided into sections and sections having multiple chapters. In June 2018, it was announced that Media Rights Capital had optioned the novel to be produced as a 10 part miniseries. On December 3, 2018, it was ordered to series by HBO.
The list of characters in The Outsider are; Ralph Anderson (police detective), Terry Maitland (Baseball coach), Howie Gold (Maitland’s lawyer), Marcy (Maitland’s wife), Sarah and Grace (Maitland’s daughters), Bill Samuels (District Attorney), Holly Gibney (private investigator), Jack Hoskins (Ralph’s rival), Yune Sablo (police detective), The Outsider (a killer) and so on.
The Outsider begins with the tone of police investigations in its early parts. The first section sets in the fictional town of Flint City, Oklahoma. Police detective Ralph Anderson arrests popular teacher and Little League Baseball coach Terry Maitland. He is arrested in front of a crowd of baseball game spectators, charging him with raping, killing and mutilating an 11-year-old boy. The town quickly turns against Maitland. He insists he is innocent, and hires his friend and lawyer, Howie Gold to assist him with the case. Police detective, Anderson, on his own has eyewitnesses and clear physical evidence (DNA and fingerprints) of his guilt.
The District Attorney, Bill Samuels tells Ralph to break Maitland’s alibi in order to turn a long count battle into an open-and-shut-case. Anderson later discovered that Maitland wasn’t involved in the crime. Multiple eyewitnesses confirm Maitland was out of the town when the murder occurred with security footage providing confirmation as well. Anderson was assisted by a private investigator, Holly Gibney to find the root of the murder. Following a trail of clues, the duo went out to the fictional town of Marysville, Texas.
The story shifts to a horror at this point. Jack Hoskins, Ralph’s rival in local law enforcement, is coerced by the Outsider (the real killer) to kill Ralph. He promised to save him from cancer in return. Yune Sablo another police detective from Oklahoma State joined the duo to assist them. An eye witness to the Maitland’s case, the next victim of the Outsider and Claude’s mother a resident of Marysville were all link to the actual killer. Anderson and Gibney discover that they have an actual monster on their hands. They set out to destroy him in a large cave, a tourist attraction known as The Marysville Hole, where two children died years earlier.