Book Review: Stephen King's Cell

I remember when Stephen King announced that once his epic journey to the Dark Tower was complete, he would stop writing. This was around 2002 if I remember correctly, and I recall thinking to myself - yeah right, it's what you do man, there's no way you can stop.

I, amongst thousands of others, was correct. Cell was released in 2006 and was the first true signature novel of Stephen King's following The Dark Tower. A guy like him is triggered by the empowering "what if" and Cell is a direct example of that. Like myself, I'm sure Mr. King watches all the "phone crazies" around him - in their car, filling their buggies at the super market, in the elevator, on the plane, on the bus, and on and on. So surely Cell was a direct representation of his people watching.

Cell opens up by paying homage to the king of zombie flicks, George Romero. The pacing of this book in the first third is fast and feels much like a zombie film. As the story progresses however, you come to find that this is no zombie tale at all. I really enjoyed the first third of this book, the character development was fast - which is unusual for King, and his signature imagery was sprinkled throughout.

The story does slow down a bit about half way through as it becomes centered around the main character and his quest to find his son. King did his homework on the technical aspects of this novel and as a IT Professional, I can appreciate that.

This is a fine, enjoyable read for his first true novel following the rigors of The Dark Tower. For King, it's more of what I like to call a popcorn read. I can see this one as being written for the screen and believe it would make for a fine summer movie. I've been a fan of Stephen King since I was kid and he's a writer I look up to and sometimes find trying to emulate in my own fiction. If you're a fan of King's other horror novels, I recommend this one.

PPP Rating: 7.5 out of 10