Book Review: "Doctor Sleep" by Stephen King

Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals. 

On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death. 

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.” 

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of devoted readers of The Shining and satisfy anyone new to this icon in the King canon. - from Amazon.com

Years ago, like millions of readers, I read THE SHINING and was scared out of my head. Following that piece of work by Stephen King, I read everything I could get my hands on, from PET CEMETERY, to IT, to SALEM'S LOT, and the list goes on and on. Every time a new book would come out, I had to read it. Though not written so much to be scary, it finds the little boy Danny, grown up and having issues with alcohol. While overcoming his addiction, his shining (the gift he has) brings him in contact with a young girl (a few years have passed during the story). With a great conclusion to this story line, King has made me glad to be a reader.