The Dead Zone - Stephen King

Date of reading: 06/01/2021

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Signet

Year: 1979

Rating: 4.5/5

About the book:

Johnny, the small boy who skated at breakneck speed into an accident that for one horrifying moment plunged him into The Dead Zone.

Johnny Smith, the small-town schoolteacher who spun the wheel of fortune and won a four-and-a-half-year trip into The Dead Zone.

John Smith, who awakened from an interminable coma with an accursed power—the power to see the future and the terrible fate awaiting mankind in The Dead Zone.

Review:

    Will you have a panic attack if I confess this is my first Stephen King book? Yes, yes, I know I should be ashamed but what can I do? I have always known him to be a horror author, a genre I prefer to set aside (do have enough demons haunting my living world, thank you so much). But the guilt finally caught on and so here I am finally finishing one of King's book which doesn't have ghosts or zombies or whatever other creepy things out there.

    Johnny Smith is a small-time school teacher who slipped into a coma after a car crash. He wakes up after four and a half years with psychic abilities to know about  a person through touch. He could have been famous, but what Johnny needed was some normalcy in his life. But is it possible to run away from his powers? Especially when he also gains the ability to predict the future?

    Admitting that Stephen King is one hell of a writer would be an understatement. It might be a 1980s book, but it still took my breath away. The narration, character development and the plot twists had made me realised that this is a book that was waiting for me. 

    Well, that doesn't mean I agree with everything though, especially the last part. If you know someone is going to be killer (or start a nuclear war) in future, what will you do? Kill him yourself? It raises another question. If your future is predetermined, then can a killer be judged for following his destiny? Predicting a natural disaster is fine, but seeing someone's future years ahead didn't really agree with me.What is the use of human will then, if everything is preordained?

    Yup, the story for sure had made an impression. Could I be counted as one of the fans now? Let's wait and see.

Meet the author:

Stephen Edwin King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. His books have sold more than 350 million copies, and many have been adapted into films, television series, miniseries, and comic books. King has published 61 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman, and five non-fiction books.[3] He has also written approximately 200 short stories, most of which have been published in book collections.