Cell by Stephen King

Amazon.com Review
Witness Stephen King's triumphant, blood-spattered return to the genre that made him famous. Cell, the king of horror's homage to zombie films (the book is dedicated in part to George A. Romero) is his goriest, most horrific novel in years, not to mention the most intensely paced. Casting aside his love of elaborate character and town histories and penchant for delayed gratification, King yanks readers off their feet within the first few pages; dragging them into the fray and offering no chance catch their breath until the very last page.

In Cell King taps into readers fears of technological warfare and terrorism. Mobile phones deliver the apocalypse to millions of unsuspecting humans by wiping their brains of any humanity, leaving only aggressive and destructive impulses behind. Those without cell phones, like illustrator Clayton Riddell and his small band of "normies," must fight for survival, and their journey to find Clayton's estranged wife and young son rockets the book toward resolution.

Fans that have followed King from the beginning will recognize and appreciate Cell as a departure--King's writing has not been so pure of heart and free of hang-ups in years (wrapping up his phenomenal Dark Tower series and receiving a medal from the National Book Foundation doesn't hurt either). "Retirement" clearly suits King, and lucky for us, having nothing left to prove frees him up to write frenzied, juiced-up horror-thrillers like Cell. --Daphne Durham

I have a confession to make. I love zombie movies. I don't know why, but I do. Zombies are really awesome. Dawn of the Dead is the best, of course. The idea that human survivors would hide in a shopping mall and fight off zombies is beyond cool.

I guess I'm fascinated by the human response to tragedy or extreme circumstances. It's the same reason I'm crazy about Titanic and why I enjoyed books like The Lord of the Flies. I always wonder what people would do if we stripped away all the technology and all the comforts of home that we enjoy. How would people react? How would I react? Would I have been one of the fine gentlemen on the Titanic sipping on a drink and vowing to go down with the ship or would I have snuck onto a lifeboat?

Anyway, I was pretty excited when I got a book shipment and inside there was a big, beautiful hardcover copy of this book. Thanks to Ann in the USA for sending it to us! I've never actually read a Stephen King book and after reading On Writing I really wanted to see him in action.

The first chapter will blow your mind. It is disgusting, frightening, and disturbing. If you are into horror, it will knock your socks off. King's story grabs you by the throat and never let's go. I really enjoyed the three main characters and the story was very interesting.

I had never read a zombie book but now I'm convinced there is a lot of room for fun here. I'd like to read more books in this genre. I'm certain if you like horror stories or zombie movies, you will like this book as much as I did.

4/5 Stars