Cell by Stephen King (2006, Hardcover)

CELL BY STEPHEN KING: Cell is Stephen King's first horror novel since he completed his epic "Dark Tower" series. In the middle of writing the last two books in the series he was asked what he'd be writing about next and his response had been something to the effect of: "I'm never writing another book again!" That's what happens when you ask a guy about writing when he's drowning in thousands of pages and hundreds of thousands of words. But now some years and much needed rest and recovery later, Cell takes technology and cell phones to a whole new level: zombies!

With the opening line, "The event that came to be known as The Pulse began a 3:03 p.m., eastern standard time, on the afternoon of October 1," the reader is immediately dragged into the thrall of the book, which is unusual since King usually takes up to fifty pages to get started with his books. "The Pulse" is an electromagnetic signal sent through cell phones, so anyone using their phone at that point is immediately affected, the result being their mind is completely wiped. What's left? Our primitive, primordial thoughts and reactions, which are little to none; the result: zombies!

Clayton Riddell has just landed his first huge lucrative comic book deal and is ready to return home to Kent Pond in Maine to his wife -- who is drifting away from him -- and his son to tell them everything is going to be okay, but then the pulse hits and pandemonium erupts: zombies!

Clay has only one goal in mind: to get to his wife, and more importantly his son and make sure he's alive and well. He consoles himself with the terror of knowing his son has a shiny red cellphone, though the last time Clay saw it, it was under his son's bed, forgotten; then again with everything that's happened, his son might have chosen to keep his cell phone handy. With the help of a homosexual middle-aged man and a fifteen year old girl, they make their slow journey north through New Hampshire and on to Maine. Somehow the reader is supposed to just take it for given the fact that the other two have little interest in going anywhere else except to see Clay's son and wife. They soon discover that the zombies are very human in one way: they sleep at night and for some reason like easy listening music while they are in this "resting state," which involves packing together like sardines in a big arena or gym and just lying there, eyes open, doing nothing. Strange zombies!

As the novel progresses, through a process of elimination, it is discovered that the zombies are telepathic, work on a "hive mind" system, and also possess some psychic power that allows the "phonies" to talk through "normies" using their mouths. It is also revealed that there is a protected reserve in Maine called Kashwak where there is no cellphone reception (KASHWAK=NO-FO), and therefore a place of refuge for the normies. It is there the group is headed (other members are added), destroying "flocks" of phonies along the way, and are in fact pulled there with the psychic power of the phonies, who's spokesperson is a zombie they call the Raggedy Man. As Clay discovers that his wife and son are already near Kashwak, they all head there, knowing that the reserve will be the final showdown between the normies and the phonies. The question is whether humanity will triumph, or whether homo sapiens sapiens will be reduced to zombies!

As Cell got into full swing, I was hoping for something a little more epic, though I kind of figured this wouldn't happen

In general, I'll always pick up a new Stephen King novel, because I find his work is nearly always readable and sometimes great. This is the first of his books (and I've read them all) that I've had mixed feelings about. The few that are bad are really, really bad, and the rest run from good to great.
The first fifty pages of this book are just amazing. I actually felt my heart pounding, and that's not something I can remember ever feeling before from reading a book, and not even for most horror films. The opening scene is so detailed, and so real, and so accurately observed -- and so completely frightening -- it has to be one of the best openings for a King novel ever. I don't think any reader will be able to avoid thinking "What if I was in that situation? How would I react?" and I really do think that is the hallmark of great writing.
That's why I was so disappointed at the rest of the book -- although I must admit that it would be hard to keep a pace and tone that are so completely effective as the opening. Frankly, it just goes straight downhill from there. Yes, the plot and characters depicted are reasonable and realistic, based on the premise... but I couldn't help feeling that if he was going to write about a situation like this, he might have picked characters to whom more interesting events were going to happen, and especially to whom they were going to happen more quickly. The whole book happens in what approximates real time, and while time is slowed down for the opening so you get all the emotions and actions, I really wanted it to speed up, much much MUCH faster, for the remainder. Then there might have been space to open up the book a bit more, and especially to give it a more satisfactory ending. It's really unlike King to pull his punches like he does with the ending of Cell.
And some of this book just strains my credulity to the breaking point. Near the end, coincidences and lucky breaks are piled one on top of the other, which is usually a sign of a writer who can't think of a way to make his plot come together properly. And I was particularly peeved not once, but twice, at the suicide of a minor character when there just didn't seem to be any sensible reason for that to happen at all, except that King likes to hide behind the door and shout "Boo!" every once in a while. The suicide near the beginning is just way outside the character we've been shown, and the suicide near the end, that is extremely convenient for the main characters to move forward, is -- well, it's just ridiculous. Nobody would kill themselves for the reason given, no matter how convenient it is for everyone else. Without giving away the ending, I think the average reader will find him/herself wanting to know just what happened next, and why. I found that very annoying.
I think that reviews should indicate whether the subject is worth your money. For the most part, this isn't really worth the cover price for a hardcover... it's just barely worth the list price of a new paperback (or a bargain price for the hardcover on eBay, of course). King fans will want to read it anyway -- but for people who have never read a Stephen King novel, see if you can find a copy of the unabridged version of The Stand (which is to say, any copy except a really old one). Cell might turn you off a writer who frequently deserves, and gets, your full attention. King might be called the 21st century's Charles Dickens, but not because of Cell.

