Author: Stephen King
Narrator: Will Patton
Length: 11 hrs
Publisher: Scribner
Genre: Horror, Crime Thriller
First Published May 22, 2018
Book Description: An unspeakable crime. A confounding investigation. At a time when the King brand has never been stronger, he has delivered one of his most unsettling and compulsively readable stories.
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.
Review:
This is a very engaging read. It starts with a bang- A boy is found brutally murdered in a small town. The police force is enraged and they start very strongly to investigate. Everything points to Terry Maitland. He is a well-known and respected family man, happily married, and the little league baseball coach; there's never been the slightest hint of criminal activity or suspicious behavior from him. But then again there never is for most of the outrageous criminals, right?
The police obtain both forensic evidence and even a handful of witnesses that place Terry in the surrounding area of the crime. There is no doubt that Terry abducted and killed the boy, with their blood boiling Detective Ralph Anderson gives in to pressure and gives the green light to arrest him in the most public and humiliating way possible: during a big game of his little league game.
With so much evidence pointing at Terry, Ralph and his team didn't bother cross-referencing and investigating Terry's whereabouts at the time of the crime. Surprisingly, Terry has an ironclad alibi, there is no way he could have committed the murder. The maddening aspect is that for every piece of evidence showing Terry couldn't have killed the child, there is another damning one that positively shows proof that he did. How could Terry Maitland be in two places at once? The main theory is that he had an accomplice, but the whole thing is unraveling especially as the public outrage is calling out for the blood of the accused.
After doing such a public arrest the police department is not able to simply withdraw their accusations.
The first half of the book is so promising and so fast-paced. It's full of the thrill, revolving around circumstances that seem impossible. This works for a good while, it builds up with an intriguing mix of clues and witnesses that both prove that Terry must be guilty while also making it absolutely impossible for him to have done it.
The second part of the book either makes it or kills it for readers. After building layer upon layer of mystery- a paranormal aspect is introduced. Also, there was a connection to the Bill Hodges series. FYI you need to have read the whole series as there is a heavy spoiler for the end of the Mr. Mercedes trilogy. I saw no clue that this would be interlaced, so it was a huge surprise. Holly is brought into this to investigate and she ends up having a major role in this story.
I highly recommend this to crime and paranormal fans. It's definitely not for everyone.
This was used for the challenges:
Author: Stephen King. I am getting close to completing his backlog. It feels like I have been doing this for a long time.
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