THE STAND (1978 ed.) - Stephen King

NOTE: As it says above, this review is for the original 1978 edition of Stephen King's massive end-of-world tale, not the decades-later re-release of the novel as it was original written, with 400+ restored pages.  That said, this novel is a masterpiece of fiction, the story of a disease called Captain Trips that wipes out 99.4% of the world's population ... and that's only the beginning!  The rest of this giant page-turner is about those who survive, with vividly-drawn characters you will grow to both desperately love and hate, as they make their way to either side of the Rocky Mountains for what will be the final confrontation between good and evil - the good team led by the elderly but feisty Mother Abigail, those who've fallen under the watchful gaze of the indefinably evil Randall Flagg.  From the early stages of the super-flu's decimation to those friends and foes lost along the way to the riveting finale, King's incredible attention to detail and imbuing of life into his fully-realized characters make The Stand an epic that's horrific yet magnetizing, heartbreaking yet hopeful, and - perhaps to this day - arguably King's most lyrical, literate read.  *****