The Dead Zone

by Stephen King

Book Overview

Set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine A #1 New York Times bestseller about a man who wakes up from a five-year coma able to see people's futures and the terrible fate awaiting mankind--a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451155750
• ISBN13: 9780451155757
• Release Date: August 1980
• Publisher: Signet
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.9" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

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Excelente!!

Johnny Smith es un muchacho que parece tener todas las buenas cartas, todos los ases en sus manos.Es joven, simpatico, inteligente y ademas esta enamorado de una joven encantadora, Sarah.Cuando, de pronto, un absurdo accidente le pone a las puertas de la muerte y durante cuatro años y medio permanecera en coma. Al volver a la vida despues de esos cuatro años y medio habitando en las sombras, muchas cosas han cambiado, demasiaas. Sarah, su juventud, su brillante porvenir se han esfumado como pompas de jabon. Pero, ademas una terrible tragedia se suma al drama de todas estas perdidas. Ahora Johnny, con solo tocarlas, puede penetrar en las mentes de los que los rodean, descubriendo su pasado y, lo que es peor, adivinando su futuro.Su responsabilidad es tan angustiosa como horrible y muchas veces no sabra como salir de ella sin hacer daño o sin causar asombro a aquellos que estan cerca. Pero, por otro lado su silencio se puede considerar criminal.Hasta que un dia al conocer a un politico poderoso, tiene una vision que le produce un autentico espanto. Una vision apocaliptica y lo mas atroz es que no puede contarselo a nadie porque pensarian que se ha vuelto loco del todo. Tampoco puede desprenderse o ignorar lo que ha visto. No le queda mas que una solucion, luchar el, solo y en silencio. Excelente novela de Stephen King.

Your Normal Psychic Dude, Johnny Smith

Johnny Smith is a seemingly normal guy -- who becomes psychic! He's an English teacher in a small Maine town called Castlerock, and he's one of those guys that more straight-laced teachers tend to dislike as a fellow teacher, but the kind'a guy that the kids really love. He's funny, sincere, sensitive, intelligent -- something of a goof -- but an all-around really great guy. "The Dead Zone" is a very readable melodrama of his descent into a world where he can see people's future just by touching them. If he touches you and sees that you are gonna die in four days!....he can tell you not to go into work -- because he knows a gunman is gonna open fire on you and your fellow employees! That is his dilemma. And the engaging depth to The Dead Zone is that it becomes a moral dilemma of severe proportions. Because when Johnny touches a state politician and sees that this buffoon of a politician will get elected president and will cause a massive war -- the question becomes: is it better to kill this one person and save the lives of millions, or to let nature take its course and let millions and millions of people die. And of course no one would understand Johnny if he explained that he saw the future and saw that this politician was gonna cause a nuclear holocaust. King builds to this crescendo of a moral nightmare by constantly showing Johhny being torn between living up to his gift and being viewed as a tabloid psychic, a total hokester, and a creapy guy whom people don't even wanna get near. It's the story about living with an abnormal mental gift. One of the more compelling sub-plots involves Johnny's love story with Sarah Hazlett -- a woman herself torn between waiting nearly five years for Johhny to come out of a coma and getting on with her life with the very normal Walt Hazlett. It this respect, The Dead Zone blends the elements of a psychic phenomenon story and a compelling love story. All-in-all this story reads like the perfect synthesis between King's "The Shining" and "Shawshank Redemption." And may well be a great place for folks who wanna read a King novel but don't want the blood n' guts of Cujo, Pet Semetary, Salems' Lot. On the other hand, if you want a real nightmare story The Dead Zone is not the place to start. Now, go ahead, and click that "helpful" button! Afterall, one of my major concerns in writing this review is knowing that I am helpful:~) Peace, love, and happy reading! Stacey Cochran Author of CLAWS available for 80 cents