Stephen King's newest novel is a violent, brutal, unflinching look at the possibilities of "brainwave interference." Cell follows Clayton Riddell, a comic-book writer, on his journey to find his wife and son in Kent Pond, Maine from Boston. Along the journey, Clay meets up with Tom McCourt, who is the best character in the book. Tom is an intelligent, emotional, thoughtful man who truly bonds with Clay and Alice, the teenager they also find in Boston and take along with them.

I wouldn't call this book a "zombie book." The phone crazies are not really zombies, in the general sense of the term, at all. They have some small ability to think and communicate, and have a clear purpose. What starts out as random violence and destruction turns into a specimen of group think, reducing our technologically-advanced society to a vast landscape of rainforest. There are no rules. You aren't safe, and you don't know what you are in danger from and what you aren't. The world that King paints is a scary one. Coming from the viewpoint from a few protagonists, the reader can still get a personal feel from the book, unlike a book that would try and paint a picture of the entire world, and what was happening everywhere. In fact, we don't get an outside viewpoint at all throughout the book, we are just left to assume about what is going on outside of the northeast region of the U.S.

The book starts out on an amazing note. When the Pulse goes out, all Hell breaks loose, and King writes with a style of violence that is second to no other. I have never felt as much of a sense of chaos as the opening pages of Cell. However, after about the first 100 pages, the book slows down a great deal. The middle part of the book is definitely the weakest. Filled mostly with the character's musings about what is going on, and thinking about those they have had to leave behind. Not much action takes place in the middle third of the book, and that hurts the breakneck pace that the first part sets. The third part of the book, when the group sets out on the final part of their journey, it returns to the pacing that doesn't let you put the book down even for a second. King is one of the only writers that I know of that can still have the reader completely guessing as to what is going to happen with only 20 pages left to read.

This isn't one of King's elite novels, but it definitely was a really fun, interesting read.

tephen King's newest novel is a violent, brutal, unflinching look at the possibilities of "brainwave interference." Cell follows Clayton Riddell, a comic-book writer, on his journey to find his wife and son in Kent Pond, Maine from Boston. Along the journey, Clay meets up with Tom McCourt, who is the best character in the book. Tom is an intelligent, emotional, thoughtful man who truly bonds with Clay and Alice, the teenager they also find in Boston and take along with them.

I wouldn't call this book a "zombie book." The phone crazies are not really zombies, in the general sense of the term, at all. They have some small ability to think and communicate, and have a clear purpose. What starts out as random violence and destruction turns into a specimen of group think, reducing our technologically-advanced society to a vast landscape of rainforest. There are no rules. You aren't safe, and you don't know what you are in danger from and what you aren't. The world that King paints is a scary one. Coming from the viewpoint from a few protagonists, the reader can still get a personal feel from the book, unlike a book that would try and paint a picture of the entire world, and what was happening everywhere. In fact, we don't get an outside viewpoint at all throughout the book, we are just left to assume about what is going on outside of the northeast region of the U.S.

The book starts out on an amazing note. When the Pulse goes out, all Hell breaks loose, and King writes with a style of violence that is second to no other. I have never felt as much of a sense of chaos as the opening pages of Cell. However, after about the first 100 pages, the book slows down a great deal. The middle part of the book is definitely the weakest. Filled mostly with the character's musings about what is going on, and thinking about those they have had to leave behind. Not much action takes place in the middle third of the book, and that hurts the breakneck pace that the first part sets. The third part of the book, when the group sets out on the final part of their journey, it returns to the pacing that doesn't let you put the book down even for a second. King is one of the only writers that I know of that can still have the reader completely guessing as to what is going to happen with only 20 pages left to read.

This isn't one of King's elite novels, but it definitely was a really fun, interesting read.

Stephen King is back with a vengence! From the very beginning, Cell starts off with an immediate onslaught of crazed activity that leaves civilization crippled. Brought upon by a mysterious satellite-borne pulse, those who happen to be on a cellular phone go completely mad and turn into homicidal zombies! Only those without cellular phones remain alive and retain their minds.

Taking place in downtown Boston and then the New England area (King actually ventured outside of his home state of Maine, but does eventually get back there), the first half of the book is similar to "28 Days Later". The survivors are an eclectic, but typical bunch; a gay man who misses his cat, a teenage girl who is smarter than all of them and Clay Riddell, seperated from his family and is trying to find out whether his wife and child have become zombie's too.

King's book has an unusual array of Product Placements, especially in the beginning of the book, by increasing the Font and Font Size of names like "Swedish Steel", "Panasonic", and "Small Treasures" among others, which was kind of odd. Also, always outspoken about his politics, King's views are made quite evident throughout this book. There were some moments that are a little slow (like most books), but some moments seemed to go on unnecessarly longer just so that King could get through his political/social rant. And just like in a lot of King's previous novels, people take on their usual stereotypes and the kids are always smarter than the adults. There are some funny moments. As the zombies' musical tastes change, or actually gets better, moving from "You Light Up My Life" to Mozart, one of the survivors picks up a Michael Bolton CD dropped by a zombie and quips, "And you said they weren't getting smarter". Funny.

Whats different about this book is that there no identifiable bad guy. There is no otherworldly alien that is trying to take over has been around for centuries and by some unfortunate circumstances is now waking up. Kings worst enemy here is humanity itself.