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    The Dead Zone
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    The Dead Zone
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    The Dead Zone
    Audiobook16 hours

    The Dead Zone

    Written by Stephen King

    Narrated by James Franco

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Stephen King's fan-favourite thriller read by Academy Award nominee James Franco.

    The two things that conjured up that horrible night, were his run of luck at the Wheel of Fortune, and the mask . . .

    Meet Johnny Smith. A young man whose streak of luck ends dramatically in a major car crash. Followed by blackness. A long, long time in cold limbo.

    When he wakes up life has been turned upside down. His fiancée has met someone else. And Johnny is cursed with the power to perceive evil in men's souls. He's had these hunches since he had an ice-skating accident as a child. Now he has an ability to see into the future. An ability which will bring him into a terrifying confrontation with a charismatic, power-hungry and dangerous man . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette UK Audio
    Release dateApr 25, 2017
    ISBN9781473647213
    Author

    Stephen King

    Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes Never Flinch (May 2025), the short story collection You Like It Darker (a New York Times Book Review top ten horror book of 2024), Holly (a New York Times Notable Book of 2023), Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. 

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    Reviews for The Dead Zone

    4/5

    2,624 ratings62 reviews

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    • 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.
    • 5/5
      I was concerned that this would be a bloody horror, but no, just a well written novel, in fact I consider it among King's best work. The one I have is the 45th anniversary edition, I doubt that it is significantly different that the first edition.
    • 3/5
      Stephen King's sixth book. Copyright 1979. Didn't seem to flow well. First part had a nice scene with a carnival game and magical ability to predict outcome. The following car crash resulting in a four plus year coma worked for me. However, the character who was the Castle Rock killer and the other character who was an evil politician confused me. I thought they were one person when first introduced. Also was disappointed there were two psychic events involving same type of disaster: A fire. The end of the book's format being different than the other parts added to the strange flow of the book that wasn't working as well as it could. Nonetheless I enjoyed the book as I have enjoyed many by this author.
      9,776 members; 3.8 average rating; 12/15/2023
    • 5/5
      Young professor gets into a car crash while driving back from a date and wakes up from a long coma with the ability to see things in the future. Uses his abilities to try and prevent various and sundry events. Knows that an evil man is growing in power and needs to be stopped.

      Meanwhile, an evil man steadily grows in power, unaware he is being watched.

      The final showdown between the two.

      Stephen King's usual side excursions:

      Hunting down the mystery rapist/murderer who has mommy issues

      Ramifications of not getting a lightning rod placed on a barn where the senior prom is being held.

      Reuniting with a lost love

      That's all I remember from this book. I plan to re-read it again soon.
    • 5/5
      Classic. King is such a natural storyteller. I thought I'd read this aeons ago. but I only remembered the beginning, so I may not have finished it. I have resumed my quest to read Stevie's books in (more or less) chronological order.

      This one is not really frightening like, say the Shining or It, it reads more like a thriller with supernatural overtones. You feel like you have been on a real journey by the end of the book, and it features a very tense finale, which is not true of all King books. The only very slight criticism is that the book is loosely plotted, more episodic in nature, though it's really no less compelling as a result.

      The Dead Zone is justifiably considered a classic, and one of King's better books. I have to say, in the new audiobook version that was just released, James Franco does a very nice job with the narration.
    • 4/5
      I remember being especially excited about this novel when it was originally published, because it was my first hardcover King novel, purchased through my mother's Book of the Month Club membership.

      It was also the first King book I read in a single day.

      Better than three decades later, I found that everything I loved back then, I loved more now. The Johnny's run at the wheel, the capture of the killer, the bittersweet reunion with his lost love, and his ultimate fate.

      But I also found there was a lot that I forgot. His interaction with the doctors and the press. The entire section where he tutors a boy who can't read well. The fire. And so, I enjoyed that stuff even more.

      This is such a tragic novel, and John Smith is such a tragic, yet engaging character. The most normal guy, given a gift he doesn't want. He just wants to be a normal, nice guy.

