Reader reviews

• trayceetee

  (5/5)

  This was the very first Stephen King book I ever read (at age 12, btw), and I'm surprised I never re-read it until now. It's the one that got me hooked on King- - and I mean HOOKED. Yet, I never revisited this one....
  I saw that it was recently released inn audio, with James Franco reading it. I was convinced: time tho luck this baby up again! So glad I did! It's even better than I had remembered, plus Franco brings such richness to the story with his reading of it! I highly recommend this book to you, even (especially?) if you're not a King fan.... it's different from his usual fare.
• msaucier818

  (4/5)

  I always love returning to Stephen King. This was one of his earlier novels and I had not heard too much about ti. Apparently there was a movie made out of it many years ago. I think this story has aged well. It is classic King with his ability to tell a story, foreshadow, and really get into the minds of his characters. This novel follows a person with supposed psychic abilities, and while fantastical, the story does seem plausible. I enjoyed the read.
• kathay-1

  (5/5)

  There are probably some faults with this book, but I easily love it the best out of all of my Stephen King favourites so I had to rate it as "amazing".
  
  I still remember the first (of many, many, many) time that I read it and how it got me so emotionally worked up that I wanted to shake characters and shout in their faces "just believe him! Why don't you believe him?"
  
  Frustrating, emotional, gripping, and overall a book that left me better off than it found me.
• theoriginalbree

  (4/5)

  Yeah...Stephen King is a good writer. Amazing, actually. I was disappointed by the ending of this book. Don't get me wrong. I had a better time reading this than trying to look for something to watch on TV. The ending just didn't sit right with me.
• beebowallace

  (3/5)

  I like King's early novels, I feel they're the best in his catalog. That being said, I was quite disappointed with The Dead Zone. The storyline felt all over the place - nothing held my interest throughout the book.
• catellington

  (2/5)

  This novel is not so much horror as it is, say, maybe suspense ... if you could even call it that.
  
  I found The Dead Zone to be very slow, short of boring. And I can remember the feeling of wanting to abandon it midway through, but I dislike starting something and not finishing it, so I trekked on...
  
  Maybe for some The Dead Zone would be a great and cozy read, but the writing, as far as I'm concerned, is "uncharacteristic" of King.
• carol420

  (4/5)

  A coma patient awakens after several years and finds that he can see future events just by touching people. He didn't ask for this gift and he doesn't want it! A later TV series was made from this book with all the characters created by Stephen King. The fist couple of seasons stayed close to the book but began to take on a life of their own in later seasons.
• marlene9nl

  (4/5)

  It has been ages since I read this book and that was when I only read my books translated in Dutch. I am glad I now have an English copy and planning to read it one day again.
• joel.g..gomes

  (4/5)

  After watching a few episodes of the television show (and a glimpse of the movie with Christopher Walken and director David Cronenberg) I already knew much of what happened in this book story. So why read it? Because, adaptation issues aside, it's still a Stephen King book and he's not the kind of writer who delivers a bad book. Sure, they may not be all perfect, but there's always a lot of good qualities in them.
  
  THE DEAD ZONE has very few, if any, things against it. It's well written, well developed and well plotted. The main story doesn't differ much from what happens in the movie, but it would be impossible to fit everything that happened in an almost 500 pages novel into a movie with less than two hours. Adapting a movie usually requires that the unessential aspects be trimmed and that's fine if you don't read the book prior to watching the movie. Or if you're kind the person who can separate one thing from the other, without making futile comparisons.
  
  Everything that isn't in the movies or in the TV series is not essential to the story. True. Stephen King could easily have told the same story without those small secondary story lines. But it's those story lines, those unnecessary peaks at the characters that make like Stephen King so much. He could have written THE DEAD ZONE without them, but it would not have been the same book. Nor as good.
• srboone

  (3/5)

  King's foray into the thriller genre isn't as successful as his earlier titles. It's talky and dense, but with the sharp characterizations king is known for.
• andyray_1

  (5/5)

  King just started hitting his stridewith tthis story about a man given the gift of insight and prenostacation. He sees a future candidate for the U.S. presidency who will start WWIII and take out humanity.
• karieh_2

  (4/5)

  Funny thing? The face on the cover of my copy (published in 1980) looks eerily like Anthony Michael Hall who would portray Johnny in the TV series (which I also like) MANY MANY years later. Hmmmm....
• glamrockskisuit

  (4/5)

  This was my first Stephen King book and although he isn't one of my favourtie authors I still think he is good. I liked the book. There were some quite creepy moments but like most of his books it wasn't exactly action packed...more like...subtle action...oh I dunno...heehee
• santhony_35

  (4/5)

  As with many of King's works, I find his books that deal with real people to be far scarier and more entertaining than the books that involve supernatural (and many times silly) monsters and beings. Gerald's Game, Dolores Claiborne, The Shining, Misery are terrifying without being ridiculous.
• jvalka_1

  (4/5)

  The first half of the book is rather slow to get going, focusing mainly on Johnny's relationship with his parents and Sarah, a woman he loved just before the crash. I really like the Wheel of Fortune scene at the fair though, and how it becomes a recurring symbol. This heat up when he tracks down Frank Dodd, but the investigation is over rather abruptly. Nevertheless, King does a fine job plotting here, with Frank Dodd and the restaurant fire premonition leading Johnny to the inevitable conclusion that he must assassinate Greg Stillson for the great good of the world. Johnny is tormented by his psychic gift and the way it distances him from other people, haunted by his mother's words that God has a mission for him to do.
• stefany_6

  (5/5)

