Anyone else check this out yet? Came out this Tuesday. I had no idea what I was getting into, but shit starts to turn supernatural/scary so I googled some reviews. "It's the IT for 2018" was one of the first headlines I saw. And yeah, I'm starting to see it... About halfway through (I took today off from work so I've been drinking and reading by the pool all day). Goal is to finish this weekend
So as I kept reading, this became more important. If you haven't read it yet, read the 3 Mercedes Killer books King put out the last few years before reading this book. They're quick and a good read and there's parts of this book that you'll want the backstory for
Through Holly. Didnt read that trilogy and I feel a bit left out. As for the rest of it so far. Enjoying it. Typical King book with a mystery filled w WTF stuff but have no idea how it all ties together yet.
Seems like I need to read the Mercedes trilogy before starting this, in order to get the most out of it. So I may rain check on this until I read those.
Based on reading the comments already itt I would do the same thing if I hadn't already read them. They're a good read. Not King's best but I enjoyed all 3.
FWIW I just feel like there's a of fan service (for lack of a better term) for that trilogy. Not necessarily in a bad way. I just feel like there's a lot of references that are going over my head, but it doesnt make the plot or the story more confusing for me. It's not like there are plot holes that I think would have been filled in with reading those books. I bet it's cool/rewarding to hear about some people events from those books in this one though
It is, but with as much as Holly gets involved, I feel like it should have been made well-known that this is kind of a semi-spin off story. I know I would have hated to be halfway through a book only to realize I would have liked it more had I read an entirely different trilogy.
Through Bienvenidos A Texas My feelings on this book are going to swing big depending on if he sticks the landing or not. Spoiler If this just turns out to be a typical vampire story, Im going to be a little disappointed. Maybe he's using all the tropes as a red herring to smacks in the face with something awesome, but Im prepared to be a little underwhelmed. Feel like this may be on of those books were the journey is great, but the book itself is meh.
Finished 6.5/10 Spoiler It wasn't a vampire story, but essential it was. Felt a little underwhelmed, mostly because my expectations for a King novel are quite high. I prob would have liked it more with the knowledge of the other trilogy, however it still is a basic vampire type plot. Is this supposed to be the first in a series? He definitely left some loose ends.
Spoiler The first third of the book was fantastic. I thought I was going to enjoy it as much as Revival. However, I gradually lost interest about half way through. In retrospect though, this landing was always going to be hard to pull off, and that’s compounded by the fact that I don’t think King ends his books all that well anyway. I do think Ralph is a decent character so his inevitable full novel crossover with Holly will probably be enjoyable.
Spoiler Mostly enjoyed it, but also lost some interest about halfway through. I think that was inevitable with the nature of the inexplicable having to become explicable for the plot to be resolved. Still a decent read.
Finished 7/10 Spoiler So as my last post said the beginning of this book was absolutely fantastic. King sucked me in immediately as usual and I was ready for Ralph and Samuels to get their comeuppance. He also did a great job of redeeming Ralph in my eyes by the end of the book. Having read the Bill Hodges trilogy I loved the crossover of Holly, but I can see it not working for people who haven't read that book. Having 3 novels of previous knowledge on her and her personality, she fit in perfectly. I didn't think he did a very good job with Jack Hodgkins or whatever his name was (listened to the audiobook) seemed extremely one dimensional as they shitty alcoholic cop Like someone else said the ending was going to be hard to stick, but it definitely was far from King's worst. I thought he did a decent job and I like the scene in the Marysville Hole. Happy I read it, and again the first third of the book had me completely enthralled. I thought it faltered a bit after Terry died, but his death was inevitable I guess, and I saw it coming even before he refused the vest.
Additional Thought Spoiler Does anyone think that the Outsider had anything to do with Ralph's decision to make a spectacle out of Terry's arrest and entrance into the courthouse. Seems a little too out of character for him to make such massive mistakes without some outside influence
Spoiler like most here I felt the first third or half of the book was really good and I was really looking forward to some sort of huge climax. But the last half of the book and especially the last third pretty much sucked. Predictable to a degree and totally anti-climatic. Very disappointing. 5/10
interesting. with you on the excitement level right now, although that could change depending on whos involved.
cast is really good. I just wasnt too into this story. https://www.hbo.com/hbo-news/the-outsider-series-ben-mendelsohn-jason-bateman-stephen-king
They're fast reads. There's even a hint/nod to the format when one of the characters read a Lee Child (author of the Jack Reacher series) book.
Didn’t know it was part of a trilogy. Now I am wondering if I should go back read them and this again
I really liked it, and while I agree with a lot of people itt about the first third being better then the last two thirds, I really got into things the last 200 pages. Thing that stood out to me was the prose changing and it turning into an old school King novel. I liked the ending. Felt earned to me but I can see why others weren’t too enamored after what happened in the first 200 pages.