The Dead Zone

In The Dead Zone, Johnny Smith emerges from a five-year coma with “a wild talent” that allows him to see into the future of anyone he physically touches. But he faces a stark moral decision after he shakes the hand of a local politician, and has a vision of the candidate later becoming president and launching an unprovoked nuclear attack. Stephen King discovered new textures with this book, a rich and quietly intense character study of Johnny Smith that slowly turns into a political thriller. And throughout, it considers themes of fate, free will, and the political climate of post-Watergate America. The book was adapted into a solid and faithful film by David Cronenberg.