Stephen King Book Reviews:
BLACK HOUSE
BAG OF BONES
CARRIE
CUJO
CELL
DIFFERENT SEASONS
DREAM CATCHER
DRAWING OF THE THREE
FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT
INSOMNIA
HEARTS IN ATLANTIS
IT
MISERY
Stephen King Book Reviews:
RAGE
REGULATORS
SALEM'S LOT
Cell
Stephen King has made a triumphant return to the horror genre with “The Cell”, in which he introduces the reader to Clayton Riddell. Clay is
an artist who has come to Boston from Maine in order to pitch a comic
book idea called “Dark Wanderer”. The pitch is a success and it was a
great day for Clay. He went and bought little souvenirs for Sharon, his
wife whom he was recently separated from, and his 12 year old son
Johnny. Still very excited, Clay can’t wait to call Sharon; however, as a
school teacher she will not be available to talk until after school. He didn’t
want to sit and just wait in his lonely, dark hotel room until then as he didn’
t own a cell phone to call her. He decided to treat himself to an ice cream
to help pass the time. As he is waiting in line to order his ice cream, Clay
is noticing a couple of teenagers pressed upon one cell phone talking to
a gal pal. In front of him another woman has a cell phone jammed to her
ear, while she tries to control her cat-sized dog and order ice cream all at
once. Then things got weird….
There was a man in the park who appeared to be biting off a dog’s
ear, the woman in front of him tried to attack the ice cream truck driver,
one of the teenagers then attacked the women who attacked the ice
cream truck driver, and the other teenager didn’t know who she was or
what was going on. There were screams in the streets surrounding Clay,
cars crashing, and people jumping out of buildings. Clay manages to get
back to the hotel with a man, Tom, he encounters on the way. However,
most of the people they see seem to be insane and completely out of
control, attacking any living creature they can get their hands on. There at
the hotel he meets a young teenager, Alice, whose mother tried to kill her
in the back of a taxi.
Safely hidden in the hotel, it seems there is time to ponder what has
happened. Why are these people acting this way? It seems the one
common denominator among all the “crazies” were that they were talking
on a cell phone when the incidents started to occur. Who would have
done this? Terrorists? Is this another 911? How large of an area is
affected by this problem? It all seems too insane and there seems to be
no ways to find answers. The land line phones are down, no radio or TV
stations are broadcasting, and there are explosions throughout the city. If
there are any police alive, they are busy trying to contain the situation,
which is being handled by shoot first ask questions second. The best bet
seems to be to head out of town. Clay is determined he needs to return
home to see how Sharon and Johnny are. The trio begins to head north
to find answers and hopefully more survivors.
Stephen King has written a truly suspenseful novel in “The Cell”. It is a
fast moving story full of captivating characters that will keep readers on
the edge of their seat. He has found a new path for Armageddon to
come to mankind. Not through a natural disaster or a holy wrath (??) but
the most commonly used appliance of our day…the cell phone.
There is one negative that can be mentioned about this book. The
ending was very disappointing as it appears to have been left open for a
sequel. Mr. King, hopefully, will not let this story end without the readers
not knowing if things work out for the hero of the story and for the world
left without means of mass communication.
email: info@king-stephen.com