The Dead Zone by Stephen King
rated: 4 out of 5
When Johnny Smith was a little boy, he fell on some ice and hit his head badly.
Ever since that day he gets strange 'visions', but doesn't think anything of it.
He becomes a school teacher and falls in love with fellow teacher Sarah.
One night after he takes her to a carnival, Sarah becomes sick with food poisoning.
Johnny drives her home in her car, then takes a cab back to his own place. On the way they get into a car accident, where everyone but Johnny dies.
He then goes into a coma for over 4 years.
After he is in a coma for nearly one year, Sarah gets engaged, eventually married and has a child.
When Johnny awakes from his coma, he comes to realize that he has been asleep for a long time. It depresses and scares him. He also finds out that his girl is married to another. His mom has become a religious fanatic. Johnny also begins to have 'visions'. He predicts events for a few of the hospital staff. And soon, the media catches wind of his psychic abilities and comes to ask questions. He has several painful operations and goes through physical therapy in order to walk again.
The story goes on to have Johnny help the police find a serial killer. Johnny can get visions after touching people or objects.
But he also gets all kinds of attention from people wanting him to help them. He becomes a kind of celebrity, though most people view him as a fraud or a freak. Johnny feels he has been cheated out of a life with Sarah, and now he just wants to live a normal life and go back to teaching.
'He was alone now, walking down this gloomy and deserted hall of shadows. And it began to seem to him that it wasn't an illusion or a mirage or a dream-at least not of the ordinary kind. It was as if he had entered limbo, a weird conduit between the land of the living and the dead... '
I enjoyed this book, it was spooky, sad and I like the relationship between Johnny & Sara. I also like the miniseries and the movie 'The Dead Zone'.
