Many, many Stephen King fans have been waiting a long time for this novel. Sure, in the past few years he's released the final three books in The Dark Tower series and surprised just about everyone (positively or negatively) with last year's paperback original The Colorado Kid. And now (actually Tuesday) he's released Cell, his first real "horror" novel in nearly four years (since From a Buick 8).
Quick synopsis: Comic/graphic novel artist Clayton Riddell has just landed a big book deal in Boston and is eager to return home to Maine. Before he can get out of town, Clay witnesses complete mayhem as cell phone users are turned into crazed zombies, destroying everyone (including themselves) in their path. As he seeks to escape the city, Clay can't be sure if what he believes to be cell-phone terrorism is happening on a world-wide basis or is confined to the immediate area. All he knows is that his son Johnny has a cell phone.
I really wanted to like Cell and at several points along the way, I did. Cell begins well, but for me the novel deteriorates as it quickly becomes clear that:
1 - The story is going to turn into a quest-like saga far too similar to The Stand (or more accurately, The Stand meets Night of the Living Dead).
2 - Fear for his son's safety will motivate Clay to find him, no matter what.
3 - The strengths of the story at the beginning will only weaken as the plot unfolds.
Don't get me wrong, the novel is entertaining. It's not a bad novel. I just felt like I'd been there before. Sure, there are a few shocks (This is King we're talking about, ya know.), but no real surprises. I'd really hoped King would have more to say about our cell-phone crazed culture, but the technology just seemed to be a jumping off point to launch the story.
After finishing the book, I looked at a few reviews and saw that I'm swimming upstream by giving it a marginal recommendation. You can disagree if you like - I just think there's better King out there. His next book, Lisey's Story is due in October. I guess we'll see then.
Now Playing = Secret Story – Pat Metheny
Listening To = To Say Nothing of the Dog – Connie Willis
1 comment:
I think there's some really good stuff in some of his short story collections - Night Shift, Skeleton Crew...haven't read all of Everything's Eventual.
The novels I've enjoyed the most are usually the ones with the least speculative elements. I think Misery is excellent. The Dead Zone has some tired elements, but I really connected with the protagonist Johnny Valentine Smith. Different Seasons (including "The Body" [filmed as Stand By Me] and "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption") is also outstanding.
The Shining, The Stand, Pet Sematary, The Talisman and It are all good reads. I did not enjoy Cujo, Christine, The Dark Half, The Tommyknockers. My good friend Kelly Shaw highly recommends Hearts in Atlantis, but I haven't read that one yet.
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