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ricksilva's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Written at a fairly distinctive moment in time when there was a significant distinction between people who owned a cell phone and people who didn't. A "pulse" wipes the brains of everyone with a cell phone back to humanity's prime directive, which turns out to be... wait for it... murder.
This was King's zombie apocalypse, The Stand cut down to a fourth the size and with much less appealing characters and a less conclusive ending.
Comic book artist Clayton Riddell is caught in the mayhem and sets off to make the trek from Boston to his home in Maine in the hope of discovering the fate of his son. He is joined by a small group of survivors, each having their own traumatic reaction to the sudden collapse of civilization.
Riddell himself was not all that appealing a character; flat in a lot of places, and at times unlikeable. His companions are generally better, although the brutal death of one of them at about 2/3 through the story felt like the author had just run out of ideas for that character's arc.
The zombie-like "phoners" become a bit more interesting as the book progresses, but a lot of their potential is lost in the ambiguous ending.
The cellphones turning people into zombies was clearly a bit of symbolism here, but it's a bluntly made point, and I was left wondering for how long after the publication of this, the note in the author's biography that he didn't own a cell phone remained true.
This was King's zombie apocalypse, The Stand cut down to a fourth the size and with much less appealing characters and a less conclusive ending.
Comic book artist Clayton Riddell is caught in the mayhem and sets off to make the trek from Boston to his home in Maine in the hope of discovering the fate of his son. He is joined by a small group of survivors, each having their own traumatic reaction to the sudden collapse of civilization.
Riddell himself was not all that appealing a character; flat in a lot of places, and at times unlikeable. His companions are generally better, although the brutal death of one of them at about 2/3 through the story felt like the author had just run out of ideas for that character's arc.
The zombie-like "phoners" become a bit more interesting as the book progresses, but a lot of their potential is lost in the ambiguous ending.
The cellphones turning people into zombies was clearly a bit of symbolism here, but it's a bluntly made point, and I was left wondering for how long after the publication of this, the note in the author's biography that he didn't own a cell phone remained true.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Minor: Child death
btrz7's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, and Car accident
shelbywestc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail
beccajay's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ameliegrech's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I read this after watching the film and finding it utterly terrible. Reading a review for the book said, "not King's best novel, but even not his best are pretty darn good," which prompted me to give it a go and it was pretty good 😂 It's not amazing, but I enjoyed it and I liked the characters, especially Alice. In typical King fashion however it doesn't actually end. Just stops
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
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