Michael C. (mcrow) -
Helpful Score: 1
I was recommended this book by another zombie fan who read some of my reviews here on Amazon. Sure, I've read some of King's novels, what self described fan of horror hasn't? So when I was told that one of the most prolific and famous authors of all time took a shot at Zombies I had to check it out.
The story follows one man's (Clay) story as all hell breaks loose and he tries to make it home to his son. The story starts with Clay doing some shopping, celebrating the sale of his first graphic novel. Soon things go down hill fast as people seem to have lost their minds and have begun tearing each other apart. The city is in chaos and all Clay can think of is getting to his son.
Ok, so what about the zombies? Well they are not exactly zombies in the sense that zombies generally are dead, the "Phoners" in Cell most definitely are not dead. In the beginning of the book they are more mindless animals in a blood rage while later in the book they become more intelligent. They don't really eat flesh or brains either like zombies do, they just like killing people. As a zombie purist I have to say that they are not zombies but in some ways Zombie-like.
With the bit about zombies out of the way I will state that this was a great apocalyptic survival novel. People are hiding out trying to scrape by and avoiding the Phoners, power in many areas starts to go, whole cities are destroyed and humans are becoming the minority. There is a distinct helplessness and doom feel to the book which I live in any survival novel.
Once again King manages to play on the common person's fears to spin a great story. If you are a father what could possibly be more frightening than the thought of your kid being torn apart? For a society so dependant on cell phones, what could be scarier than cell phones driving us mad? How about facing someone who is driven to bestial rage and knowing he will kill you on sight? Then imagine thousands of these Phoners roaming your streets. Kings writing style only adds to this fear inducing read.
Now, what was King trying to get at with this Cell's plot? Nobody really knows but could he be pointing out that Cell Phones are some social plague? Everyone has probably noticed the total loss of manors we've seen in last 15-20 years and part of this surely has to be due in part to cell phones and people's need to be in contact at all times. Another spin: Brain cancer. There has been speculation that cell phones could cause cancer so in the realm of fiction it's not a far stretch that they could drive people nuts.
As for the story, this one is action from start to beginning. What starts out as a straight forward zombie like novel ends up being more of a supernatural survival story. Many characters come and go in the story but the only one we really get to know well is Clay. There are plenty of gory scenes for those who like them and lots of twists to keep you turning the page. However, the ending (while sad) was kind of anti climatic and leaves you hanging. The book seemed to be building and building tension leading me to think that there was going to be a big "bang" at the end but it never really materialized.
In the end the book was still highly enjoyable and I would recommend it to any horror fan. King's tribute to George Romero, while not quite zombies, was a truly fun read with great imagery and spooky feel.
The story follows one man's (Clay) story as all hell breaks loose and he tries to make it home to his son. The story starts with Clay doing some shopping, celebrating the sale of his first graphic novel. Soon things go down hill fast as people seem to have lost their minds and have begun tearing each other apart. The city is in chaos and all Clay can think of is getting to his son.
Ok, so what about the zombies? Well they are not exactly zombies in the sense that zombies generally are dead, the "Phoners" in Cell most definitely are not dead. In the beginning of the book they are more mindless animals in a blood rage while later in the book they become more intelligent. They don't really eat flesh or brains either like zombies do, they just like killing people. As a zombie purist I have to say that they are not zombies but in some ways Zombie-like.
With the bit about zombies out of the way I will state that this was a great apocalyptic survival novel. People are hiding out trying to scrape by and avoiding the Phoners, power in many areas starts to go, whole cities are destroyed and humans are becoming the minority. There is a distinct helplessness and doom feel to the book which I live in any survival novel.
Once again King manages to play on the common person's fears to spin a great story. If you are a father what could possibly be more frightening than the thought of your kid being torn apart? For a society so dependant on cell phones, what could be scarier than cell phones driving us mad? How about facing someone who is driven to bestial rage and knowing he will kill you on sight? Then imagine thousands of these Phoners roaming your streets. Kings writing style only adds to this fear inducing read.
Now, what was King trying to get at with this Cell's plot? Nobody really knows but could he be pointing out that Cell Phones are some social plague? Everyone has probably noticed the total loss of manors we've seen in last 15-20 years and part of this surely has to be due in part to cell phones and people's need to be in contact at all times. Another spin: Brain cancer. There has been speculation that cell phones could cause cancer so in the realm of fiction it's not a far stretch that they could drive people nuts.
As for the story, this one is action from start to beginning. What starts out as a straight forward zombie like novel ends up being more of a supernatural survival story. Many characters come and go in the story but the only one we really get to know well is Clay. There are plenty of gory scenes for those who like them and lots of twists to keep you turning the page. However, the ending (while sad) was kind of anti climatic and leaves you hanging. The book seemed to be building and building tension leading me to think that there was going to be a big "bang" at the end but it never really materialized.
In the end the book was still highly enjoyable and I would recommend it to any horror fan. King's tribute to George Romero, while not quite zombies, was a truly fun read with great imagery and spooky feel.
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