The Dead Zone (1979)
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The Dead Zone Book Review
The Dead Zone is a 1979 thriller novel written by author Stephen King. It is a very strong, immensely entertaining read.
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“We all do what we can,
and it has to be good enough,
and if it isn’t good enough,
it has to do“
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It follows a man who after an accident ends up in a coma for nearly five years. When he finally awakes, he now has the power of clairvoyance and precognition. So the novel is very much a thriller book but with a fantasy/sci-fi setup. It is very episodic in nature so I am going to comment upon each of its segments.
First off, the beginning. I found the opening of the book excellent and very inviting as a hook with the county fair part being particularly intriguing. Next, the media coverage and his first experiences with his newfound abilities are also very well described and interesting.
But the highlight is easily the part where he has to solve murders and find a massive murderer. In my opinion, that is where the book became incredibly entertaining and also palpably thrilling/creepy as well as atmospheric. The tension was high and the entire realization scene was easily the highlight of the entire book. Very powerful stuff.
However, the political segment did not work for me as much as the rest of the book did. It isn’t bad, but it just wasn’t as terrific or as fun as the first half was. Especially the build-up and Greg’s chapters felt disappointing and slow. However, the eventual ending is excellent. I loved how it all went down and the tragic finale is very moving while also being a perfect, memorable conclusion.
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Let’s talk about its characters. Johnny Smith is overly heroic in my opinion, but still a memorable, well realized and likable protagonist. His relationship with Sarah is particularly effective and I liked it quite a bit. I found their romance very familiar, but still it was so well written that it worked.
The father is a very likable man but the mother annoyed me. King is known for these types of crazy religious lunatics among his characters and thus I wasn’t too thrilled about her. But all of the other characters are very good and they served their purpose. Even Greg Stillson was fine, but definitely overly used.
The Dead Zone has its problems. As I said above, I found Greg Stillson’s chapters to be very boring for the most part and they stopped an otherwise stellar flow of the rest of the book. Stephen King’s writing here isn’t the strongest. He definitely describes well and some of the imagery and plot developments are almost iconic here, but he uses his typical structure with splitting the characters into chapters and I just wasn’t too thrilled about that whole approach.
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But the overall story is very strong and the storytelling is terrific. The book isn’t too deep or anything like that, but it is still very sophisticated in its handling of clairvoyance and not to mention fascinating and intriguing. Thanks to its fast pace, interesting characters and many memorable plot turns, the novel was a very fun read for me and it certainly exceeded my not so high expectations. It isn’t on the top of the list when it comes to the author, but it’s not far down the list either and is certainly worth checking out.
The Dead Zone is in the end a very good thriller book. Its overall structure isn’t particularly original, but the storytelling is excellent, the characters are very well developed and the pacing is quite fast leading to an intriguing, mostly riveting novel filled with many instantly memorable plot points and a very good realization of its interesting premise.
