The Dead Zone - Stephen King

Stephen King has written the book almost as if he were writing it for a movie. It really reads like a screenplay more than a book.

To give away a little bit of the story, albeit, very briefly: John Smith has a major accident which puts him in a coma for 4 years. And when he does regain his consciousness he realizes that the world, more specifically, his world has changed… a lot.

For me, the book is a mellowed version of a super-hero story. John Smith has his superpowers, as a result of an accident, the ability to see in the future. When you go through the book, you find out it is more of an ongoing punishment than a welcome gift. Whatever it is, John is equipped to save the world. But then, John Smith is a lot more vulnerable than Superman or Batman. For one, he does have to work for a living. And he has a love life that, by no fault of his own, is in utter shambles. And being a superhero, well, he has a world to save! Well, if I am making it over dramatic, let me tell you its not. It’s the paranormal which is present in the right amount in a real world. There are no super-villains that John is battling. But having seen the future, he has a problem to solve, which would hurt the whole of the country if allowed to manifest itself.

Amidst all of this, the real aspects of John Smith’s life are very well narrated. His own anger and resentment for the way life has turned out for him touches you in some mystical way. Because what is happening to John, and even though he wistfully wishes to go to the past and set things right, he accepts it with a sense of finality. That renders a poignant touch to this Stephen King book.
Perhaps not a great book in terms of story or its high-adrenalin drama, and not really on my all-time-favorites list, but it’s not something that I regret having read either.