Ever Wanted To Be Psychic? Yes? Well Read This Novel and Then Answer Me Again... (The Dead Zone - Stephen King)

Member Name: wampyrii

Product:	The Dead Zone - Stephen King
Date:	11/07/01 (50 review reads)
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Another superb work of fiction from the pen of Stephen King. I liked his earlier work alot and its good to see that he seems to be making something of a return to form with some of his recent work as well following a pretty poor spell where for me he tried to become too clever. Rose Madder, Deloris Clairborne, Gerald's Game, Needful Things etc. simply did not cut it in my opinion...but this, one of his earlier offerings, certainly does!

The Dead Zone was one the first Stephen King novel I read ad I was instantly hooked. It tells the story of Johnny Smith, who after suffering a near fatal accident in a taxi falls into a deep coma which lasts for over four years. Awakening after this time he finds that his fiancee has married someone else and that his life is completely changed. He also discovers that he now has a bizarre ability to be able to see snippets of a person's future by touch alone, gift(curse?) which brings him elebrity statis and further changes his life for the worse. His new-found 'freak' status means that he is no longer welcome to return to his job as a school teacher but instead finds work doing private tutoring and involves himself in politics by wandering around conventions shaking politicians hands so that he can see what their future holds...

Previous to this we are show a travelling salesman by the name of Greg Stilson who is shown to be a particularly unpleasant character in one of the most unpleasant(in my animal-loving eys anyway) scenes I have read in a King novel. I must say that animal cruelty seems to feature quiet prominently in some of King's work, but then I suppose he plays on what we the public are going to find repulsive to achieve the required reaction. Stilson arrives at a house and finds no one home but a barking dog which I guess annoys him so after spraying a vinegar solution into its eyes, procedes to kick it to death...for no apparant reason other than the fact that he is having a bad day.


The paths of these two characters collide when Smith eventually comes across Greg Stilson, now a future presidential candidate, and sees through his handshake that he will precipitate a nuclear war in the future unless he never becomes President. Naturally Smith is dismissed as a crank by Stilson who continues his political ascendancy and Smith vows that he must be stopped...whatever it takes...

This novel is a real pager turner. King creates two strong characters in the sapling, pathetically weak Smith and the strong yet highly repugnant Stilson. Smith is shunned by society for his bizarre curse and appearance, whilst Stilson, a borderline psychopath who will later cause a nuclear war, is accepted with open arms because of his sharp suit and glittering smile. Neither character is particulary appealing to the reader but in the true nature of humanity we find ourselves rooting for the underdog who is Smith. King makes him feel like a friend, whilst Stilson is never portrayed as anything but a sleazy piece of scum right from the very beginning. Its a great story from start to finish. We are of course asked to swallow a number of gaping plot holes and believe the unbelievable along the way, but open wide and do so because if you can then you are in for a treat.

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