Clayton Riddell, a struggling artist from Maine who is estranged from his wife, Sharon, and his young son, Johnny, has landed a graphic novel deal in Boston. As he begins to allow himself to celebrate, somebody, somewhere, triggers "The Pulse," a signal sent out over the global cell phone network that instantly strips any cell phone user of their sanity, turning them into bloodthirsty, homicidal creatures.
Civilization crumbles as the Pulse's victims, dubbed "phone crazies" or simply "phoners", attack each other and any unaltered people in view. In the first few hours of chaos, Clay is thrown together with Tom McCourt, and fifteen-year-old Alice Maxwell.
In the first few days the phoners begin "flocking", migrating in lockstep, only to disappear at dusk every evening. They also begin to regain a semblance of intelligence, and forage not only for food, but also radios and CD players.
On the trek north one days sleep spent at Gaiten Academy, a prep school with one remaining teacher, Charles Ardai, and one surviving pupil, Jordan. They discover where the phoner flock goes at night, stuffed into the Academy's soccer field with radios and speakers throughout the field, playing a selection of random songs each night.
Ardai demonstrates that the phoners have become a hive mind, and are developing psychic and telekinetic abilities. The five of them decide that they must destroy the flock before its powers grow even stronger.
The sleep that follows is filled with a horrendous dream, in which everyone sees themselves in a stadium, surrounded by hundreds of phoners who broadcast a grim telepathic threat in Latin. A disheveled man wearing a Harvard University hooded sweatshirt approaches, bringing their death.
When they wake the man dubbed âThe raggedy manâ leads the flock on bloody reprisal on all other normals in the area, and orders the protagonists to head north to a spot in Maine called "Kashwak", where there is no cell phone reception. The flock psychically compels Ardai to commit suicide after writing the word "insane" in multiple languages. Clay and the others bury him and travel north, mostly because Clay is still determined to go home.
I liked this book because of the twists and while I am not a huge fan of King this work restored my faith in the author. I have also discovered that it will soon be made into a tv mini series, not a movie with Eli Roth at the helm as was stated in 2006. :(
Civilization crumbles as the Pulse's victims, dubbed "phone crazies" or simply "phoners", attack each other and any unaltered people in view. In the first few hours of chaos, Clay is thrown together with Tom McCourt, and fifteen-year-old Alice Maxwell.
In the first few days the phoners begin "flocking", migrating in lockstep, only to disappear at dusk every evening. They also begin to regain a semblance of intelligence, and forage not only for food, but also radios and CD players.
On the trek north one days sleep spent at Gaiten Academy, a prep school with one remaining teacher, Charles Ardai, and one surviving pupil, Jordan. They discover where the phoner flock goes at night, stuffed into the Academy's soccer field with radios and speakers throughout the field, playing a selection of random songs each night.
Ardai demonstrates that the phoners have become a hive mind, and are developing psychic and telekinetic abilities. The five of them decide that they must destroy the flock before its powers grow even stronger.
The sleep that follows is filled with a horrendous dream, in which everyone sees themselves in a stadium, surrounded by hundreds of phoners who broadcast a grim telepathic threat in Latin. A disheveled man wearing a Harvard University hooded sweatshirt approaches, bringing their death.
When they wake the man dubbed âThe raggedy manâ leads the flock on bloody reprisal on all other normals in the area, and orders the protagonists to head north to a spot in Maine called "Kashwak", where there is no cell phone reception. The flock psychically compels Ardai to commit suicide after writing the word "insane" in multiple languages. Clay and the others bury him and travel north, mostly because Clay is still determined to go home.
I liked this book because of the twists and while I am not a huge fan of King this work restored my faith in the author. I have also discovered that it will soon be made into a tv mini series, not a movie with Eli Roth at the helm as was stated in 2006. :(
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