      Probably still in my top ten, but not quite top five favourite King novels. I wish he did more like this one.
    • 5/5
      I read this book years ago in high school, but re-reading it now felt like I’ve never read it before, as I see the whole story differently being older. It makes me think perhaps I should go back and re-read some of his other stuff that I read so long ago.
      Johnny Smith has had a rough life, physically at least. As a small boy it seems that an accident caused his first psychic event. Over the years, he tries to keep this to himself, but sometimes when he touches someone it happens without him being able to stop it. when he meets the girl of his dreams, another accident gets in the way of happily ever after with her. But this doesn’t stop him from keeping her in his heart and always being aware of what she is doing.
      I love this book because it doesn’t get too crazy like many of King’s later works, and I can see why he became one of my favorite authors way back then. I did not recall the ending so I was pleasantly surprised. It’s hard to say too much without giving away spoilers.
      Bottom line, if you haven’t read this book and you are a Stephen King fan it’s a definite must read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this story. The lead is wonderful. The storyline is great. The Dead Zone is so bittersweet and so wonderful, definitely one of my favorites by SK.
    • 5/5
      Wow. I was't sure I wanted to read the book. I'm a fan of the TV show and I knew the book would be different - also, I haven't read a Stephen King book since Carrie, when I decided that he wasn't a writer I enjoyed. Several people have suggested I try some of his non horror work. Since I started watching the show Haven and realized that it was also work of his I became more open to the idea.

      The book is very different from the TV show, although I can see the seeds of the show scattered hither and yon about the pages. The book and TV show are only related, and different things happen for the most part.

      This book was well written, and the ending was satisfying in a sad way, but a way that left me feeling like the story was complete. The characters are well thought out, and their thought processes are believeable. The descriptions of New England are also right on the money of what I remember from when I lived there.

      I would recommend this book to adult readers.

    • 5/5
      2019: I haven’t reread this novel in many years..... so many years, I’ve no real recollection of when the last time was. But I’ve reread it at least once, I’m sure. (I’m gonna guess that it was sometime in 1996, as I’d read a huge amount that year, having been quite pregnant up until the beginning of August, and in bad health and practically bedridden at the time).
      This novel stood the test of time, easily. I had waited long enough to reread it so that echoes of the last reading were not showing up in my memory (what I have of one, anyway), while doing so. I love that.
      The storyline kept me just as spellbound as the other times reading this novel, and I fell just in love with the characters (except Stillson, that rat bastard) as last time as well. The bitter sweet ending still made me tear up.

      The only thing I *didn’t* like about this novel is the choice of Scribner/Simon and Schuester Audio to use James Franco as the narrator. I just didn’t care for his narrating style, and I thought he had a lot to learn from other, more used and well rounded narrators that are out there today. I’m also wondering if the choice to use this second rate actor was in order to get people to purchase the audiobook when this novel has been published for 30 years give or take, and when these people in charge of this kind of thing knew that lesser known narrators wouldn’t have sold as many copies of the audiobook. Which is a shame, really..... someone else could have done a MUCH better job at this novel.
      While Franco isn’t my favorite actor at all, this isn’t apropos so I’ll just stick to his narrating style. It was a little too quiet at times, a little too calm and gentle when a little more energy could have been helpful, and at other times Franco seemed to just be reading out loud to his junior English classroom/teacher, and barely inflecting his voice so that perhaps he wouldn’t be called on again to read aloud, any time soon...? And he seemed bored as well, during these recitations.
      Franco’s East coast accents were decent, I guess, though a little effected. They worked just barely enough, for most of them, to keep the characters apart... just barely.
      It’s too bad this actor was used, as I, for one, won’t be purchasing the audiobook until another narrator is used.

      Meanwhile, I enjoyed this novel, and was able (for large parts of the time) to ignore my irritation at Franco’s shortcomings in order to enjoy this novel as much as I could. If you like James Franco, then by all means, knock yourself out with it.
      I’m also not discussing the massive, striking similarities of this novel’s Stillson character and a certain bloated, Cheeto-like orangeness in the Oval Office, as it’s been discussed throughout this website, and in other book reviews all over the web - probably ad nauseam.
      Many, many people on gr believe that politics don’t belong here, and they are wrong. So wrong.... as politics effect every aspect of life, including art, literature, and crafts. They can continue to turn a blind eye to this, snug in their privileged bubble of comfort, while others are directly effected every single day. I will not. If you don’t like this very rare speaking out, then by all means, remove yourself from my friend’s list here, or wherever. I won’t mind.

      This novel received 4.5 stars from me before, and this rating stands today. It’s recommended to all.
      And don’t @me if you disagree with my criticism of the current “president”, or his administration, because you won’t change my mind. I’m old, I’m very liberal, and I want you to GET OFF MY LAWN. Thank you.
    • 5/5
      This was one of my first ever Stephen King books. I gave all of my money to my mom in eighth grade when she went to the store and asked her to get whatever King books she could find. This was the only one they had, and I'll be honest, I was skeptical. It didn't sound like the previous books I'd read by him, and I wasn't too sure I'd like it. I was wrong - this is and probably always will be one of my all-time favorite King books.

