Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Dead Zone by Stephen King

17 reviews

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Reading this 45 years after publication,  I can say it made my heart pound. Stephen King somehow managed to anticipate our political future,  and create a compelling story of the nightmare of knowing too much. His hero is cursed with an ability to read people and their pasts and futures. Others don't believe him, and he is driven to act.
I appreciated the complexity of John and the important people in his life. King takes the reader in quickly and doesn't let go. I read this in 2 days because I couldn't put it down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Grief, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Gun violence, Murder, and Terminal illness

an early scene establishing the villian involves the killing of a dog

asourceoffiction's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

As is pretty standard for King, this delves deep into the human side of the horror with incredible levels of detail that would be mundane if handled by anyone else. In fact, it almost does in this case. Then, for about the last third of the book I couldn't put it down and was completely swept up in the story.

Johnny's journey is pretty heartbreaking, and there's a sense of inevitability to it all that only worsens as the book goes on. His moral burden and the way he's treated by those around him are enough to leave him no real choice in his actions, and there's such a sadness in it. He's one of King's inherently good characters, an easy man to get behind. But as usual that makes the emotion hit so much harder.

I love how this ties into the real political situation in the US in the '70s, although I suspect a lot of the nuance and relevance has been lost over time. More thriller than horror, I'm not sure it'll stick with me the way a lot of King's other books have done. But for me, Stephen King on a bad day is still a pretty darn good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

epeolatrist's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Child death, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcohol and War

codyfrizzell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Murder, Car accident, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Gore, Child death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Rape

Minor: War and Alcohol

seeker42's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Violence, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Child abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Car accident, and Blood

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, Cancer, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Cursing

thenageler's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Suicide

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Rape, Cursing, Animal death, Medical content, Gun violence, Infidelity, Child death, Car accident, Sexual violence, and Death of parent

maclunkeyy's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder

rosereadsalot's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Animal death

travisppe's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Classic King romp

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Death, Medical trauma, Car accident, Child abuse, Death of parent, Dementia, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Medical content, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, and Blood

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Drug use, Cursing, and Alcohol

obsessedmuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Child abuse, and Rape