In “Cell,” Stephen King’s latest thriller, cell phones are used ingeniously as a new tool of terrorists. All those who hear the new, altered frequency – “The Pulse” – are driven to violent insanity.

Clayton Riddell, the main character (and one of the few people without a cell phone), is in Boston when The Pulse occurs. From there he begins a frantic journey north to Maine to find his son and estranged wife – or their remains.

King draws a number of parallels to his own life in Riddell’s character. They are both residents of Maine, own no cell phones (for their own superstitious reasons) and share similar careers. Both worked as teachers in their fields until breaking into their chosen professions. Riddell had just sold his first graphic novel and its sequel to Dark Horse Comics when The Pulse happened. Even marital angst is shared, although King’s was from his addictions, and Riddell’s was from a wife who did not support his art.

I wasn’t hooked by the beginning. The character introduction was effective, but the action was surreal, distancing the reader from the story. With truly unbelievable occurrences, suspension of disbelief isn’t enough to keep the reader from saying, “Yeah, sure, that happened.”

The melodrama is distracting. The basis of horror is altering the mundane just enough to turn it sinister. This is done with the cell phones, but the extreme reaction of the afflicted is hard to believe.

However, without the extreme reaction, there would be no point in continuing the story. If there are no crazy cell phone-wielding murderers running loose, why bother reading further?

There is not much King could have done to improve his beginning. It is easier to convey implausible scenes visually, not textually. If it’s far-fetched enough, the reader will become uninvolved either way.

At first I was incredulous at the amount of slang King used, as well as the constant references to current events. Normally, no fiction writer would use either, letting the reader think of the world as an alternate universe to avoid dating the piece. In this case, however, it made perfect sense to do so. It gave further dimension to the setting and deeper insight into the characters.

Far too often, font changes were used in “Cell,” denoting company names and billboards. This distracts from the story and slows its pace. The reader’s eyes are drawn to the change of font, often reading it first, then returning to where they had been previously. It also causes an unconscious pause as the brain notes the textual change.

King ignored common writing laws, and the majority of the time he was dead on. Of course, I’m naturally biased against font changes, as they are difficult things to pull off well.

Although somewhat typical of King’s novels, the ending doesn’t fully resolve many of the plot questions. King’s regular readers have likely become accustomed to this practice, but I retain my twinge of annoyance. Authors know what happens (good god, they’d better know), and withholding information from readers is the opposite of what writers are meant to do.

These are the only issues I have with “Cell,” and they are few compared to the average novel.

King created a brilliant plot that was carried though beautifully. His characters are as close to perfect as any writer could aspire to. They fit the event story type, and their actions are painfully believable.

It’s been several years since I’ve read one of King’s novels, and despite what I consider a rough beginning, it was a good and fast read. Once beyond the first chapters and thoroughly hooked in the story, it was engrossing and convincing.

In any case, don’t bother calling me for a while. It’ll be at least a week before I realize it’s safe to use my cell again.