Cell

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Campbell Scott

Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

On October 1st, God is in His heaven, the stock market stands at 10,140, most of the planes are on time, and Clayton Riddell, an artist from Maine, is almost bouncing up Boylston Street in Boston. He's just landed a comic book deal that might finally enable him to support his family by making art instead of teaching it. He's already picked up a gift for his long-suffering wife, and he knows just what he'll get for his boy Johnny. Why not a little treat for himself? Clay's feeling good about the future.

That changes in a hurry. The cause of the devastation is a phenomenon that will come to be known as The Pulse, and the delivery method is a cell phone. Everyone's cell phone. Clay and the few desperate survivors who join him suddenly find themselves in the pitch-black night of civilization's darkest age, surrounded by chaos, carnage, and a human horde that has been reduced to its basest nature...and then begins to evolve.

There are 193 million cell phones in the United States alone. Who doesn't have one? Stephen King's utterly gripping, gory, and fascinating novel doesn't just ask the question "Can you hear me now?" It answers it with a vengeance.

©2006 Stephen King (P)2006 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"King's imagining of what is more or less post-Armageddon Boston is rich, and the sociological asides made by his characters along the way...are jaunty and witty." (Publishers Weekly)

Cell

I enjoyed The Stand so I found that I enjoyed the format/theme of this book as well. HOWEVER, I felt cheated and frustrated after nine hours of listening to have the cheap blow of what I would call an"easy-out" ending. Do not expect a comfortable wrap up of the story, just enjoy the progress of it. If you need conclusions, this is not a book for you.

excellent entertainment!!

grab your better half..light a fire, grab some wine..good for date nights,..parceled it out for 3 days.. and left us open for discussion.Great ..we had good conversation and debate after it ended.:)

WOW!

I have to admit that I have never been a huge Stephen King fan, but WOW! I look at my cellphone in a whole new way now... I was hooked within the first few minutes, I like that in a book. I found it very easy to care about the characters and got a little teary eyed a couple of times.

As I would expect from Mr. King, this book is extreamly well written. His ability to paint a picture with words had me grimacing at times as he described the gorey stuff, but the book would have been lacking otherwise. I do have to agree with other readers that the book is in need of a sequel, I just hate to be left hanging.

I would very highly recommend this book to anyone, especially fans of Stephen King. I will most certainly be downloading more of his works in the future.

Love this book!

Thus is a book I go back to time and time again. Great story for anyone that enjoys "post apocalyptic" stories. It really grabs you and keeps you engaged through the whole thing.

Edge of your seat kind of book

Was awesome, good listening, kept me wanting to listen more almost did a marthon listen just to find out what would happen next. my First stephen king book and i enjoyed it very much.

Are you kidding me? THIS BOOK IS FANTASTIC!!!!!!

Best audiobook Ever. Listened in one shot without stopping. The reader did a great job, and Steven King killed it per usual - pun intended, but with sincerity.

King Phones this one in

Any additional comments?

It's perfectly serviceable and entertaining if just taken for what it is. It's there to be enjoyed in the same way a cheesy horror movie is.

It's somewhat charming in it's descriptions of outdated technology, poorly researched science and social commentary about how everyone will soon be on a cell phone (scary!).

I realize I haven't said anything good here but if you like this kind of thing, which I do then it's worth a listen. In Stephen King movie terms, avoid if you're looking for a classic like The Shining but pick it up if you're looking for The Langoliers, its a fun cheesy, low budget romp.

A Fun Ride, but not Standard King

Immediately before listening to this title, I downloaded and listened to The Shining. The degree of difference in the quality of the two books is palpable. While The Shining is a superb horror story, Cell can only be said to be entertaining. That being said, though, it is entertaining with "Into the breach", full-blown Stephen King-style, and I won't lie and say I didn't enjoy it in a very visceral sense. And, contrary to other reviewers, I had no problems with the ending at all; a tight wrap-up style ending would have left me dissatified given the apocolyptic nature of the book. Definitely worth the listen.

Cell-a page turner!

Stephen King has never failed to thrill, scare, and sometimes gross us out with his engaging and riveting prose. It takes regular people in regular settings, and turns reality 180 degrees. It all starts out with something that millions of people do everyday, make a call on a cellphone, and from there moves on to incredible and somehow chillingly realistic circumstances. That is the catch I find. The events Stephen King describes in CELL could really happen. People going berzerk, murder, and psychotic madness. Unlike some his earlier works, King takes the murderous, chaotic rampages of just a few people, and applies that to the whole world. Unlike THE STAND, this book doesn't define what the evil is behind the scenes, we just see the effects. If I had to fault CELL on any point, that would be that we never see the malevolent force behind the signal that drove 3/4 of the world into a never before imagined tale of doomsday. All we see is four people, thrown together by a complete social upheaval, trying to survive. Stephen King caresses our fear, and knows the limits to our comfort zone, and that's where he takes us.

familiar?...thank god yes!!

i don't normally write a review, but i had to in this case. i read some reviews...mostly popular,but i couldn't help but feel upset by some of the negative stuff. cell takes us to familiar ground in kings writing style. particularly the dead zone and pet semetary. ofcourse some may feel that he is repeating himself...i say in style only...and for this i am very glad. the premise may be an end of the world senario, but the style belongs to king alone. the amount of goosebumps generated from this work alone is enough to give it a 5 star rating. whenever you can feel for a character or characters you know you are in the middle of a good yarn. this is the first full length novel since king retired and i could feel the natural flow of a gripping and downright horrifing story. personally i loved this book and hope stephen king stays retired for many years to come.