by James Spiller

Created on: May 30, 2008   Last Updated: November 28, 2009

It seems like everyone has a cell phone these days. No matter where you go, you just cant escape the abrasive and annoying rings, inconsiderately loud chatting, or horribly distracted drivers. They have become such a part of our daily lives that we, as a society, have become utterly dependent on them. We don't leave home without them.

But what happens when our cellular dependence turns into our downfall? That is the premise of Cell by Stephen King. The protagonist of the story, Clay Riddel is walking the streets of Boston on a business trip when the lady on her cell phone in front of him goes ballistic and tries to bite a man's throat off. As Clay stands in shock, another girl on her cell phone begins attacking the lady in front of her. From that moment on, Hell breaks loose. Cars slam into one another, planes fall from the sky, people everywhere are sent into some sort of a murderous rampage. That is, everyone who had used their cell phone.

A pulse is sent through the cellular phones, scrambling the brains of its users, and propelling them into some sort of zombie-like state that makes them think of nothing but killing everything and everyone around them. A man bites a dog's ear off. An old woman kills three other people with her teeth. A homeless man with a knife walks around stabbing anyone he can find. Clay is luckily able to escape to relative safety, but not before meeting several other survivors of the initial "pulse," as its called. Together, they embark on a dangerous and zombie infested journey to Maine to find Clay's son, even though they don't know whether he is alive, dead, or worse, a zombie.

But Cell does not turn out to be just another zombie story. King does an excellent job of diversifying the age old zombie tale and spinning a completely new yarn that hasn't been explored in this genre. Things take a turn for the worse when the group of travelers notice very un-zombie like behavior. I won't spoil it for you, but suffice it to say there are several twists and turns that the reader will never see coming. When the zombies are noticed using tools, flocking together like birds, and ransacking towns for supplies, things get a bit more difficult for Clay and his posse.

King is an top-notch story teller and will have you turning page after page without ever giving a thought to the real world (Well, you might think about your cell phone). Cell is utterly suspenseful because of the unique abilities of the zombies, interesting and lovable characters, and great use of foreshadowing without revealing plot points.

Where Cell falters is in its ending. The reader will be left with far too many questions and no real answers. King does such a great job of building suspense up until the last scenes, but leaves his audience with an empty feeling. There is so much build up, which is spectacularly done, but the novel sputters out in the end, making you wonder just how much better you could have done had you come up with the idea.

Despite the empty feeling left by the ending of the book, Cell is a chilling commentary on our unnatural dependence on technology. It makes you wonder whether or not this modern assimilation of technology into our daily lives is a blessing or a curse. But in the end, it doesn't matter because of the bitter feeling that will be left in your mouth. Cell turns out to be just another case of an incredibly good idea not completely seen to fruition.

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