In Progress: The Dead Zone

We've finally made it to the final Stephen King book of the 1970's! For the first time in his publishing career he actually wrote a novel that is shorter than the one that came before it, but this one is still a pretty hefty tome. I know next to nothing about this book, and probably less about this book than any of the previous ones I have read, so this should be interesting....

November 9 (Page 17): Prologue complete. Authors, if you want to establish somebody as a truly evil bastard, then have them kill a dog. Greg, I hate you already. Meanwhile, who knew that a head injury could give you ESP? John, I'm expecting great things from you!

November 14 (Page 92): Dang it, Johnny, when I said I was expecting great things from you I didn't mean get into a car crash! But seriously, this speaks to me going into this book so blind I didn't even read the back cover, so I thought when it said Sarah didn't talk to Johnny again for four and a half years that she must have eaten a cyanide hot dog or something.

November 21 (Page 279): Almost halfway done and so far this has mainly been the story of Johnny. Greg shows up from time to time just to show he's still a jerk, albeit a jerk with considerably more power each time we see him. Those who have no faith in politics shouldn't be surprised to learn he became the mayor of some unfortunate town in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, I hear that a psycho killer is still on the loose....

November 27 (Page 379): Part One, which is considerably over half the book, is in the bag! While I lack the psychic powers of Johnny Smith, going into the final chapter of this part I got to thinking that the serial killer plot would be resolved by the end of this part. Needless to say my non-psychic prediction did not anticipate how it would resolve. However, it seems fitting that the first part of the book should end with Johnny's greatest accomplishment to date, which also puts him into the lowest place he's been in so far outside of coma.

November 30 (Page 422): If there's going to be an epic Stillson-Smith showdown, it better happen soon! I think we may have witnessed the first appearance of a historical figure when Johnny meets pre-President Carter in New Hampshire. Of course he gets vibes off Carter that he will be the President, but strangely gets no read from Reagan. I guess even in 1979 that was considered a bit too strange? Back in the fictional arena, and speaking of seeming far-fetched for its time, is it me, or does Stillson reek of Donald Trump?

December 4 (Page 561): The battle has ended and the loser depends on your definition of what losing entails. If you say "death", then goodbye Johnny. If you say "irrelevance", then goodbye Greg. I feel like the novel is effectively over at this point, but like any normal person, I did a quick preview of the final, small section ("Notes from the Dead Zone") and perhaps the text of the letters Johnny mailed out prior to his attack on the town hall will shed a little more light on things.