Master of horror Stephen King preys upon our fears of technology with the plot hook driving this chiller: a mysterious signal known as "The Pulse," sent via cell phone, turns everyone talking on one into a mindless, murderous beast. The "normies"--those fortunate enough to be away from their phones--must band together in order to defend themselves from the afflicted and highly dangerous "phoners." The book's protagonist is non-cellphone-owning, comic-book artist Clayton Riddell, who watches a Boston street turn into a scene of bloody chaos as he waits on line at an ice-cream truck. Desperately, Clay fights his way through a newly insane New England back home to his estranged wife and young son in Maine, not knowing whether they are alive, dead, or affected by The Pulse themselves.

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American writer of contemporary horror fiction, science fiction, fantasy literature, and screenplays. More than 350 million copies of King's novels and short story collections have been sold, and many of his stories have been adapted for film, television, and other media. King has written a number of books using the pen name Richard Bachman, and one short story, "The Fifth Quarter", as John Swithen.
In 2003 the National Book Foundation awarded King the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.