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Cell cover art

Cell

By: Stephen King
Narrated by: Campbell Scott
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Publisher's Summary

Shortlisted for Audible's Listen of the Year, 2006.

'Civilization slipped into its second dark age on an unsurprising track of blood but with a speed that could not have been foreseen by even the most pessimistic futurist. By Halloween, every major city from New York to Moscow stank to the empty heavens and the world as it had been was a memory.'

The event became known as The Pulse. The virus was carried by every cell phone operating within the entire world. Within hours, those receiving calls would become insane, or die.

In Boston, a young artist, Clayton Riddell, flees the explosive heart of the city. Clay's son has a little red cell phone. Often out of juice. But what if this time the battery is full? Clay has to reach his son, before his son reaches for his phone....

Who doesn't have a cell phone? This utterly gripping, gory, and fascinating novel doesn't ask the question 'Can you hear me know?' It answers it with a vengeance. High concept, ingenious, and terrifying: Cell is the perfect nightmare for a whole new generation of Stephen King listeners.

©2006 Stephen King. All rights reserved. (P)2006 Simon & Schuster Inc.

Critic Reviews

"King's imagining of what is more or less post-Armageddon Boston is rich, and the sociological asides made by his characters along the way...are jaunty and witty." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Cell

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another great book by SK

This is not one of his best but it managed to keep me engaged the entire way. I had seen some reviews about the ending being poor but make up your own mind, personally I thought it ended in a tone that fit the story.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The King of Horror as always

What made the experience of listening to Cell the most enjoyable?

The narrator is my favorite male voice on audible but also a great match tot he story of a father and his boy

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Poor ending

A great story with a poor ending. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Old school SK

Hooked from the start and knowing no one in Mr King’s world is safe from the tellers imagination.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An Interesting Twist, But Extremely Bland Narration

The premise of the book is extremely interesting, but the narrator’s interpretation was too monotonous and lacked emotion or depth. It took all the patience I had to listen to the end. I’d not recommend this title for purchase unless perhaps made into a radio novel.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastically written story and great narration

This is such an awesome apocalyptic story and Stephen King at his usual word smithing genius. I really enjoyed the narration as well!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

good story, but...

a really chilling story but, although he has a wonderful voice, the narration was too lacking in emotion. I found my mind wandering away from the story, almost numbed to sleep

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Love It

Still my favourite book by Stephen King. Wish the narrator's voice was more consistent with his tone throughout the book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

slow and hard to love the characters

a slow story that I couldn't get into, I'd recommend fairy tale or 11.22.63, the last 2 Stephen king books over this.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

21 Century S.King

I have read the authors works since the late 20th century and so it was with some skepticism that I downloaded Cell. Wow. I couldn’t stop listening to it, in fact replayed back to back to get all the details. It’s a brilliant piece of work, so refreshing from the usual poorly written apocalypse fiction that seems to dominate the feeds. Mr Kjng has done away with his endless overly detailed boring seaways, condensed the story into short succinct well written chapters that leave you needing more (binge read). The characters have depth, they are relatable and the story line is not at all predictable and in the way the world falls apart is so believable. The narrator does it justice, can’t fault at all. Really recommend this if you are looking for a decent, well written piece, that’s obviously not churned out in a production line, a little something to truly escape with. I can’t wait for the rest of the releases.

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