Cell by Stephen King (Wow, he's actually good again!)

Holy crap, this is so awesome. Stephen King returns to fine form in this novel (although he's retired...yeah), wherein everyone who happens to be on their cellphones at the time of the signal (or "Pulse" as they say in the book), or who uses it after the signal is turned on, goes crazy. Stark raving mad, like biting the ears off dogs or tearing each other's throats out. This is NOT a zombie book. People do not die and come back to life, or continue to move after they're dead. These people are simply changed. Changed into what is the question that motivates the story.

The plot is simple enough; Clay, an artist, is in Boston when it happens. He happens to be one of the few who doesn't even own a phone. Clay is worried about his wife and son and sets out to find them. Along the way he meets some travelling companions and they journey together. Plenty of things happen along the way, and it's hard to say anything about that without giving plot spoilers. Suffice it to say that the Pulse was just the beginning of what happens to the victims. They don't merely stay crazy and drive themselves to extinction.

There's a number of things I like about this book. First (and what enables the rest) is that it has nothing to do with any of King's previous work. It's a return to the days of Carrie or Christine, except King has learned something about how to make a tight narrative in the intervening years. That's another thing that's good about this book. The story really flows and keeps bumping right along, with no boring interludes where he's developing creepiness through narrative. I don't know about you all, but I always thought that several of the King books would be better if they were shorter (this book is around 360 pages). The characters are pretty well done here, and sometimes you can actually keep track of people by the way they talk. Most writers aren't anywhere near talented enough to pull that off. Plus which, unlike so many of King's previous efforts, he actually didn't make the main character an ass, so that's good. You can actually like these people.

King has returned to a theme he's developed in the past: take an innocuous or innocent object and turn it into a source of terror. He's used cars, proms, clowns, and dogs in the past, and this time his tool is the cellphone. Obviously, so many people use one that this must hit close to home. I imagine many people who read this book looked at their phone afterward and felt at least the tiniest bit of unease. That's a triumph for the author. These days people don't seem to read books in order to feel anything. King can still grab you by the throat sometimes.

I can't tell you whether the book has a happy ending, as that part is partially up to you to decide, and that's another great aspect of the book. King doesn't make this one easy on you.

If you're a King fan, you have to read it. If you just like King occasionally, this will be one of the ones you like. If you hate King, give it a try as I think this time he's avoided most of the stuff that I don't like about some of his books. Read it!