      It's been a couple years since I last read this, so I decided to reread it. I'm not sure how I ended up with the audiobook, but I decided I wanted to listen to this one because it was narrated by James Franco. I really enjoyed his narration of the book!

      This is one of the most captivating King novels I've read. I sometimes struggle to reread his books because I already know what happens and it just doesn't hold my attention as well as the first time. However, no matter how many times I read this book, I'm always immediately sucked in.

      The book starts with two storylines that eventually merge together, which I've always loved. Each storyline gets graphic, which could be fairly difficult to read at times. Once the two merge together, the pace picks up and it's difficult to put the book down.

      Johnny Smith is one of my favorite King characters. My immediate thoughts on him were that he was a basic, normal man, but with each reread of this book, I'm reminded that he's anything but.
    • 4/5
      This is another one of those books where I saw the movie first and didn't get around to reading the book until years later. King's political thriller hits so many themes that America is still struggling with to this day: dangerous populism, frustration among blue-collar folks, political corruption, and more. Our protagonist, Johnny Smith, finds himself in a nightmarish situation where he can see "flashes" of upcoming events after waking from a coma from a terrible accident 5 years before. He manages to get by for the most part until he comes face-to-face with local New Hampshire politician, Greg Stillson, at a political rally. Smith is horrified with what he "sees" and must come to grips with the most difficult decision he has ever had to make in his life.
    • 4/5
      After 2 accidents causing head injuries almost 20 years apart and 4 years in coma, John Smith has developed psychic powers. When he touches people, he sometimes gets visions. Maybe of something happening right now ( like a house on fire) or in the future (like a family member being injured).
      When he touches Greg Stillson, a House Representative candidate; he sees man who will cause major world destruction. How should he proceed to keep this vision from becoming reality?

      Not one of my favorite King novels. It's a little slow and uneventful most of the book. And I wasn't happy with the ending.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes drawn out, and some of the characters were more evil than necessary, but I enjoyed it overall.
    • 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.
    • 3/5
      John Smith is in a bad car accident, in a coma for over four years. When he awakens, he has the disturbing ability to see things, things in the future. He is labeled a psychic, and called a huckster by many, but he just wants to be left alone. There is a great little section where Sheriff George Bannerman of Castle Rock calls and asks him to help him catch the strangler who has been preying on women and young girls in Castle Rock for six years. John reluctantly goes and when he tells Bannerman that the killer is one of his own deputies, Frank Dodd, Bannerman is stunned and doesn't want to believe it. John persuades him to go to Dodd's house, and they find Dodd has committed suicide. The ending was so great, just spot on, how John doesn't actually kill Stillson like he wants but still is able to discredit him and make him look like a fool.
    • 4/5
      Johnny Smith has lived with physic abilities his entire life but it isn’t until the car accident in his 20s that they become an undeniable ability. He lay in a coma before waking to discover that his girlfriend at the time is now married, that he’s lost four years of his life, and that he now possesses the ability to witness the future of any individual (and sometimes even objects) he touches. Sometimes the future he sees is only a few minutes ahead of the present time but sometimes it’s years ahead. The truth of his abilities are revealed to the public after the highly publicized account of him waking after a four-year coma, and the limelight changes his life irrevocably. He sequesters himself from the public after the demands for his assistance in finding lost loved ones/missing persons, despite his mother, Vera Smith, and her insistence that he was brought back “to do God’s work.” When news of a high-profile serial killer hits his radar, he begins to feel morally obligated to at least try to help. And when he shakes the hand of an up and coming politician and foresees not just his future but the future of the human race, Johnny has to decide what is “right” and if he’s now duty-bound to changing the future so it never becomes our present.“We all do what we can, and it has to be good enough, and if it isn’t good enough, it has to do.”First published in 1979, The Dead Zone ended up being far more relevant to today’s time than I ever would have predicted. The future of the dirty politician that Johnny foresaw is a man by the name of Greg Stillson who started off as a nobody yet rose up in the ranks and quickly became the popular vote for the next President of the United States. His political platform and personal style were aimed towards the working class and he was prided on his honesty but had a definite lack of tact. He completely lacks any political knowledge, has big plans for America (albeit most of them beyond ludicrous), and is a devoutly religious man. Stillson is first introduced almost as a caricature of a real villain, someone that can’t possibly be taken seriously, but you slowly realize his influence on the vast population is something that cannot be brushed off as having little consequence. The ludicrousness didn’t last long after realization dawned. As I said… most relevant, right?The Dead Zone is many stories in one. The beginning is a long drawn out section detailing Johnny’s recuperation in the hospital and the subsequent surgeries that were required for him to ever be able to walk again. Once he’s back on his feet, literally, the story switches focus to catching the serial killer, and you begin to think that that’s the plot except that story finds resolution and hundreds of pages remain. It came off slightly clunky, almost like we were being left out on parts of Johnny’s life that weren’t interesting enough for the page, but at least in this instance, James Franco’s narration gives these characters life. His acting skills are on full display to helpfully differentiate the characters, making Johnny a mellow smooth-talker, and giving Stillson a villainous voice that accurately matches his vile actions. Despite the definite lack of any type of horror (unless you count the potentially horrific reality of it all) and the obvious backpedaling done on that ending, The Dead Zone ended up being a vastly different King than I’ve come to expect but was still no doubt a thrilling story.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 4/5
      This is a political novel and in no way can it be considered a subtle one. Here Republicans (the Tories) are dog killing Nazis and Democrats (the Lib Dems) are gangly school teachers. The Republican God shouts a lot and the Democrat God is that still, small voice.

