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Cell
A Novel
by Stephen King


7.0

based on 15 reviews
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based on 67 votes
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Lisey's Story

A signal sent to millions of cellphones turns humans into zombie-like killing machines in the horror master's latest thriller.

Scribner, 384 pages
01/24/2006
$26.95

ISBN: 0743292332

Fiction
Horror

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Booklist Ray Olson

King blasts any notion that he's exhausted or dissipated his enormous talent. [1 Jan 2006, p. 24]

The Independent Matt Thorne

All fans will need to know is that this is King on top form, and for the first time in a long while.

Daily Telegraph Justin Williams

The author's most successful work since the high-water mark of the mid-1980s.

The Guardian Matthew Lewin

This is a Stephen King novel, so while it is very clever and brilliantly written, it is also bathed in blood; veritable geysers of the stuff. But it's like comic book violence that you can marvel at without becoming depraved.

Bookslut Ned Vizzini

Cell is not a hopeful book. King does not follow any of the movie rules that may be brought in for the adaptation... This is less a horror novel than one of extreme pessimism.

The Onion A.V. Club Keith Phipps

After all these years, [King] still relies too often on flat characters and flatter dialogue, but nobody else does half as well at suggesting how a nudge can turn everyday life horrific.

PopMatters Bill Gibron

Suspenseful and sentimental, unbridled in its ability to disturb and disgust, Cell stands as a writer's manifesto to the post-accident part of Stephen King's career.

Publishers Weekly

A glib, technophobic but compelling look at the end of civilization.[2 Jan 2006, p. 37]

The New York Times Janet Maslin

"Cell" displays the author's habit of beginning with a real-world idea and following it into a hazy dreamscape, only to re-emerge from the vortex when his cautionary tale is over. In that sense, and in the visceral impact of its descriptions (out comes an old man's eye, with "a loose, gobbety plopping sound"), this is a traditional King narrative studded with alarming signs of the times.

USA Today Carol Memmott

Cell is a gratifying tribute to George Romero, the crown prince of zombie movies, to whom King, in part, dedicates the book.

The New York Times Book Review Dave Itzkoff

A good zombie tale should offer some fresh insights about basic human nature, if only to pass the time between episodes of cannibalism, and it's in this capacity that "Cell" turns out to be a bit brain-dead.

Washington Post George R.R. Martin

Cell has plenty of gross-out moments and ascends to the level of horror more than once, but it never reaches true terror, let alone the heights achieved by King's best work. While it is a solid, entertaining read, I'm afraid we will need to wait a bit longer for that Great American Zombie Novel.

Wall Street Journal Kyle Smith

"Cell" is a 200-page plot lost inside a 350-page calling area. The surplus consists of bad jokes, strange digressions, references to the movies that Mr. King is poaching from and the author's momentum-destroying political musings

Boston Globe Erica Noonan

The book is cacophony, without a clear signal.

Los Angeles Times David L. Ulin

"Cell" stumbles because its intent remains unclear. Is this a horror novel? A bit of post-apocalyptic science fiction? A cautionary tale? [24 Jan 2006]

The average user rating for this book is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 67 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

No Comment gave it a10:
It was the first novel of Stephen King I've ever read and I completely enjoyed. I am a teen nad I completely got what Stephen King meant. The critics that gave it a bad mark has a closed mind and can't get the message. Though I admit, you have to have a strong stomach ot read it, but it's extremely intresting! An excellent page turner, can't understand why people don't like it. I've read so many bad reviews, that is until I stumbled on this website.

Sarah M gave it an8:
I actually loved the ending. [SPOILERS:]When Clayton Riddell said to his son, "fo fo you you" , I interpreted this to be a father who knew there was no hope for civilization to ever be the same, at least how he knew it. Handing the phone to his son was much like putting a gun to the boy's head in order to "save" him from becomming a flesh eating zombie. No further writing was necessary for me to know that Clayton would take the phone from his son when the boy was finished with it and put it against his own ear to listen, thus putting the "gun"to his own head and pulling the trigger. The only issue I had about the story was that the story has already been done .... "Desperation" and "The Long Walk". None the less, I still enjoyed the book and I'm thrilled that SK is back bigger and better than ever!!

Sue J gave it a7:
This was good, but I have enjoyed some of his other books a little more. The ending was very disappointing. I need an ending!

Angela H gave it a9:
Great story but I hate the ending. I don't know how it ends!!!!

will m gave it a9:
i loved this book completely up until the final paragraph...WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!?

yanelle f gave it a10:
The best King's novel I've read (and I've read most of them). Hope there's a sequel though! The ending left me too frustrated...

Don M gave it an8:
A good read, at least up until the end. A real sense of truncation there. Did the reboot work for the kid or not?? Mr King, please let us know, how did it end???

Cell A Novel by Stephen King

Cell
A Novel
by Stephen King