THE DEAD ZONE

written by Stephen King

published by Sigent

ISBN-10: 0451155750

ISBN-13: 978-0451155757

reviewed by Adam Armstrong

05.03.2008

Johnny Smith, no middle name or initial, is the quintessential average American Joe. Johnny is a good teacher, good son, and has a good girl, Sarah Bracknell. A horrible car crash leaves Johnny in a coma for four and a half years. He wakes up to find that his girl has married another, his mother is falling quickly into religious hysteria, the world moved rapidly along without him, and he has an ability to know things by touching people or objects. While Johnny slept a man in a small town of Castle Rock, Maine began to kill. In New Hampshire a politician named Greg Stillson is running a very strange and very crooked campaign that will take him far. Johnny quickly finds that he has a power that he doesn’t want. But it is a power that could stop a killer, or save the world.

I first read this book sixteen years ago and boy does it hold such a different meaning now than it first did. With the modern guerrilla politics I could really see someone like Stillson coming on the scene and making great headway. This book is a little different than most King books; it is rife with beautiful and descriptive writing, but the plot dominates where most King books the characters are the most memorable aspect. A great book is a story wrapped around something deeper. This is a great book, a story wrapped around many deep things. And, unfortunately, I think this book is very relevant in today’s political spectrum.

5 out of 5