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Oct 26, 2011

Manny rated it:

As people may have gathered by now from my reviews, I never liked Dubya very much. While he was President, I would often think of The Dead Zone and hope someone would try to shoot him.

I didn't want them to kill him or even cause him any physical damage. I just wished that he'd instinctively grab a nearby kid and attempt to use him as a human shield. Stephen King is right: that would have made people take notice.

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Eric rated it:

While Stephen King has rightfully garnered a reputation as a horror writer, some of his best fiction revolves around stories of everyday humanity affected by elements of the supernatural. After awakening from a five-year coma, John Smith has come back from the ether with a clairvoyance to see certain futures and hidden pasts of others by touch alone. Opting to use his powers for good, John is called upon for such tasks as helping the police to catch an elusive rapist. But when he shakes hands More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 21, 2011

Daniel rated it:

Three-fourths into this book, I realized that the slow burn that King tended was turning into something much fiercer; after reading the final paragraph, I was struck with a keen sense of melancholy and loss. In brief, this is a story about a man who is struck with a tragic circumstance, and how he deals with it. A sketch of the social and political situation in America circa the mid-1970's runs, at first, parallel to this account; later, it all intertwines with the kind of neatness that one find More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 22, 2008

Jason added it

The Dead Zone, one of Stephen King's earlier classics, follows one Johnny Smith, a regular guy with an amazing talent, a type of psychic ability that enables him, upon touching people, to know things about them, about their past, present, or even future.

It starts when Johnny's a boy and has an accident while playing on the ice and is blown wide open when he's in a near fatal car accident as an adult. After four years in a coma, Johnny wakes up with his abilities much stronger than t More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2008

Amy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2008

sarafem rated it:

I loved the TV show and watched it in its entirety before I even realized it was based on a book. I should have known how different they would be; it's not like you can string several seasons of episodes from one book. However, I was disappointed in the undeveloped characters and some of the differences that I had grown to love in the show.

I may have loved this book without being a fan of the show first, so perhaps the comparison is unfair. I can't shake it though; I recommend the sh More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Nicola rated it:

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 fr More...

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Feb 01, 2012

Stefan rated it:

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 More...

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Oct 31, 2011

Vassi rated it:

Overall 3.5 stars.

I didn’t realize how long ago this book had been written – until I started reading it. The Dead Zone is one of Stephen King’s earlier books and it revolves around a man named “Johnny Smith” who happens to be a regular guy with a talent of ‘foresight’ which, in the beginning of the book , is illustrated as a case of really good luck.
The Dead Zone, one of Stephen King's earlier classics, follows one Johnny Smith, a regular guy with an amazing talent, a
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Sep 09, 2010

Amanda rated it:

So I think I've learned that no matter how uninterested I am in the beginning of a King book, I should just push through it because I always end up satisfied.

For me, King's work divides itself into two categories. There are the novels that grab you by the throat( usually indicative of his later work) and the novels that build slowly but no less intensely(his earlier work). Bag of Bones is one of the former, The Dead Zone and 'Salem's Lot are of the second. While the Dead Zone starts More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2010

Kyle rated it:

Kyle Nadler English
English Report 3 3/10/10
The Dead Zone By
Stephen King
The Dead Zone by Stephen King is a deep and thrilling novel. It’s full of secrets about the main character and has twists and turns that start to lead you in the wrong direction. It’s a great book to read and I recommend it to all Stephen More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 06, 2010

Natalina rated it:

This was a very good novel, one of King's best, in my opinion, if not what I would necessarily call 'horror'. There is present the signature vague, almost superstitious sense of evil breathed into otherwise ordinary life that King excels at which is the crux of the story: a young man, John Smith (ordinary beyond even the usual ordinaries that are King's protagonists), has a fall on the ice as a child that affects his head, and, years later, is inflicted with a more serious head trauma due to a c More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 24, 2009

Marvin rated it:

I have to say The Dead Zone is my favorite King novel for a rather non-literary reason. Although I have a number of signed books by him, it is the only book in my collection which is personally inscribed to me from Stephen King. I met Mr. King at a book signing. At that point in his life, he was not yet flooded with fans so there was plenty of time to say a few works to him and ask a few questions... and for him to actually add a personal touch in his signings. Oh, for the old times...

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Bsddakotad added it

When Johnny was a child, he suffered a head injury that he soon forgot about. When he was in his twenties, he was in a car wreck, and he went into a coma. He stayed in the coma for five years. When he woke up from the coma, he had psychic abilities. Whenever he touched someone, he knew things about them. Like, when he touched his physical therapist's hand, he somehow knew that she had left the stove on at home, and that her house was going to burn. Eventually, when he got out of the hospital, he More...

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Jun 03, 2011

Samantha rated it:

I first read this at the age of seven, and twenty years later it is still one of my favorite books of all time. The story basically deals with fate and irrevocably altering futures. Johnny Smith is a teacher who awakens after a horrible car crash leaves him in a four and a half year coma. So much of the world has changed in that time, including the love of his life getting married to another man and having a kid, and complicating matters even further: Johnny comes out of his coma suffering from More...

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Aug 04, 2009

Jacki rated it:

Not my favorite Stephen King book. It wasn't bad, but just not good.

I think that part of it is that I just didn't care for Johnny, the main character. Usually I really fall for Stephen King's characters and am totally sold. Not this time. I don't know why, but he just seemed really distant.

I have to say, though, that the book was thought provoking. In the start of the book, Johnny has an accident and goes into a coma. When he wakes up he can tell people's future and More...

