The Dead Zone

There are books by Stephen King that I love. There are some that are terrible. The Dead Zone falls solidly between those two poles. This was an entertaining and, despite its 400-page length, quick read. The story was captivating, all elements woven together in a very satisfying way. I was concerned, when I saw that the novel contains two major sections, "The Wheel of Fortune" and "The Laughing Tiger," that those parts would be so different from each other as to seem like I was reading two completely different stories. This was not the case at all. The entire book flowed together very nicely. Particularly noteworthy, is my experience, is the ending of The Dead Zone. When I am disappointed with a King book, it is often because the ending falters, doesn't feel consistent with the hundreds (usually) of pages that preceded it. But here, King sticks the landing; the ending is lovely, perhaps even poignant, and ties back beautifully to the beginning of the book. John Smith, despite his plain name, is a very well-drawn and memorable character, and The Dead Zone, a tale of a man with psychic powers, a tale that contains barely any traditional horror elements, is one of Stephen King's better books.