Cell by Steven King

Cell by Steven King

2006 Pocket Star Books

I have never been a fan of science fiction. I have my favorites - Octavia E. Butler of course - but ordinarily I avoid science fiction. What bothers me most about science fiction novels are that they are usually based on characters and situations that can never occur in real life. I like being grounded in real life at all times, situated in real situations with real people, people I can connect with. However, I must admit, begrudgingly, that I liked Cell. I really enjoyed this book.

The book cover reads,

" Graphic artist Clay Riddell was in the heart of Boston on that brilliant autumn afternoon when hell was unleashed before his eyes. Without warning, carnage and chaos reigned. Ordinary people fell victim to the basest most animalistic destruction.

And the apocalypse began with the ring of a cell phone..."

Don't five sentence captions drive you crazy? This book is the story of a technological war, when cell phones erase all that is good and caring in man and leaves them with the survival instincts of a mountain lion: kill or be killed. The empathy and gentleness that defines man has been replaced with a murderous instinct. The few survivors now face a war, how do they survive each day when they are surrounded by murderous zombies? And how do they save the ones they love?

The novel continues with the zombie-like humans slowly regaining their senses and developing extraordinary abilities. They begin to gather as one and working towards one goal, with a definite leader. It is up to Clay and a ragtag group of "normies" that he has collected on his journey to protect the rest of the remaining "normies" wandering around the U.S. from the organizing zombies. And to find a cure.

Unlike most Stephen King novels this one isn't scary so much as it is disturbing and eye-opening. There are a number of wonderfully bloody and macabre scenes in this book. Yet they don't lead to nightmares.

This book begs the question; are we such slaves to technology that man could easily be so corrupted by it? It almost makes me want to have technology free days, putting away my Blackberry, my laptop and my desktop.