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)

King doin' his thang'

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Interesting and crazy. Good.

Amazon.com lost my original review when the hijacked Audible. Since I can no longer my original review and have not listened to this title in some time I can only give and good bad or ugly. No specifics until I can read/listen to again.

Shephen King, what can I say!

No matter how unusual a story plot by King, you just know it could probably happen. Cell is no exception. The characters are well developed and believable. You listen to them work through their altering reality,and keep pulling for them...I did like Insomnia better, though for its believability. Campbell Scott does a fine job of presenting different voices for the various characters and the book would certainly not be as good without him.

Awesome book.

A new take on Zombies. Love it wish it didnt have to end. A must listen for any zombie fan

True horror

Atypical for Stephen King, and a lesser work, but what rises is King's essential humanity, the love that binds father to son, man to woman, person to person. Most writers lose character to plot.

King at his best!

A new Stephen King novel is always cause for celebration, even if it does involve killer cell phones, zombies and plenty of gruesome characters. True to form, King's story is another testament to the resiliency of the human animal. A terrific, edge-of-your-seat story.

The end not so good

Similar to The Stand but not nearly as good. I devoted too many hours to listening to this book for it to end the way it did. I liked the book a lot, but I was very disappointed with the end.

Classic King

I enjoyed this book; Stephen King has once again shown that he is a masterful writer. The resolution was good, the pacing drew me through the story, and I thought the plot was interesting. Highly recommended. I'm back to listening to King again!

Decent

This is typical Stephen King fare. He puts the hook into you and doesn't let go until the end. My problem is with the narrator. I've noticed there are quite a few reviewers who've enjoyed the job Campbell Scott does. I just couldn't fully immerse myself in the story because of the droning of Scott's delivery. Blah and blase. It was like Stephen Wright was reading the story to me -- pretty apathetic.

I guess it's possible I am influenced by the previous book I purchased from Audible. I've recently finished listening to George R.R. Martin's "A Storm Of Swords" (third of a series). The book is narrated by Roy Dotrice. Now, there is a narrator. The best I've come across so far.

Anyway, "Cell" is a book worth using a credit on. Lots (and lots) of descriptive gore, with a nice story line that keeps you listening. Stephen King doing his thing.

Good but not Great

I enjoyed King's latest novel. It was basically the same story line as "The Stand" which I loved. I enjoyed the more grotesque scenes in the beginning. But it did get a bot lack luster as the victims became a bit less horrific. The ending just stunk. I was prepared for it though, as several other reviewers had already warned me. I'd say it's still an entertaining listen.

Entertaining but one dimensional

Any additional comments?

Cell is Stephen King's take on the Zombie genre. Like a good horror writer King takes a thing that is common place and normal and turns it into something scary. The idea is interesting and the story is entertaining but I got the feeling King didn't put much time into the details. Good character development might not be expected from some of the underground writers but I did expect more from King. The main characters are thrown together very quickly in the first few chapters. They have a kind of movie type bonding where total strangers are suddenly totally loyal and committed to each other even though they just met and really have nothing in common. In the beginning it seems forced.

The other thing is that, except at the very beginning, the reader never feels that the main characters are in any danger from the phone crazies. Again it seems forced. After the first pulse their main danger comes from fellow survivors. As the story goes on we just accept that the characters are sticking together for no good reason and that they are probably in no danger from the "zombies", it gets somewhat better.

Finally, similar to the story, Campell Scott's narration takes some getting used to. He has a voice like comedian Jim Gaffigan and when people are yelling it comes out like some of Gaffigan's hoarse comedy bits. Beyond that, Scott does a good job.

Perhaps my expectations were too high because of King's "Master of Horror" reputation. If this were written by an unknown my expectations would likely have been lower and I may have appreciated it more. It is an entertaining 'weekend at the beach' or 'long flight' type of listen. For Zombie fans it adds a different type of spin on the tale.