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A review by ricksilva
Cell by Stephen King
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