Powerful Pages: The Outsider by Stephen King (2018)

Powerful Pages: The Outsider by Stephen King (2018)

Stephen King's latest is at once vivid and refreshing while also paying tribute to the maestro's biggest strengths.  Rich characters and a well-drawn setting are the key ingredients, but a thoroughly engrossing first act and an approach that blurs the lines between a legal thriller and a supernatural opus also present themselves as major assets.  The big bad is new and unique, and equally creepy, and the book moves at a quick pace--which isn't always a staple of King's fiction.  I felt like this book deftly combined the hard-boiled aspects of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers (both of which were totally devoid of supernatural shenanigans) with the passion for things that go bump in the night that has always elevated King's fiction.  While End of Watch, the bookend to the Bill Hodges trilogy, also intertwined the thriller and horror genres to potent effect, it leaned closer to the thriller side of the coin in tone and attitude.  The last two acts of The Outsider, on the other hand, surely represent balls-to-the-wall horror--and may even summon memories of King's leaner and meaner terrors born of the 70s and 80s, long before a bit more whimsy softened those harder edges a bit.  In the end, I found this one to be a real page-turner that made the most of all of King's tools, and I think that The Outsider stands as a nice bridge between his most bloodcurdling work and his most exciting offerings.

Final Grade: A

End of Watch by Stephen King

End of Watch by Stephen King

With End of Watch, King brings the Bill Hodges trilogy he started back in 2014 with Mr. Mercedes to a most satisfying conclusion.  While Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers (the second book in the series, released in 2015) were straight thrillers, End of Watch brings some supernatural menace to the forefront and ramps up the tension.  In doing so, it allows King (who is no stranger to drama and suspense) to play to his greatest strengths.  The end result is a gripping yarn that will have readers flipping pages as quickly as they can on their way to one of the author's most riveting climaxes.  Light on blood-curdling terror, but heavy on violence and gore, this thrilling book is surprisingly heartfelt at times.  Those who have come to love Hodges and his cohorts, the quirky Holly Gibney and the well-rounded Jerome Robinson, may need to break out the Kleenex as this saga winds to a close.  I doubt that any fan of the series will find End of Watch to be anything other than a most fulfilling bookend to a really cool trilogy courtesy of the master.  This series started as an ode to pulpy detective fiction rooted in noir, made room for some modern thrills, and closes out shop with a horrific conclusion that wraps up every loose thread in sight.  The saga as a whole was entertaining and thoughtful, if briskly-paced and far simpler than many of King's masterpieces.  I think that the final chapter in this trilogy, the aptly-titled End of Watch, is the strongest and most entertaining piece of the pie.

Final Grade: A-