Not his best, and not the best zombie book out there
I love some of King’s books (Under the Dome, The Stand, 11/22/63) but this one, Cell, was a bit of a disappointment. It’s not bad (it has the King hallmark of pulling you in and engrossing you) but there are much better King novels out there, and much better zombie books. Try World War Z (obviously) and Rhiannon Frater’s As the World Dies trilogy.
Read the first pages of Frater’s trilogy and tell me it’s not the most horrifying, sad, gripping things you’ve read in a long time:
Back in the day I used to scorn writers like Stephen King (or Frater). That was before I understood their particular skills, and painted them all with the dismissive brush of ‘not literary, so not worth wasting time on’. Oh the naivety of youth, the arrogance of the English Lit. graduate. Today, King’s merits are better recognized, including the literary foundation in epic myth, tragedy, etc. of many of his novels. Not to mention that he’s a master storyteller.
Still, even the greatest have their off days.
Find Cell on Amazon and at other bookstores. Or check out:
- Under the Dome
- The Stand
- 11/22/63
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