Doctor Sleep written by Stephen King It was at night when I started reading this book. This was a bad idea. I thought since The Shining, Stephen King's prequel to Doctor Sleep, gave the reader some time to warm up to the story before terrifying them, this book would grant me the same favor. However this book hits hard and fast with a cameo from its infamous predecessor, the woman from room 217. A few years after the Overlook hotel exploded, Danny, now seven years old, discovers that the horrors from that hotel still follow him. Thank you Mr. King, for I am scared of bath tubs again which is certainly not good for my hygiene. But can you blame me? Stephen King is a master at enacting fear in his readers. He doesn't need to create dull periods of suspense before jumping out and shouting, "BOO!", like in almost every scary movie. He can flick his wand and suddenly there's a decaying naked corpse sitting on your toilet coming to strangle you, or a lion-shaped bush coming to eat you, or a beautiful woman with one long discolored tusk-like tooth instead of teeth. This ability is what he is most famous for, but not the only variable that makes him an excellent writer, or this an excellent book.
Doctor Sleep is essentially a continuation of The Shining, and answers the question of Danny. What happens to Danny after that eventful winter? This book begins first when Danny is seven years old learning to get rid of the bad things that follow him because of his "shine", a kind of psychic energy and ability of the mind. This strange skill that Danny has to manipulate and read minds has always puzzled and frightened him. He's had to learn to cope with this disturbing aspect of himself.
The story quickly jumps to a time when Danny is now Dan, an adult who has fallen into alcoholism like his late father, Jack Torrence. But Doctor Sleep isn't a rehash of the shining this book is as original as any of Stephen kings other novels. Three components dictate the direction of the story.
First there is Dan who is a steady member of AA(alcoholics anonymous) and has a job at a Hospice. He has stopped trying to subdue the shining and forget his mistakes by getting drunk. Now he uses the shining to help people pass on giving him his nickname, Doctor Sleep. He is building a life for himself when a message shows up on his blackboard from Abra.
Lucy and David Stones's child is special. They don't understand how, but they can't deny their child has certain abilities. The piano will play a Beatles riff without someone playing it or even keys moving. On Abra's birthday all of the spoons rise up to the ceiling. She can also sense things like when their neighbor takes a bad fall. She can do all of this before she is five. Abra had the strongest "Shine" ever seen. Her parents stay calm and keep an eye on her, but they don't know that Abra has been sending mental messages to Dan, whom she has never met. Dan becomes a mentor/uncle to her like Halloran was for him when he was young, and Abra will soon need his help because he isn't the only one that knows about her shining.
The True Knot look like friendly RV travelers from the outside, but they are far from what they appear to be. This group is a band of seemingly immortal beings stay alive by living off of what they call "steam", the energy emitted by a child with the shining when tortured to death. And Rose the Hat, one of their leaders, senses Abra early on and lies in wait for the chance to feast off of the greatest shine they have ever encountered. The have killed many before and will come for Abra if Dan and Abra can't find a way to stop the empty devils especially the stunning Rose the Hat with the single discolored tooth/tusk.
The thing I love about Stephen King is his originality. The story he built was so unique I can't even compare it to any other book I know of, including his own. This story had a excellent hook with the bathtub lady, but as far as similarities with the Shining that's about it. Although there are some nifty tie ins throughout the novel, this book can be read without reading the Shining first. One thing about Doctor Sleep is it isn't all horror, it's a story. This book isn't terrifying all the way through, but Stephen King won't let you forget how easily he can shock and disturb.
This book does more than tell an amazing story. The culture of AA is delved into in a way that is unlike anything I have ever read or seen. King uses his personal experiences in his writing more than you may think. King was an alcoholic himself and is a member of AA much like Dan Torrence, and it is these parallels that add dimension and depth to Doctor Sleep. In an interview he stated that this was a story he want to write and felt pressure to capture the nature of AA and "do it right".
It can also be stated that this book was a reaction to the movie The Shining. King stated that he disliked how his story and characters were portrayed. He said that Wendy Torrence wasn't the strong woman he wrote her to be she was just a, "scream-machine" he also said he thought Jack Nicholson, "hammed it up". To me this book seemed like he was sitting down to write stretched out his hand and wrote the continuation of his book The Shining he had resolved to pull out all the stops. He would terrify, entrance, and thrill the reader to a level that the shining never truly achieved. Chapter one alone threw me against the wall and knocked the wind out if me. I had to wait two days to start chapter two because I needed to catch my breath. This shining was a sparkler and doctor sleep is that giant red firework rocket you're to afraid to purchase. This book is explosive and makes for a spectacular show, so don't hesitate to buy it.
