From the Publisher
THERE''S A REASON CELL RHYMES WITH HELL.
On October 1, God is in His heaven, the stock market stands at
10,140, most of the planes are on time, and Clayton Riddell, an
artist from Maine, is almost bouncing up Boylston Street in Boston.
He''s just landed a comic book deal that might finally enable him
to support his family by making art instead of teaching it. He''s
already picked up a small (but expensive!) gift for his
long-suffering wife, and he knows just what he''ll get for his boy
Johnny. Why not a little treat for himself? Clay''s feeling good
about the future.
That changes in a hurry. The cause of the devastation is a
phenomenon that will come to be known as The Pulse, and the
delivery method is a cell phone. Everyone''s cell phone. Clay and
the few desperate survivors who join him suddenly find themselves
in the pitch-black night of civilization''s darkest age, surrounded
by chaos, carnage, and a human horde that has been reduced to its
basest nature...and then begins to evolve.
There''s really no escaping this nightmare. But for Clay, an
arrow points home to Maine, and as he and his fellow refugees make
their harrowing journey north they begin to see crude signs
confirming their direction: KASHWAK=NO-FO. A promise, perhaps. Or a
threat...
There are one hundred and ninety-three million cell phones in
the United States alone. Who doesn''t have one? Stephen King''s
utterly gripping, gory, and fascinating novel doesn''t just ask the
question "Can you hear me now?" It answers it with a vengeance.
About the Author
Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine, on September 21, 1947, to Donald and Nellie Ruth King. King wrote his first short story before he was seven years old. As a teenager, he played on the football team and joined a rock band, but also had two of his short stories published. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, he married Tabitha Spruce, also a writer, in 1971, and began a career as a teacher. His spare time was spent in writing novels that were consistently rejected by publishers. King's first novel would never have been published if not for his wife. She removed the first few chapters from the garbage after King had thrown them away in frustration. Three months later, he received a $2,500 advance from Doubleday Publishing for the book that went on to sell a modest 13,000 hardcover copies. That book, Carrie, was about a girl with telekinetic powers who is tormented by bullies at school. She uses her power, in turn, to torment and eventually destroy her mean-spirited classmates. When United Artists released the film version in 1976, it was a critical and commercial success. The paperback version of the book, released after the movie, went on to sell more than two-and-a-half million copies. Many of King's other horror novels have been adapted into movies, including The Shining, Firestarter, Pet Semetary, Cujo, Misery, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers. Under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, King has written the books The Running Man, The Regulators, Thinner, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and Rage. Today, Stephen King is one of the world's most successful writers, with more than 100 million copies of his works in print. Many of his books have been translated into foreign languages, and he writes new books at a rate of about one per year. King and his wife have three children and live in the small town of Bangor, Maine, where many of his stories are set.
Trade Paperback
6.2 x 9.5 x 1.4 in
January 24, 2006
English
0743292332
9780743292337