This is a classic battle between good and evil, as told in a post apocalyptic world, after a virus kills off 99% of the population. Mother Abigail, who is 108 and living in Nebraska starts appearing in the dreams of the survivors. Around the same time, Randall Flagg aka The Dark Man who is an entity of evil, also starts appearing in the dreams of the survivors. As time goes by, it becomes more and more apparent that all survivors in this new world will have to make a choice and saddle up on one side or the other. Stephen King does a good job fleshing out the back stories of all the major characters (Laws, yes Tom Cullen!) which is a smart move once the ball starts rolling and the story lines start to come together. For some reason, I was expecting more supernatural elements and some crazy clash of violence between the opposing forces, but the story goes in a completely different direction than I was expecting. Besides killing off my favorite character 3/4 of the way through and the cheesy two page "epilogue" at the end, which was a total copout and completely unnecessary, I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Stand. Highly Recommended.