Dead good (The Dead Zone - Stephen King)

Member Name: salgirl

Product:	The Dead Zone - Stephen King
Date:	31/03/01 (52 review reads)
Rating:

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This was my first introduction to the weird world of Stephen King. It hooked me. The Dead Zone was responsible for a marked decline of interest in anything that wasn't supernatural, thought-provoking and downright bizarre.

Based around the life of John Smith, this is a tale about the gift of Pyschometry, a paranormal activity that involves receiving psychic signals from whomever or whatever the person touches.

John received a head injury as a child whilst ice-skating, and a further blow to his head during a car accident in later life, leaves him comatose in hospital for 5 years. During this time there are changes in his personal life that he is completely oblivious to, and his physical condition deteriorates as time takes it's toll on his muscles and general health. His waking is therefore considered miraculous, but everyone is unaware, including John, of just how miraculous his recovery will be.

The psychometric powers display themselves early on, leaving him and others confused. This great gift has it's benefits but with the good comes the inevitable bad. The visions are emotionally charged which drain him, they are disorientating and terrifying on occasion, and there is one vibration that is incomprehensible and the carrier of a knowledge of dread. This is the key tale to the book...

As I usually do, I will leave the plot at this point because if I didn't you wouldn't bother to read the book to find out the ending. Presuming, of course, that you haven't seen the film (starring Christopher Walken) and know the ending already.

The storyline held me spellbound, as well as the romantic angle which had been complicated by his accident - Mr. King is very good at those. I loved the way the gift was tainted by it also being a curse to give the added edge of horror and suspense, showing both sides of the scale almost simaltaneously, the good of it with the awfulness of his burden.

I have r
e-read this story many times over the years, and now it seems very naive compared to the complex and massive tomes us SK fans have come to expect. You could read this in a couple of days, and now recognise the places where he would have gone to make it more involved had he written it at this stage in his career. I'm glad he didn't. This is just right for those who want to start reading his works and gives an excellent foretaste of the entertainment that is still to come.

This was my first. For that reason it stays with me as one of my favourites. The start of an incredible amount of unforgettable literary journeys that Mr. King has taken me on. Cheers mate!

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