Your Normal Psychic Dude, Johnny Smith

Johnny Smith is a seemingly normal guy -- who becomes psychic! He's an English teacher in a small Maine town called Castlerock, and he's one of those guys that more straight-laced teachers tend to dislike as a fellow teacher, but the kind'a guy that the kids really love. He's funny, sincere, sensitive, intelligent -- something of a goof -- but an all-around really great guy. "The Dead Zone" is a very readable melodrama of his descent into a world where he can see people's future just by touching them. If he touches you and sees that you are gonna die in four days!....he can tell you not to go into work -- because he knows a gunman is gonna open fire on you and your fellow employees! That is his dilemma. And the engaging depth to The Dead Zone is that it becomes a moral dilemma of severe proportions. Because when Johnny touches a state politician and sees that this buffoon of a politician will get elected president and will cause a massive war -- the question becomes: is it better to kill this one person and save the lives of millions, or to let nature take its course and let millions and millions of people die. And of course no one would understand Johnny if he explained that he saw the future and saw that this politician was gonna cause a nuclear holocaust. King builds to this crescendo of a moral nightmare by constantly showing Johhny being torn between living up to his gift and being viewed as a tabloid psychic, a total hokester, and a creapy guy whom people don't even wanna get near. It's the story about living with an abnormal mental gift. One of the more compelling sub-plots involves Johnny's love story with Sarah Hazlett -- a woman herself torn between waiting nearly five years for Johhny to come out of a coma and getting on with her life with the very normal Walt Hazlett. It this respect, The Dead Zone blends the elements of a psychic phenomenon story and a compelling love story. All-in-all this story reads like the perfect synthesis between King's "The Shining" and "Shawshank Redemption." And may well be a great place for folks who wanna read a King novel but don't want the blood n' guts of Cujo, Pet Semetary, Salems' Lot. On the other hand, if you want a real nightmare story The Dead Zone is not the place to start. Now, go ahead, and click that "helpful" button! Afterall, one of my major concerns in writing this review is knowing that I am helpful:~) Peace, love, and happy reading! Stacey Author of CLAWS: A Suspense Novel

One of Stephen King's best

I've read most of what Stephen King has read, including the outstanding novel "The Stand" and the amazingly suspenseful and strangely poignant "The Long Walk," which remains the only novel to genuinely scare me. However, no story by King has been as compelling, as emotional, and as well-written as his 1979 gem, "The Dead Zone."The protagonist is as simple as the name he is given--Johnny Smith--and early in the novel the reader discovers that he has the ability to see into the future somewhat. A bit later on, Johnny gets in a severe car accident and stays in a coma for four and a half years. When he awakens, the world has changed completely. Vietnam is no longer the central issue of America, Richard Nixon has been impeached, and a young hotshot named Greg Stillson is attempting to run for the Presidency in 1980, the latter incident being a major subplot which will culminate in a shocking conclusion.Also giving the novel its depthness is the love story regarding Johnny and his sweetheart prior to the accident, but who is married upon his awakening--the woman he loved more than anyone, a woman named Sarah Bracknell.There is also an intriguing subplot dealing with a serial killer as well as one regarding the trials and tribulations of an academically struggling football player in high school.All in all, this novel is gripping from start to finish, and its effect resonates long after it has been read. There is a big moral issue to contemplate throughout the novel--how should Johnny Smith use his powers? Johnny himself posed the question: "If you could go back in time and had the chance to kill Hitler, would you do it?" This is my favorite Stephen King novel, and I anticipate reading it again sometime and knowing I'll have to wipe the beginnings of tears from the corner of my eye--the ending is very powerful, you see...

Stephen King's Best Novel Ever!

Once you start reading this book it just grabs you and you'll stay hooked from start until finish. All the characters are so real and amazing. King is the true maestro of horror-thriller fiction. Unbeatable. Ignore his newer works like Gerald's Game, Rose Madder (the worst!), Insomnia or The Green Mile. The Dead Zone is THE Classic Stephen King masterpiece. I've read it 3 times over the last 5 years, and frankly I wouldn't mind picking it up again. The story is very original - the villain in the book was is so evil and real, you just pray you would never meet such a person in real life. And the main character/hero, you just emphatize with him - he who lost years of his life due to a coma and when he woke up was "rewarded" with a cursed psychic power he couldn't control and which he dreads. If you've read the book, you could compare it with the movie starring Christopher Walken and Martin Sheen. Excellent movie! I highly recommend this book to all fiction-enthusiasts. This book ranks among my all time favourites. Other King's books which are similarly well written are Firestarter, The Dark Half, It and Misery. I'm a quarter into his latest book - Bag of Bones. It's OK so far but nothing like The Dead Zone. You really must read it to know fully what I mean.