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The Dead Zone

An iconic chiller from the No. 1 bestseller

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About this listen

 Stephen King's fan-favourite thriller available in audio for the first time read by Academy Award nominee James Franco.

The two things that conjured up that horrible night, were his run of luck at the Wheel of Fortune, and the mask . . .

Meet Johnny Smith. A young man whose streak of luck ends dramatically in a major car crash. Followed by blackness. A long, long time in cold limbo.

When he wakes up life has been turned upside down. His fiancée has met someone else. And Johnny is cursed with the power to perceive evil in men's souls. He's had these hunches since he had an ice-skating accident as a child. Now he has an ability to see into the future. An ability which will bring him into a terrifying confrontation with a charismatic, power-hungry and dangerous man . . .


JAMES FRANCO is an actor, director, artist and writer. His film appearances include Milk, Pineapple Express, Spring Breakers, Howl, and 127 Hours, which earned him an Academy Award nomination. He is the author of the novel Actors Anonymous, the collection Palo Alto, and the memoir A California Childhood. His writing has been published in Esquire, Vanity Fair, N+1, The Wall Street Journal,and McSweeney's; and his art has been exhibited throughout the world including at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and MoMA PS1 in New York.

(P)2016 Simon & Schuster©1979 Stephen King Crime Fiction Horror Supernatural Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Celebrity Exciting Fantasy Scary
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Stephen King is a master of his craft. For me he is at his very best when he is at his most epic so books like It and The Stand are my personal favourites. This is smaller in ambition and scope but still produces an ultimately satisfying read. King imbues his stories with incredible details and the everyday is often imbued with ominous portent. Themes and icons repeat, twist and develop gradually revealing their full relevance to the reader.

This plot is a relatively slow burn, King is in no hurry to bring his two main protagonists together. Their stories are built and gradually threaded into each other as a humble English teacher is propelled towards dangers and evils through unfortunate accidents and the psychic abilities they leave him with. This is writing as good as anything in the genre.

The narration by James Franco is a natural fit for the atmosphere of the book. Occasionally it feels languid and he doesn't have the greatest of ranges of voices but he delivers the most important scenes in excellent fashion.

While it may be seen as a slow burn it is also an incredibly bright one as it moves to what I thought was a fabulously handled conclusion.

The Bright Light of a Master Story-Teller!

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I was hoping for a horror/thriller story from Stephen King, which this story is not!
But towards the end of the story, it builds suspense that at it's climax left me truly overwhelmed.

Very emotional ending

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Really good story, I got hooked and had to listen to it all in 2 days. Didn’t notice I had it on 1.5speed till half way, tried listening at normal speed after but it was too slow.

Recommend 1.5 speed

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I've listened to hundreds of books on Audible but this is one of the best. Stephen King at his best, and Franco was fantastic. Loved it.

One of the best

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loved it. James Franco impressed me very much and I will look for others read by him.

brilliantly read

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