      While I find King's presentation a bit on the simple side I do like his politics: Let's all be really, really nice to each other and if anyone disagrees with us we should kill them.
    • 4/5
      "The Wheel of Fortune", Part I, of this book is excellent, five star all the way! Part II, "The Laughing Tiger", not so much. Johnny's pursuit of a killer is a much better read than his pursuit of a politician. Still, it makes for an overall good book, and an enjoyable read. Also, it's a little snapshot of the U.S. political climate back in the late '70's, early '80's.
    • 1/5
      The worst Stephen King book I've ever read.

      This was very surprising to me because I absolutely loved the first half of this book and thought that maybe it would be one that I would actually enjoy reading.

      However, the latter half of the book left me extremely disappointed. It started to drag on and on and it went in an entirely different direction than I expected. It's almost like a different person wrote the second half of the book because it was so utterly and completely boring.

      Here's hoping the next King book that I read doesn't turn out to be this horrendous.
    • 3/5
      For Goodreads: 2.5 stars.

      I think I dislike this book a little more every time I read it. The Dead Zone is, for the most part, boring setups that lead to lackluster climaxes, if they can be called climaxes at all. Maybe "payoffs" would be a better word... But I think what I dislike the most about this book is all the political mumbo jumbo. I simply don't give a shit about politics, and this book is full of it. If Johnny Smith isn't thinking about how shitty he has it, he's ruminating on the political climate. This is purely subjective, of course, because if you dig your stories dredged in government, battered in legislature, and fried in policy then this book is definitely for you.

      Honestly, The Dead Zone never had a chance. Not this time around at least. Especially coming off my reread of King's exceptional third outing, The Shining. (In case you're wondering, I skipped The Stand because I just reread it last year.) I suppose The Dead Zone is a perfect example of that old saying: They can't all be winners. King came out the gate with five fantastic novels. He was bound to lay a stinker on the world eventually.

      I do enjoy the first 140 or so pages of this book, but everything's downhill from there. King had some terrific characters, but it seems as if he didn't really know what do with them once they were established. It's funny, because the book feels more like a collection of interconnected short stories than it does a novel.

      Notes on the film and television adaptations: I love Christopher Walken. He's one of my favorite actors. But I've never been able to finish the film adaptation of this book. It bores me to sleep every time. Shit's better than L-tryptophan, son! And the TV series with that dude from Weird Science? All I saw of that were the commercials. I suppose this story just doesn't pique my interest. I do believe this is the final time I'm reading this one. Maybe...

      Notable names:
      Jerusalem's Lot (Obvious)
      Gendron (used throughout the King-verse)
      Richard Dees (the despicable main character of King's short story "The Night Flier")
      Inside View (a gossip rag like The Enquirer that shows up quite bit inside the King-verse. The aforementioned Richard Dees is a headhunter for said magazine.)
      Carrie (mentioned as a book instead of a person)
      And, of course, Castle Rock (No-brainer)

      In summation: One of my bottom five when it comes to King's books, right down there with Wizard and Glass and the absolutely terrible From a Buick 8. I'm definitely not looking forward to my reread of the latter.

      On to Firestarter, which I don't remember at all. I read this one in my teens and haven't read it since. I'm looking forward to it because I don't remember hating it and I dig the movie adaptation very much.
    • 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.
    • 4/5
      Stephen King is an author I like, but a wildly uneven one – some of his books are awful, while some of his books are among the best I’ve ever read. He’s not really high on my priority list, but I’m not averse to reading his stuff when it comes up, and I picked up an old paperback of The Dead Zone for 50p at a library sale.

