Cell - Stephen King

Ever since the publication of 2002's "From a Buick 8", Stephen King's focus has been on finishing his "Dark Tower" series. There has been the odd side trip, into non fiction for "Faithful", his review of the 2004 Boston Red Sox season and the more recent "The Colorado Kid", which was really little more than a short story and not being in King's usual horror style. Not being a great fan of "The Dark Tower", it was with great anticipation I awaited ...
...to King's strengths and, hopefully, the kind of invention and story telling that first made me a fan twenty years ago and has turned me into one of the people he frequently refers to as "Constant Reader" in the years since. Like many other King fans, I was intrigued to know what he could come up with now. His recent publications have certainly not been amongst his best, almost as if he was writing on auto pilot. Part of this could have been caused ...

Soho_Black 05.03.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

== CELL == ===STEPHEN KING === I have come to the decision that Stephen King doesn't care much for modern technology-or the people who've created much of what we now rely on for everything in life day to day. In some of his other books, King has created worlds where Man-made viruses wipe out more than 99% of the world's population leaving the survivors facing a battle of biblical proportions. Cars inhabited by evil spirits kill people, or all the ...
...he hates mobile phones (or cell phones as we are being American in this book), and I don't think he cares much for the people who use them, uncaring of those around them. It certainly is a fact that we have become a society hooked on those little appliances, leaving manners, good sense and privacy to one side as we chatter and text away. In his own warped way King shows what could happen IF. If someone created some sort of virus-called in the book ...

oldchem 08.11.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...seem to be those without cell phones. A dawning realization strikes terror into Clay's heart. His son has a cell phone, it is rarely charged but what if it was at the time of "The Pulse"? Clay and his new found friends Tom and Alice escape across a burning Boston in a race against time to get to his son before he switches on his phone. "Cell" is the long awaited novel for Stephen King fans as it is the first in many years to have no obvious association ...
...King. The premise of Cell phones being responsible for a mass madness that turns the population into zombies (known as "phoners") is certainly an original take in a much travelled genre. However, King's tenuous explanations rely a bit too much on leaps of faith in terms of logic. The presumption that human brains and computers are very similar is a handy plot device but leaves the reader a little bemused and non-believing. Something rare in a King ...

Shortsharpshock 07.03.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...needed to be explained - Cell didn't do that. The mysterious signal sent to the phones was never explained satisfactorily beyond the terrorist attack - no clever theorizing here which I would expect from King (call me fussy) - to me, this meant that King has just had the great idea for the book and then got lazy and not tried to expand, just fallen back on the apocalypse theme which worked so well in the Stand. As a stand alone novel, it is enjoyable ...
...and how much explanation he requires - perhaps I just expect too much from King these days and a virgin reader may really enjoy this and find the plot entirely plausible? Other things that bothered me were the solution to curing phoners who hadn't been infected on the 'initial' bout - it just didn't ring true to me - the solution was computer related and as a bit of a techie, it just sounded like he hadn't bothered too much with research, a bit like ...

Kes30 01.06.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...soon as I could pre-order Cell I did, the synopsis on the inside jacket cover gripping - - "Civilisation slipped into its second dark age on an unsurprising track of blood, but with a speed that could not have been foreseen by even the most pessimistic futurist. It was as if it had been waiting to go. On October 1, God was in His heaven, the stock market stood at 10'140, and most of the planes were on time (except for those landing and taking off ...
...- I was hooked. Cell is little more than a modern-day Zombie story but King's flair and imagination have brought the archaic category slap-bang into the twenty-first century with style and panache. The story revolves around Clayton Riddell, a struggling artist who - at the beginning of the book - is in a bouncingly good mood thanks to having finally struck a golden contract with his latest cartoon. Clay barely has any time to enjoy his new-found ...

markd_uk 08.05.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...that above, I didn't dislike Cell and actually found it an enjoying read at times, even going as far as being happy I shelled out the extra couple of quid to get the Hardback edition - but it does have a lot of similarities to The Stand, the 'Pulse' wiping out a lot of the world, A 'Good Vs Evil' storyline, The central characters first hearing from the leader of the evil via dreams, and a climatic ending - it was all done 28 years ago in The Stand, ...
...used in Cell weren't even common knowledge back then and the use of them in this tale makes it even more chilling. So if you've got a few quid to spare and want something different then give it a go, but if you're choosing between this and another one, then wait for the paperback release. ...

Angelus 15.03.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

This is my first book review so please bear with me and let me know how to improve it! Cell, Stephen King's latest venture - out now in hard back copy, immediately tells us the central theme of the book by its title and the images on the front cover - cellphones. This is slightly unusual for King to choose such a short, descriptive title, but this is about the only break from King's normal style that we see. The plot of this story is (as outlined ...
...no plot spoilers here!) an apocalyptic one. In less than a month, civilisation as we know it (or more accurately, the americans know it, as there are no global references in this book) is over. This apocalypse has been caused by what has been termed the Pulse - a signal transmitted that is picked up by every mobile phone in usage, and causes the listener to go berserk. The story follows a handful of survivors who either eschewed the use of mobile ...

