De reeks volgt onderzoekster Holly Gibney, die van een onopvallende hulp geleidelijk uitgroeit tot een taaie, nauwkeurige en onverzettelijke professional. In gewone Amerikaanse steden (zoals Flint City) legt ze misdaden bloot die aan de buitenkant rationeel lijken, maar een donkerder, moeilijk te verklaren onderlaag hebben. King bouwt spanning op via details, getuigenverklaringen en Holly’s vermogen vol te houden waar anderen afhaken. Het is een mix van crime en horror over hoe makkelijk de “normale” wereld kan breken—en hoe duur de waarheid kan zijn.
An 11-year-old boy is found in a town park, hideously assaulted and murdered. The fingerprints (and later DNA) are unmistakably those of the town's most popular baseball coach, Terry Maitland, a man of impeccable reputation, with a wife and two daughters. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland coached, orders an immediate and public arrest. Maitland is taken to jail, his claim to innocence scorned. Maitland has a foolproof alibi, with footage to prove that he was in another city when the crime was committed. But that doesn't save him either.
The No.1 Sunday Times bestseller featuring the story 'The Life of Chuck', adapted for film by Mike Flanagan, starring Tom Hiddleston and winner of the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival. News people have a saying: 'If it bleeds, it leads'. And a bomb at Albert Macready Middle School is guaranteed to lead any bulletin. Holly Gibney of the Finders Keepers detective agency is working on the case of a missing dog - and on her own need to be more assertive - when she sees the footage on TV. But when she tunes in again, to the late-night report, she realises there is something not quite right about the correspondent who was first on the scene. So begins 'If It Bleeds', a stand-alone sequel to the No. 1 bestselling THE OUTSIDER featuring the incomparable Holly on her first solo case - and also the riveting title story in Stephen King's brilliant new collection. Dancing alongside are three more wonderful long stories from this 'formidably versatile author' (The Sunday Times) - 'Mr Harrigan's Phone', 'The Life of Chuck' and 'Rat'. All four display the richness of King's storytelling with grace, humour, horror and breathtaking suspense. A fascinating Author's Note gives us a wonderful insight into the origin of each story and the writer's unparalleled imagination
