Johnny Smith is out with his girlfriend at a fairground, and after dropping her off, gets knocked over by a car. [return][return]He spends 7 years in a coma, and after coming around, so many things have changed. His girlfriend has married someone else and had a child. His body isnt performing like it used to, as his muscles have atrophied. His mother has gone all religious in her old age. And his latent psychic ability has come to the fore, which means he can "see" things by touching items. Most of these are useful - he finds a lost child for instance and identifies someone who has been kidnapping children.[return][return]However, he is put in a dilemma - how far would you go when you realise that one of the presidential candidates will get voted in and then "press the button", starting nuclear war. Knowing that he is dying, John makes a decision that he feels only he can make to stop things happening ( )

Young professor gets into a car crash while driving back from a date and wakes up from a long coma with the ability to see things in the future. Uses his abilities to try and prevent various and sundry events. Knows that an evil man is growing in power and needs to be stopped.

Meanwhile, an evil man steadily grows in power, unaware he is being watched.

The final showdown between the two.

Stephen King's usual side excursions:

Hunting down the mystery rapist/murderer who has mommy issues

Ramifications of not getting a lightning rod placed on a barn where the senior prom is being held.

Reuniting with a lost love

That's all I remember from this book. I plan to re-read it again soon. ( )

One of the joys of growing old is re-reading books that you haven't read in decades. I did not remember one single thing about this book and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a good story, but doesn't feature the unrelenting suspense of some of King's books. That was a good thing, in this case. Just a good solid overall read. ( )

Mi chiedo perchè qualcuno lo classifichi ancora come romanzo horror; è soprattutto un thriller psicologico con venature paranormali.
Leggendolo solo ora, dopo tanti altri romanzi di King, noto come questo libro presentava una scrittura molto più semplice e una trama più lineare, tutte caratteristiche che nel tempo si sarebbero evolute.
King comunque rimane uno scrittore eccezionale e questo libro è assolutamente da leggere.
Peccato per la traduzione di Terzi molto obsoleta e a tratti assurda, oltre a diversi refusi tipografici, almeno nell'edizione Oscar Mondadori. ( )

Le había bastado con tocar al médico para saberlo: había pasado más de cuatro años en coma. Y se horrorizó. Se horrorizó por los cuatro años perdidos, pero sobre todo por saberlo. Porque un simple apretón de manos era suficiente. Sabía. Sabía a distancia y por anticipado. Supo que ardería el restaurante. Supo quién era el escurridizo asesino. Y sabía tantas cosas... ¡No era justo! ¡No lo era! La jaqueca le martirizaba y parecía que la cabeza le fuera a estallar. Además, quienes querían saber luego le rehuían como si fuera un monstruo. Y la tortura de saber seguía implacable, y el rechazo, y la publicidad, y el horror de tomar una decisión, y sólo con pensarlo la cabeza le dolía atrozmente.
Aquel hombre no sólo era inicuo, sino que iba a convertirse en presidente de los Estados Unidos e iba a hacer saltar el planeta en pedazos. Y él lo sabía. LO SABÍA. Tenía que matarlo. ¿Tenía que hacerlo? ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué el horror de saber? Pero los dados estaban echados: no podía llevar su conocimiento a la zona muerta para convertirse en un ciudadano vulgar, tan vulgar como su nombre, John Smith.