The author who dazzled a sold-out Victoria Theatre crowd here in August 2016 makes Dayton a key setting of his new book "The Outsider (Scribner, $30)," according to an article from the Associated Press.
The crime/horror released in May at first centers around Detective Ralph Anderson's arrest of Little League coach Terry Maitland in Flint City, Okla.
According to Merrill, there is “a mountain of evidence that he (Maitland) murdered — maybe even ate? — an 11-year-old boy in a town park.”
The coach denies committing the crime, and there is evidence that things are not exactly as they seem.
He was at a conference during the murder and can even be seen on a videotape.
Holly Gibney, a character featured in King's Bill Hodges Trilogy ("Mr. Mercedes," ″Finders Keepers and ″End of Watch") makes her way into what Merrill calls the "real heart" of the book that's said to travel inside the mind of evil.
Merrrill writes:
“She (Gibney) gets called in to check out a lead in Dayton, Ohio, and the stage is set for the rest of the novel — a clash between the Skeptics and the Believers. Holly carries the torch for the latter group, having gained some perspective on the matter thanks to the horrific crimes of Brady Hartsfield in that aforementioned trilogy.”
The cultures of Mexico and Texas also play a vital part of the book, according to a New York Times review.
Color us intrigued and already terrified.
The New York Times Bestseller is soon to be an HBO limited series starring Ben Mendelsohn.
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