Pyrokeet 13.04.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...on their mobile phones (or cell phones). Hence the title - Cell. The event that turned the majority of humans into prehistoric becomes known as the Pulse. Clay's first thought is one of survival - after all no-one wants to be killed. He saves the life of another man and they in turn save the life of a young girl. And these three embark on a journey together, a journey to discover what has happened to their fellow men and women and also Clay's own ...
...son, who had a cell phone of his own. My Opinion ************ As a fan of King's, I have to say that I find that all of his books are exceptionally well written. Some have a rather slow start but this one was straight into the nitty gritty of the story, with the backgrounds of characters added in when needed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and will happily read it again and again. The storyline was great, just imagine if it was possible ...

bonsi6337 30.12.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...=== The Story === CELL opens in a very quick and to-the-point way: the main action in the book has started within the first 15 pages, so there's no dawdling. The book follows Clayton Riddell, an artist whose life, along with the many others, is ruined when an event known as the Pulse happens. The Pulse is effectively a virus that affects everyone taking mobile phone calls. It wipes their minds and turns everyone into violent, incoherent renderings ...
...be happy with the way CELL closes. I can understand the concept of letting the reader find their own ending, but that's just not as satisfactory as having an actual ending to go by. Thus, I was not massively impressed when I reached the ending. === Overall === I would say that CELL is worth a read, especially if you're a fan of Stephen King. If you're not, for the reason he writes horror, then check it out, because it's not that horrifying - like ...

OddGodHMK 23.02.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...some chilling reading. The Cell starts with a bang. A serious event happens that effects a large number of people around the main character 'Clayton Riddell'. This incident revolves around mobile phones. Seemingly anyone that is using one at this particular moment is suddenly turned into a psychotic zombie, or seriously brain-damaged. The mobile phone is the weapon of mass destruction. A pulse has been sent by some unknown organization to turn us ...
...primeval rage, into non-reasoning (to begin with) zombies. As mentioned the book opens with a bang. One moment Clayton is happily walking along the sidewalk having sold some of his comic book drawings the next he's in the middle of a warzone as a busy street turns into a battlefield. Where the 'phone-crazies' literally tear bystanders and themselves limb from limb. Cars explode and crash, explosions are heard all over the city. Clayton needs to find ...

mongo_bongocat 17.06.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...setting us up for a Cell 2. Or even better, maybe this will be made into a film, which would be a pretty good one I think, and he was setting this up for a Cell 2 on film! Whatever happens in the future with this story, it will go down as one that I thoroughly enjoyed and will read again in a year or so when the kids give me the time again and if you have not read it yet I suggest you do. If you liked The Stand then this will appeal but don't read ...
...it wasn't and I am glad I began it with an open mind as once the story grips you it won't let go until you have turned the last page. I brought mine from Amazon on hardback for £10 but it is available cheaper than that if you look around on eBay and the like. ...

wendybull 20.09.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...the first few pages of Cell hooked me, it read pretty much like a King work of old, maybe not as gruesome, but certainly edgey. The basic storyline starts with a young comic book artist (maybe another King experience, he has published comics) called Clay sucsessfully selling his new comic to a publisher which means he, his wife and young son will have a better life, then of course, in true King style, something mucks it all up. That something is ...
...nightmare, people attacking people, behaving like crazed feral animals, biting and killing, this happens almost everywhere, almost overwhelmingly for Clay and he battles to find safety amongst the carnage. Clay soon realises that the people affected by this crazy behaviour have all been on their cellphones (mobiles to you and me) and he starts to think about his son and wife who have acsess to cellphones, as does almost everyone else and wonders ...

paulhanton 16.01.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...one of his low points. Cell was in fact the first Stephen King book I attempted to read, and knowing of his renown as a world famous horror writer was massively dissappointed. After stopping a quarter of the way through and working my way through such classics as "It" and "The Stand" I returned to "Cell" to finally finish it - I often wonder why I bothered. * Daily Mail ...

PanTaLemon 16.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

Cell: Stephen King I'd never read a Stephen King novel until "Cell". In all the years, through all the cases of books, there isn't a complete King novel in my memory. I encountered his short stories once, somewhere along the way ("The Langoliers" has etched itself in my mind as one of the most disturbing stories ever). I started "It", "Rose Madder" and "Insomnia" but none of these readings went past the first thirty pages. Therefore, my preconceptions ...
...short read… about thirty pages. The opening scene crushed my negative preconceptions. The surrealistic nature of the situation in which lead character Clay finds himself, combined with the grotesque images that King pours on to the page, caught my attention immediately. This was short-lived, however. By page 60, my interest had begun to wane despite Clay and Tom's encounter with Alice, a character who becomes an integral part of the story. I was ...

chellbian 31.08.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King

...The first chapter of Cell is one of the most captivating, gory and addictive first chapters that I have ever read, which really surprised me as King has a bit of a repuation for slow starts. Absolutely full of horror, the reader is made aware that whenever people answer their mobile (or cell) phones, something terrible happens, like a virus which basically turns them into ravenous terrifying zombies. The main character teams up with a few other survivors ...
...take to try and get home to find out if their loved ones have been affected. While in effect, this is your basic King horror, this story explores something more. For a start, it shows how the rise in technology has led us to total dependency upon it. So much so that this mobile phone "virus" (as I'll call it for convenience's sake) manages to wipe out an entire nation in a matter of days. The beauty of the idea being that people see that something ...

faybee 06.10.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Cell - Stephen King