BOOK REVIEW: "Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King

Heeeeere's...Danny?

The Overlook Hotel may have blown up, but its malevolent essence has haunted Dan Torrance since be was a little boy who was almost murdered there by his drunken father, John, in Stephen King's 1977 epic horror novel The Shining.

Danny learned how to control his unusual powers with the help of the Overlook's chef, but it proves too much to bear and he goes down the old road of Alcoholism. He is a drifter, working when be can and drinking all the time. His "bottom" comes when he does cocaine with a woman while he was too drunk to remember. He then steals the woman's money after trying to get her toddler away from the leftover coke, which the kid thinks is candy.

It haunts him until he finally settles into a small New Hampshire town and works as an orderly, helping old people pass away as "Doctor Sleep". But, a few miles away, a little girl named Abra is born, who will take Dan for the ride of his live.

Abra has "the shining", very strongly. So strong, a group of nomads wants her for her "steam", which is her shining taken form after she is tortured to death. These people, the True Knot, have been living on steam for centuries, but supplies are short. They need Abra, but they have no idea what tge little girl and her family have in store for them...

I have been a King fan since I was a young teen, and remember my first time reading The Shining. As much as I love his work, I didn't think much of a sequel to this epic novel, but I bought the book because he is my favorite author.

I should've known better than to underestimate the Master!

Doctor Sleep starts out strong and gets stronger page by page. While admittedly not as frightening as its predecessor, I found this novel to be better! As Mr. King himself says in the author's note, he is not the same person who wrote The Shining, and I, as a Constant Reader, wouldn't want it any other way!

This is a psychological thriller filled with murder, magic and spirits, with some of King's strongest characters and deepest emotions. Just when you think that you know what's going on and maybe even what's going to happen next, King throws you a curveball that will leave you speechless.

Brava, Mr. King, you did it again and still hold fast to your title as the Master of Horror, though you are so much more!

5/5--literary perfection!

Purchase Doctor Sleep wherever books and ebooks are sold!