1 comment like

Apr 08, 2009

Brandon rated it:

I have put this one off for too long, but I finally got around to it. And I loved it. I stand in awe of the way King draws the reader in. Stephen King does what all good writers do and that's care about what is going to happen next. But he goes beyond other writers in just making you want to enjoy the trip and have it never end. That is what makes him the best.

Stephen King is great at manipulating the reader's emotions. He makes you love the characters you are suppose to love and ha More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 27, 2009

Sofia rated it:

First things first. The edition of this book that I read has one of the ugliest book covers I have ever seen. Making a cover around baby pink and hot pink is, in my opinion, a very bad idea, no matter what. Of course, one might argue that it's a question of personal preference, and you shouldn't judge a book by its cover... But I'm going to be honest and say I winced every time I went to pick it up.

Anyway. This is the third book by Stephen King that I've read, the other two being The Shining More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 09, 2011

Hillary rated it:

I read this book in high school and had to read it a few times after that because it became my favorite book. Sure, many people say their favorite book is a classic piece of literature, but I say a Stephen King book can be just as good. This book really made me feel like I was watching Johnny Smith every step of the way, and I felt for his character. I felt for him when he awoke out of the coma, to find Sarah married with a child, and to find out his life would never be the same. He was gifted w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 19, 2010

Professor rated it:

This was the first King book I've read, and it was a total accident-I basically stopped by the Traveler Book Cafe to drop off some books and this was on the shelf next to me as I had a coffee and a slice of pie. I am fond of the movie (though less so after reading the much better book) so I picked it up. This was a real page turner, so much so that I stayed up until 4 a.m. finishing the last 100 pages, even though I knew the ending already.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2012

Tom rated it:

In my opinion, this isn't one of Stephen King's more popular novels, and I bought it on impulse, just so I had the book on my shelf. Although I'd heard the name of the book, I had no idea what it was about.

I have mixed feelings about this book, because I really enjoyed the story up until the 'Castle Rock Strangler' case was solved, and I thought this was a really good place to end the book. On the other hand, after this, I didn't really enjoy the idea that made up the rest of the story More...

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Oct 27, 2011

Megan rated it:

I hadn’t read Stephen King’s work since I was a teenager, but I was in the mood for something creepy for Halloween so I turned to the man who scared the bejesus out of me way back when with Pet Sematary and Misery. The Dead Zone wasn’t as scary and spine-tingling as I was hoping and expecting it to be (I thought the narrator would be talking to dead people or something, from the sound of the title), but it definitely hooked me from the start and kept me on edge waiting to find out what would h More...

6 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 19, 2010

Kat rated it:

http://tinyurl.com/2usjf3y

I'd only read one thing by Stephen King before, a short story about people stuck on a raft in a lake (called "The Raft," natch). It was hands-down the scariest thing I'd ever read and I don't think I slept that night at all. Likely, that kept me away from King for a couple decades, but recently after a particularly stimulating off-topic book club discussion, I got re-interested in his oeuvre. Hubby was also interested in trying another book of his, s More...

1 comment like

Dec 16, 2009

NumberLord rated it:

One of Stephen King's best. An interesting premise (or, perhaps, pair of premises). I remember thinking that the book could have explored so much more with such an interesting idea (Johnny Smith coming out of a coma with the ability to "see" tragic events that someone is/will be experiencing). And then, lo and behold, Anthony Michael Hall puts together a television series to do exactly that. Heck, maybe I'm psychic!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 30, 2011

Miriam rated it:

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 scat More...

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May 07, 2011

Joe rated it:

A good story. Slow to build up and takes its time to build a background for the characters, leading over the span of years to reach a point where the climax occurs.
The concept King uses of a man who suffers a brain injury and later has activity in his brain which is unusual but yet allows him to catch glimpses of the future is something which has been documented to have occurred in the real world in special cases.
Unfortunately, as with most of the stories by Stephen King, I found the More...

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Aug 17, 2010

Megan rated it:

Earlier this summer my father-in-law started randomly talking about this book. I don't know what started the conversation, but he talked a little bit about the setup and then he mentioned one plot point, which I'm not going to mention here, because it did two things: it made me have to read this book and it utterly spoiled the ending for me. Naturally, due to the nature of the plot point, and the way the book is written, I didn't realize HEY THE ENDING IS TOTES SPOILED until the very very end.
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1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jun 15, 2011

Basementreading rated it:

The sixth sense; A gift or is it a curse?

Johnny Smith got everything. He is young, has a great job that he loves and is about to fall in love with a lovely woman. After a night at the carnival together, his lovely gal, Sarah, gets sick and he brings her home. He offers himself to stay but she promise she’ll be alright and Johnny takes a taxi home when the tragedy happens. He gets involved in a bad car accident which brings him in coma in four and a half year. When he finally wakes up, More...

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Jan 18, 2012

Matthew rated it:

This has always been my favorite of King's novels, edging out by a hair "The Stand" and several others only another hair behind.

King has shown on so many occasions that what makes him such a compelling author is his ability to bring characters to life. Many of King's works have really been human studies. Whatever setting he wraps around them doesn't matter so much.

The underlying theme of this book is about following one's duty - even in the face of doubt.

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Jun 14, 2011

Ana rated it:

Amazing, another stunning story coming from the King! I just can't stop reading a book of his once i started it, and The Dead Zone was no exception! It's about this guy, Johnny Smith, who discovers he can know things about people just by touching them, after he was involved in a really messy car-crash accident. And after this, the story just unfolds! I can't say anithing, so I don+t blow it for people who haven't read it, but I can tell you, it's not what you would expect!
Stephen King has More...

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