Settle into a chair with sturdy armrests and hang on to explore Stephen King’s new horror novel, Cell (2006, Scribner, New York, 351 pages).
In many respects, Cell qualifies as a typical King yarn. Bloodshed erupts on page seven, and chaos accelerates until the end. This famous author has delivered similar tales before – about hazardous journeys and struggles to survive in a world gone wonky. Who knew that cell phones could wreak such havoc?
This time, the readers tag along with Clayton Riddell, a comic-book artist and teacher visiting Boston to secure a publishing deal. Like King and legions of his characters, this protagonist hails from Maine.
Clay teams with ragtag disaster survivors to battle flocks of former cell-phone users driven mad by their favorite hi-tech devices. Sadly, the plot shows a gap big enough to drive through in a tour-bus -- readers never learn the origins or motivations for the massive assault by mobile phones.
As always, King’s magical use of details makes the story chillingly real. When the first murder victim, then alive, orders a sundae at a Mister Softee truck, she receives “a white Alp with chocolate and strawberry coursing down its sides”. Readers nearly taste the cool treat.
This novel exploits the public’s fears about mobile-chat health hazards. Some King fans may dread using their cell phones again, but that’s probably a good thing.
Is the plot credible? Yes, to the same degree as all King’s tall tales.
As for the moral of the story: “There’s a reason why cell rhymes with hell”.
For more information: www.stephenking.com.
Approval rating: 77 per cent
(September 13, 2006)
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Stephen King:
no fan of cell phones.
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