The Dead Zone by Stephen King

 The Dead Zone

by Stephen King

An oddly structured novel, King's The Dead Zone explores loss and fate in a more literary way than his previous novels. 

Horror is not on the menu in The Dead Zone. This is the story of John Smith; a man with an ordinary name, but an extraordinary ability. When John is a little boy he suffers a blackout after being hit while ice skating. Later, as a young man, John is put into a coma after a car accident. When he wakes he is able to see flashes of peoples' lives and characters when he touches them. But some things are hidden from him, in the spot in his brain he calls The Dead Zone. John has to come to terms with what he missed during the years he was in a coma, and the ways in which the people he loves have moved on with their lives; particularly his religious zealot mother, his former girlfriend who has been married and had a child, and his father who is trying to hold his marriage together.

Alongside this story line, Greg Stillson takes steps to become a political heavyweight, doing whatever it takes to get to the top--even if that means utilizing a goon squad and the terrorist tactics favored by fascists. Through a series of scenes Greg climbs higher and higher on the political ladder. Eventually John becomes interested in Stillson, after having made it a hobby of his to shake hands with politicians in an effort to use his ability to get into their minds and lives, looking for the secret activities he suspects them all of harboring in their seedy brains. He finds that he is not able to read them as he can other people. He meets Stillson at a rally and shakes his hand, receiving disturbing images of Stillson becoming President and starting a nuclear war that would lead to worldwide devastation. Scarily reminiscent of the Trump administration and what that could have led to. John decides God gave him his gift in order for him to be the person to see this future and to attempt to put an end to it.

John sets out to assassinate Stillson. He leaves behind letters to his father and to Sarah (his former girlfriend) explaining everything to them before he puts his plan into motion. In John's attempt, he himself ends up dying from gunshot wounds and a fall that breaks his body. But he doesn't necessarily fail. He does not kill Stillson, but as Stillson tries to get away from John's bullets he is photographed using a small child to shield himself, which gets leaked into the press and ends Stillson's career.

The Dead Zone was chillingly prescient in predicting the rise of a person like Trump. Though the story itself is not a horror story, the idea of nuclear annihilation because of the beliefs and actions of one man is a horrific thought. This book is decidedly different from King's previous work; though it has all of the hallmarks of a King novel, with heavy description, everyday characters with everyday flaws, small town atmospheres and concerns, and the recognizable King writing style.

Two interesting things to note with this book: King breaks the fourth wall by having one of his characters reference his own book, Carrie, during a scene that recalls events from that book; and he introduces the town of Castle Rock, which he will use in future novels and stories.

I liked The Dead Zone. It wasn't my favorite story from King up to this point, but it proved that he can write outside of the horror genre and still craft a story that has characters you care about and a story that explores the human psyche. I give this book an 3.5 to 4 stars.