I bought most of my books from a friend of my stepmom. He is a collector and just so happens to like Stephen King, also. When he got new boxes filled with books given to him, he saw there were King books. He got a hold of my stepmom and we went to buy more books.

One of them was “The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition,” which basically has more of Stephen King’s original manuscript of “The Stand” before it was edited and published. I was super exited I got to read the Uncut version because I got the whole story. It was dark but a great story with a lot happening, a lot of characters, and a lot of unexpected events. The book jacket summary:

“This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides — or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abigail – and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.”

The book starts off telling about an event that wipes out a great majority of the world’s population. The event is a sickness that spreads within seconds. It has almost all of the same symptoms of the flu. There are multiple names for it. Captain Trips and the Super Flu are a couple examples. The story focuses around the characters Abigail Freemantle “Mother Abigail”, Stuart “Stu” Redman, Larry Underwood, Glen Bateman, Ralph Brentner, Frances “Frannie” Goldsmith, Nick Andros, Tom Cullen, and Harold Lauder. They survive the virus. But so do others, others like The Trashcan Man. And people like Trash join Randall Flagg, “The Dark Man.” (If you read “The Eyes of the Dragon,” and “The Dark Tower” stories, you may read about Flagg, too.) After that the survivors choose sides. To fight for good with Mother Abigail or join the side of evil with Flagg.

I would suggest this book to people who like to read big books. If I had to rate this book on a scale of 5 I would give it a 4.5. Since it is intended for mature audiences, I have to put the warning on for the content. It is rated this way because of language, content, and violence. If you read the book, I’d suggest watching the movie. It was one of the movie adaptations I actually liked.