Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Stephen King goes inside mind of new evil in 'The Outsider'

By ROB MERRILL, Associ- gins. It seems Mr. Maitland the stage is set for the rest
ated Press was indeed at a Tri-State of the novel — a clash be-
"The Outsider" (Scribner), by Teachers of English confer- tween the Skeptics and the
Stephen King ence in another city at the Believers. Holly carries the
Stephen King's new novel, time of the murder. Fellow torch for the latter group,
"The Outsider," opens with teachers confirm it, there having gained some per-
witness interviews in a type- are fingerprints and, yes, spective on the matter
writer font, laying out the even video. In a nice little thanks to the horrific crimes
details of a grisly crime and wink, the English teachers of Brady Hartsfield in that
setting the scene for a de- are listening to real-life mys- aforementioned trilogy.
tective story. tery author Harlan Coben To reveal much more of
And for the first hundred speaking at the confer- the plot wouldn't be fair.
or so pages, that's what ence when Maitland ap- Let's just say that Holly's ar-
readers get. Detective pears on the footage, ask- rival marks the real heart of
Ralph Anderson arrests the ing, "Do you always know the book. You can almost
respected Little League who did it when you sit hear King — through her
coach of Flint City, Okla- down to write Mr. Coben, — addressing critics who
homa, based on a moun- or is it sometimes a surprise dismiss the Evil Incarnate
tain of evidence that he even to you?" that permeates his novels:
murdered — maybe even Fast forward to the arraign- "Is the idea ... any more
ate? — an 11-year-old boy ment and the story kicks inexplicable than some of
in a town park. Detective into another gear. The vic- the terrible things that hap-
Anderson has the full sup- tim's older brother guns pen in the world? ... Wasn't
port of the up-for-re-elec- down Terry Maitland on the Ted Bundy just ... a shape-
tion district attorney and courthouse steps and with shifter with one face for
seemingly enough DNA in his dying breath the coach the people he knew and
the perp's van (white and again denies the crime another for the women he
windowless, naturally), all and asks Detective Ander- killed? ... There are others.
over the crime scene and son how he's going to clear ... Monsters beyond our un-
on the murder weapon. his conscience. derstanding."
But wait — this is Stephen Enter Holly Gibney. Yes, that More than many King nov-
King, not Raymond Chan- Holly Gibney — the cine- els, this one tries hard for
dler, and there are still 500 ma-loving, somewhere-on- that understanding. You'll
pages! This cover image released by Scribner shows "The Outsider," a the-spectrum, detective-in- probably see it in a few
novel by Stephen King. (Scribner via AP)
Our first clue that the case training from King's recent years as a Hulu Original or
isn't all it seems is the sus- his arrest and speaks to the cent man. So the police do Bill Hodges Trilogy ("Mr. Mer- a five-part miniseries on
pect himself. Coach Terry police and his attorney with their work, hoping to quick- cedes," ''Finders Keepers," a channel you've never
Maitland is incredulous at the conviction of an inno- ly run down his alibi. ''End of Watch"). She gets watched before, but until
And that's when this Ste- called in to check out a then, do yourself a favor
phen King novel really be- lead in Dayton, Ohio, and and read the book.q

Nielsen says 29 million people

watched wedding in US

NEW YORK (AP) — Perhaps
getting married to a U.S.
television star helps in the
royal wedding ratings.
The Nielsen company says
29.2 million people in the
United States watched
the wedding of Prince
Harry and American ac-
tress Meghan Markle early
Saturday. The London cer-
emony aired starting at 7
a.m. Eastern time and was
carried live on 15 different
networks.
The telecast topped the
22.8 million people who In this photo released by Kensington Palace on Monday May
watched Harry's older 21, 2018, shows an official wedding photo of Britain's Prince
brother, Prince William, Harry and Meghan Markle, center, in Windsor Castle, Windsor,
marry Kate Middleton in England, Saturday May 19, 2018
2011.
By a whisker, NBC earned ed 6.42 million people it on ABC. The CBS audi-
network bragging rights. watched NBC's coverage ence was 4.79 million peo-
Nielsen said an estimat- while 6.35 million watched ple. q