I’ve never really read much by Stephen King – I’d seen the films of several of his novels (Carrie/The Stand) but never got around to actually reading any of them.
I saw Cell in a bookshop, read the opening few pages (I’ve given up reading the blurb on books in case they contain spoliers) and thought it looked like a great premise so I picked up a copy.
Essentially the story of a ‘pulse’ sent out via cellphone that turns anyone who hears it insane and a small group of unaffected people trying to work out what’s going on and how to get to safety, Cell kick starts the action almost immediately.
I enjoyed King’s writing style immensely and finished this book in 3 days as I couldn’t put it down. The characters were well thought out although they did feel a little stereotypical in places.
As the story progresses it was interesting to see the group dynamic change and obviously as things develop within the ‘infected’ the story takes an even more sinister turn.
For me the one thing missing was closure at the end of the novel. I won’t go into specifics as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who may read it but I can live with an ending whereby you make your own decision as to what has happened to the characters. No problem there.
What I can’t understand is the fact that the actual origin of the Pulse, while discussed between characters, is never actually explained.
One of my Twitter colleagues (@actionchick - check out her website) said that King has previously said he doesn’t like to know where a story is going while he writes it. I appreciate that but surely he must’ve had an idea of how the story started? 
Anyway, I wouldn’t say it ruined my enjoyment of the book but it certainly left me as frustrated as I’ve been by a book in a long time.
Perhaps that has to do with the good characterisation from King in so far as I obviously invested quite a bit in each of the characters to what to know everything about the story.
Cell has one of the best opening few chapters I’ve read in a long time and King really captures the feel and panic of the pulse hitting. 
However ultimately I think the lack of a real explanation of how the whole thing started let’s the book down in the end.
Rating: 7/10
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