Cell (novel)

Did You Know?

• Publishers Weekly described the book as "a glib, technophobic but compelling look at the end of civilization".
• Stephen King scholar Bev Vincent said the novel "stands in stark contrast to the fundamental optimism of The Stand".

Plot

Clayton Riddell, a down-on-his-luck artist from Maine, finally gets a big break with a graphic novel contract in Boston. Then everything falls apart. A mysterious signal called "The Pulse," transmitted through the global cell phone network, instantly transforms anyone using a phone into violent, zombie-like attackers known as "phoners." Society collapses as these creatures assault every person they see.

In the chaos, Clay teams up with Thomas McCourt, a middle-aged man, and fifteen-year-old Alice Maxwell. The three escape to Tom's house in the suburbs while Boston burns. The next morning, they search for supplies and form a group. Clay is desperate to get back to Maine to find his son, Johnny.

Tom and Alice, though hesitant, agree to go with him. Their journey takes them north through a ruined New England, where they occasionally meet other survivors and pick up clues about the phoners, who attack anyone not transformed. Reaching New Hampshire, they come to the Gaiten Academy, a prep school where only Headmaster Charles Ardai and a student named Jordan remain unaffected. Each night, the local phoners gather on the school's soccer field, becoming inactive until dawn.

They have evolved into a hive mind with emerging psychic powers. The five survivors use fire to destroy this flock. Clay urges everyone to leave, but the others refuse to abandon the elderly Ardai. That night, the group shares a vision of a ragged phoner in a Harvard hoodie, whom they call "The Raggedy Man."

In retaliation, the flock kills other non-phoners and commands Clay's group to travel to a place in Maine called "Kashwak." The flock then psychically forces Ardai to kill himself. After burying him, the group moves on. Along the way, they discover that as "flock-killers," they are psychically branded as untouchables, shunned by other survivors.

Alice is murdered by two non-phoners. In Clay's hometown of Kent Pond, they find his estranged wife Sharon has become a phoner, but his son Johnny is still alive. Another vision shows Clay that the non-phoner refugees were all exposed to the Pulse. He remains focused on reaching Johnny, but after meeting another band of flock-killers, Tom and Jordan choose to avoid the executions the phoners have planned.

Before they split up, the group learns that Alice's killers were psychically driven to suicide for touching an untouchable.

eBay auction

In 2005, Stephen King auctioned a character name in his novel Cell on eBay to benefit the First Amendment Project. The winning bid of $25,100 came from Pam Alexander of Fort Lauderdale, who gave the honor to her brother, Ray Huizenga. His name was used for a construction worker and explosives expert among the zombie-killing “flock-killers,” a character who later kills himself to help the group escape.

Film adaptation

The film rights to Stephen King's novel were acquired by Dimension Films in 2006, with Eli Roth attached to direct for a planned 2009 release. Roth, an admirer of the book, envisioned a large-scale disaster film in the style of Roland Emmerich, focusing on civilization's collapse and its immediate aftermath. By June 2007, Roth stated he would not be directing the project soon, as he intended to focus on other writing. He officially left the film in July 2009 due to creative disagreements with the studio, preferring to direct his own scripts.

In November 2009, during a Maryland book signing, King revealed he had completed a screenplay, noting he had rewritten the book's ending, which he found unsatisfactory. John Cusack was cast as Clayton Riddell in October 2012, and Samuel L. Jackson signed on as Tom McCourt in November 2013. Both actors had previously appeared together in the 2007 film adaptation of King's short story "1408." The film "Cell" was released on June 10, 2016, as a video on demand title, ahead of a limited theatrical release scheduled for July 8, 2016.