      One of his earlier books (always a good sign with King), The Dead Zone is enlivened by how much it doesn’t stick to a predictable formula, and it’s really one of those books you want to read knowing nothing about it. Although apparently it was adapted into a Cronenberg film starring Christopher Walken in the 1980s, and a relatively long-running TV series in the 2000s, so maybe it’s more well-known than I thought. I’d only heard of it (and knew the ultimate direction it went in) because I’ve been keeping up with James Smythe’s long-running Re-reading Stephen King series at the Guardian, but I think I would have liked it better if I went in blind, knowing nothing about what happened – not even the first act. So if you haven’t heard of The Dead Zone and you’ve enjoyed anything else King has ever written, stop reading this now and keep an eye out for it. It’s one of his better books and well worth your time.

      If you still want to know more, suffice to say that it follows the life of Johnny Smith, a young man with a latent psychic sense and an ability to predict what lies in the past, present and future of certain people. A life-altering accident heightens this ability like never before, and Johnny must suddenly decide what to do with it – and how to cope with the way people now treat him. Some of the best parts of The Dead Zone are in the unexpected flashes Johnny gets of other people’s lives when he touches their belongings; as he pushes coats aside on a rack at a restaurant and knows that a man there is slowly going mad, or when he handles a 100-year-old photograph and learns that its subject, a man long dead, poisoned his wife. Johnny’s psychic ability is a curse as much as a gift, but King does a good job of making Johnny an affable character and never letting his misgivings and misery seem too self-pitying.

      Stephen King is noted as a horror novelist, but I’ve never personally found that to be a good description of his work, which ranges across the whole gamut of speculative fiction: he has time travel novels, apocalyptic novels, fantasy novels and more. The Dead Zone feels more like a suspense thriller than anything, combining the fantasy aspect of Johnny’s sixth sense with a story of serial killers, FBI agents and something much darker. It’s a little slow to get going, but it ends up being a great read – not as good as something like The Stand, The Mist or The Long Walk, but definitely one of King’s better novels.
    • 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.
    • 3/5
      There is a lot of heartache and misery in this book. But pretty decent.
    • 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.
    • 3/5
      Although a huge fan of King's work, I couldn't really get into this book and didn't feel i could connect with the main character. In the film version, Christopher Walken takes the lead and I have to admit that I enjoyed that more than the book on first reading it.
    • 4/5
      I am slowly but surely working my way through Stephen King's novels chronologically, with the Dead Zone being the most recent book of his I've read to completion, excluding Doctor Sleep. It had been awhile since I first The Dead Zone, and it was sort of like reading it for the first time, since there was so much of it I didn't remember.

      Johnny has been gifted with an unusually keen sense of perception (or luck) ever since he hit his head on the ice as a child. But trouble really starts for him when he's in a horrific car accident and falls into a coma that lasts for five years. When he wakes up, he's miraculously able to walk, talk, and remember much of what happened to him, but now he notices that he has a supernatural ability to know things about the people he touches. And when he shakes hands with up-and-coming politician, Greg Stillson, he sees a horrific vision of nuclear war in the not-so-distant future - a vision that will surely come to pass unless Johnny kills him.

      Even though this was written in the late seventies/early eighties, it still has a distinctive Stephen King FEEL that's hard to describe but easy to understand if you've read a lot of his work. Maybe it's the combination of dark suspense, deep characterization, and straightforward writing, but whatever it may be, this book has the unofficial Stephen King stamp.

      The book's main flaw is that the story feels disjointed, instead of everything working together towards a final conclusion. First we see Johnny before his accident. Then we see him after the coma trying to cope with his new skill. Then he's called in to help solve a horrific series of child rapes and murders in a nearby town. Then he's hired to tutor the son of a wealthy New England family. And it isn't until THIS part in his life that Johnny even meets Greg Stillson, although the reader has been treated to several forays into Stillson's mind before this. The plot just feels like a string of beads stretched out in a line, with separate beads not having much to do with one another.

      Does this affect the entertainment value of the story? Not for me. It's a fast read, Johnny is a likeable yet conflicted character, and the other characters are just as interesting. Not my favorite Stephen King, and one I probably wouldn't suggest unless someone had already read a good chunk of his work already, but still a solid and entertaining choice.

      Readalikes:

      Some of Stephen King's less horror-centric titles might make for good suggestions, including The Long Walk, The Green Mile, and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (novella).

      Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. Both titles feature a likeable protagonist with an unwanted gift of supernatural visions, although Odd Thomas's story is less grounded in reality than The Dead Zone and features more dark humor.