Review | Stephen King’s The Outsider: murderous crime fiction marred by fantastical folly

The Outsider
by Stephen King

Stephen King’s recent work has been distinguished by a growing, if not entirely convincing, relation­ship with crime fiction.

The most obvious sign of his interest was the trilogy comprising Mr Mercedes (2014), Finders Keepers (2015) and End of Watch (2016). Mr Mercedes’ blend of police procedural and gothic horror won King a coveted Edgar award, courtesy of the Mystery Writers of America. This trio was not the first of King’s crime output, however. There was also the pulp fiction verve of Joyland (2013). Going further back, there was the short story The Colorado Kid (2005), which became the charming if unsteady television series Haven.

King’s attraction to crime fiction makes perfect sense. Most of his novels feature the most horrific transgressions imaginable (murder, kidnapping, torture), albeit ones that defy the logic demanded by an earth-bound investigation. And this is the central challenge for King’s capaciously offbeat imagination when it comes to crime. His particular genius is for upending utterly ordinary worlds with extra­ordinary happenings: killer cars, cemeteries for the undead, ghosts in hotels. But if your creativity believes that anything is possible – if your criminal breaks the laws of nature – then you risk upsetting readers.

The main exception to this rule is Ireland’s John Connolly, whose long-running detective Charlie Parker chases evil through this world and beyond. Connolly’s success is partly a matter of style: his rich, lyrical prose is ideally suited to the gothic excesses of his plotting.