  For some reason, my recollection of reading this book before was very vague. Therefore, I went into the rereading process without knowing what to expect at all. Boy, was I surprised. After finishing it, I think that The Dead Zone is one of King's best novels.The character development is superb and I think that Johnny Smith is possibly one of King's best developed characters. We also spend considerable time with his family members and the principle villains and these characters are all strongly developed and quirky in their own ways.The story, while not action packed, takes the reader completely into the world of Johnny Smith, a regular guy with a bit of psychic ability and some incredibly bad luck. A big part of the storyline revolves around the political climate of the 70's but it is written in such a way that it stays interesting throughout. I honestly did not experience any moments of boredom with the story.As I'm finding with several King books that I've re-read lately, The Dead Zone is not really a horror novel at all. There's a little bit of gore and graphic violence and of course King's choice of language is a bit colorful at times, but really this is a good suspense story with a bit of politics and psychic powers thrown in for good measure.All in all a GREAT novel. I highly recommend it.
• djupstrom

  (4/5)

  Interesting concept...seeing the future after waking up from a coma. I wonder if it has something to do with the time while you were a vegetable and your brain not functioning, that when you come out of it you mind is doing double time to make up for all the time lost. Think of all the possibilities!
• wyvernfriend

  (3/5)

  Not being either a Stephen King or a Horror fan I haven't read many of his books. However having started watching the series (I love the satelite sometimes - it's on SciFi) I had this intense urge to find out how the series compared with the book. There are definite links, those links made by a fan when he's using a book as a starting block and running from there. I would suspect that the differences should start to make themselves more evident in the next couple of episodes. The first episode was very derivative - even down to the murderer and other events. (Deirdre trying hard not to do spoilers on either)It is an interesting read, even if the stress on John Smith is unremitting.
• eldaveer

  (5/5)

  This is one of Stephen King's better books.If you were transmitted back in time to 1910, would you kill Adolf Hitler? That's the premise this book works off of. Fascinating novel.
• krypto_1

  (5/5)

  I imagine I must have identified with the main character, as this book really got to me (it's had remarkably little effect on people I've recommended it to, mind). It's a reasonably simple plot: a man wakes from a long-term coma to find he has mental powers, but Stephen King's masterful writing ability puts it way above the average tale. I believed every minute of it, and was literally shaking at the conclusion.
• csweder

  (3/5)

  There is a lot of heartache and misery in this book. But pretty decent.
• salem801

  (4/5)

  This was my favourite King book for a long time until I decided to re-read it and couldn't get into it again. Loved in my 20's but one of those great memories that it is perhaps better not to go back to
• mrtall_1

  (5/5)

  One of King's best. Creepy, compelling and even tragic.
• sturlington_1

  (5/5)

  This is the King book I always recommend to newcomers to King. Great plot, well-done characterization, light on the blood and gore -- this is not what they will be expecting.
• lsepulveda_280039

  (4/5)

  That's a sad story! Almost all the book there are just bad moments for John Smith (main character). The Dead Zone tell us the issues that a person with supernatural powers to "see" the future can face in a skeptic society. It also puts a difficult question: If you had paranormal vision and had a chance to stop something very bad to happen, would you stop it even if no one would belive and you would be in jail or dead?The Dead Zone is not the kind of book I really love, firstly because is not a horror story and secondly because I think it could be shorter, or maybe King should emphasize more about the main trama, which I found shallow.
• anagarika

  (4/5)

  Classic King. An amazing read.
• elizajane_1

  (5/5)

  Reason for Reading: I am re/reading Stephen King's books in chronological publishing order. This was my next book. I have also gotten into the habit of starting my year off with a Stephen King novel.I was really looking forward to this one. I have fond memories of really enjoying the book. I have only read it once before which was this exact paperback copy and I would have been 12 at the time. I don't really remember the story from the book, though, as I have flashes of scenes from the movie with Christopher Walken in my head, some which actually don't even happen in the book. And I was a fan of the TV series which was loosely based on the same premise as the book. So it was great to re-read the original and get the real story firmly planted in my head again.Excluding the Bachman books, up to this date "The Dead Zone" was King's first non-horror story. This is a story about a psychic and involves him solving a serial killer case and later on facing a prediction that he must decide whether he should take care of the problem before it happens and contemplates that age old hypothetical question, "If you could go back to 1932, knowing what you now know, would you murder Adolph Hitler?" The book carries a rather small cast, comparitively for a King book and we get to know Johnny, the main character, very well. He is very likable and someone we can relate to throughout the book. This book kept me up late at night as I just didn't want to put it down and had virtually forgotten how the book ended though it wasn't hard to predict. King uses very little stream of consiousness in this book; it is a plot driven novel with great character insight and a fast read. I loved it even more than I expected to! Great early King!While re-reading these books, I also like to look for the connections to previous books and found three while reading. A girl actually mentions the book "Carrie", there is a street named Flagg (a nod to Randall Flagg from The Stand) and the town of Jerusalem's Lot is mentioned. (otherwise known as 'Salem's Lot). If you are not really into horror books but would like to sample Stephen King, this is an excellent book for your first read and fans can't miss out on this classic old-school King novel.
• phaga_2

  (3/5)

  This wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a great book either. The ending was weak and seemed rushed compared to the rest of the story. Almost like King was told to cut the length so he just chopped the ending drastically while leaving the rest of the story intact. This gave the story an unbalanced feel. His characters, like always, are the strongest aspect of the story.
• les121

  (5/5)

  A suspenseful, tragic, masterfully written tale. So far it's my favorite of King's books.
• vkb1

  (5/5)

  I've read quite a few of King's books, and this has to be one of his best. The story is tightly woven (the way I like my books) unlike some of King's others, where one is left wanting more of a resolution or explanation. King dips into the unexplored recesses of the mind over and over again, but he does it here flawlessly.