A weaponized flu kills 99.4% of humanity — the survivors must choose between good and evil.
Who drives the story
A quiet Texan mechanic, immune to Captain Trips, who witnesses the outbreak's first hours and becomes Boulder's steadiest leader. Broken leg on the march west saves his life; he survives to carry hope back to Maine.
The dark man of survivors' dreams — demonic, charismatic, and endlessly patient. He builds Vegas as a crucifying dictatorship, is destroyed by God's hand, and simply starts over under a new name.
A 108-year-old farmer's widow in Nebraska who hears from God and calls the righteous to Boulder. Her guilt over pride drives her into exile, and she dies delivering the command that sends four men to Vegas.
A self-absorbed pop singer whose one hit made him briefly famous. The plague strips him of his mother and his illusions; he dies a martyr in Las Vegas, finally worth something.
A deaf-mute drifter from Arkansas with more courage than voice. He becomes Boulder's conscience and is murdered by Harold's bomb — then guides Tom from beyond death to save Stu.
A pregnant college student who buries her father and chooses Stu over Harold. She bears baby Peter through a caesarean and walks out of Boulder toward a rebuilt world.
A bitter teenage outcast in love with Frannie, recruited by Flagg's dreams. His bomb kills Nick; his gangrenous leg and apology note close his story in suicide.
A teacher with a dark presence Mother Abagail can see. She gives herself to Flagg, is raped and impregnated, then goads him into killing her and the child.
A retired sociology professor with a dog named Kojak and a taste for blunt truth. He laughs at Flagg in his final moments and dies for it.
A kind, intellectually disabled man — M-O-O-N, that spells Tom. Flagg can't read his simple mind, making him the one spy who survives.
A spree killer rescued from a starving cell and made Flagg's lieutenant. He shoots Glen Bateman and burns with Vegas.
A pyromaniac weapons specialist who destroys Flagg's air force in a psychotic fit, then delivers the nuclear warhead that ends everything.
A good-natured Oklahoma farmer on the original road to Mother Abagail. He serves on the committee and dies beside Larry at Flagg's execution.
Glen Bateman's Irish Setter, one of the few dogs immune to the superflu. He stays with the crippled Stu and helps keep him alive.
How they are connected
The dark man of survivors' dreams — demonic, charismatic, and endlessly patient.
He becomes Boulder's conscience and is murdered by Harold's bomb — then guides Tom from beyond death to save Stu.
He becomes Boulder's conscience and is murdered by Harold's bomb — then guides Tom from beyond death to save Stu.
He becomes Boulder's conscience and is murdered by Harold's bomb — then guides Tom from beyond death to save Stu.
A pregnant college student who buries her father and chooses Stu over Harold.
Frannie GoldsmithHarold Lauder
A pregnant college student who buries her father and chooses Stu over Harold.
A bitter teenage outcast in love with Frannie, recruited by Flagg's dreams.
A teacher with a dark presence Mother Abagail can see.
She gives herself to Flagg, is raped and impregnated, then goads him into killing her and the child.
A retired sociology professor with a dog named Kojak and a taste for blunt truth.
He laughs at Flagg in his final moments and dies for it.
A kind, intellectually disabled man — M-O-O-N, that spells Tom.
Go deeper
The rebuilding of civilization · Good and evil as organized religion · Guilt, pride, and redemption · The banality of obedience
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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