Doctor Sleep

I have been a King fan since the 70s. That's right. I'm a fossil. I got hooked with his first novel, Carrie. Then had to wait for a couple of years for Salem's Lot to come out. And so it went...I would read novels and short stories as soon as they were published. My favorite King's works are: The Dead Zone; The Stand; Misery; Pet Sematary; The Green Mile; The Shawshank Redemption and of course THE SHINING! Some of his more recent works have lacked something...I don't know what exactly. Perhaps passion. Maybe he's tired - - who could blame him after all this time, really. ANYWAY, I truly wanted to like this sequel to The Shining, however, it lacked the same HORROR and originality. The character development was flimsy, in my option, and closely resembled a number of other characters from his former novels. The villains were laughable and cartoonish. The storyline was predictable and dragged horribly during the middle HALF of the book. It was hardly worthy of it's predecessor. Let's face it, THE SHINING was a stand-alone masterpiece. How could a sequel possibly live up to that?

Holy crap! Holy effing crap! This book was all that I hoped it would be and more. It's been a long while ago that I read the Shining but it didn't matter, things come back to you, and I didn't even really need to read the Shining to get this book. To me, it can be read as a stand alone. I'm so glad that Stephen King was moved to write Danny's book, that I got to see him as an adult and see how the aftermath of what happened to him and his mother in the Overlook Hotel. Taking it all back to his shining and adding even more mysterious and ghostly things. I'm always pleasantly surprised when a book can get one over on me, it doesn't happen often, and it did in Doctor Sleep, a few times. This is a must read book if you're a Stephen King fan, if you've read The Shining or not or if you just want to read a really freaking awesome book!

I waited and waited for King to release this book. What works here best is the continuation of the original story that began in The Shining. Admittedly, my interest in that book (it was the first by King that I read) probably colored my experience of this book. I can see how a reader would want to start with The Shining for context here.In terms of scare factor, some of the images from this book will be with me for a long while to come. A must for King fans, but I recommend it for any reader.

A fun, fast-paced follow-on to "The Shining" but not as classic-y. I rather enjoyed this story but it almost felt too contrived, and too forced. I mean, really...Vampires with pirate names that suck psychic energy (called steam) from highly psychic people? Which make the vampires younger, more psychic and able to live many, many years more than a normal human? And these old folks are computer savvy like today's teenagers? This story almost marginalizes Dan's major-league shinning abilities he had as a kid by presenting a little girl, our heroine, who has explosively more talent than Dan. Well, I tried not to get too rational while I read this but it did make me re-read "The Shining", a much better story.

I’m going to throw myself under the bus by admitting I never read the original Shining or what Kubricks version but I thoroughly enjoyed the mini-series version and have read clips and exciting nuggets from the original book.Why did I grab Doctor Sleep? Because I read You by Caroline Kepnes and until then I was not even away a sequel had been released...yes I know..bad reader. Trust me I have smacked my own hands plenty.Danny Torrence needed this! After surviving the Overlook his life needed documented. Now that being said and despite my 5 glowing stars ...WTF is up with the ending? No spoilers here but AHHH! Maybe it’s my years of reading HEA in the romance genre and how everyone’s future is known with the final parting words but come on Master King....don’t leave a girl wanting like that!Unique, informative, a true-King thriller with marvelously enthralling characters and all the Shining you could ever hope for all while Dan picks up the discarded pieces remaining from his life of living with psychic issues. I truly fell in love with all his broken parts even though I grew up too with a parent who could never use the advantages of AA and fell into the bottle until it swallowed her.Enticing and addicting I couldn’t stop reading or filling my head with each explanation and new character. Another King masterpiece I can’t wait to see play out on the big screen.

[WARNING: some spoilers below]Big Stephen King fan here. Read all his books from Carrie up to Desperation. After that, I had a job and family, yada yada yada, and not as much time to indulge in casual fiction as I did before. The only books I read after Desperation were the Dark Tower books and now, Doctor Sleep. Only picked this one up (on Kindle) because it is a sequel to one of his classic books. Couldn't resist.And overall, it is pretty good. Solid story, interesting characters, engaging read, and unusual for Stephen King, a satisfying ending. Not terribly inventive overall, using the familiar themes of roaming/roving bands of "shining" vampires and the relationship between master and apprentice, but still a lot of fun. A real highlight was the way AA played a large role in this book. Only critique I have of it is that the momentum was lost a bit in the last third due to the decimation of the villains (I can't remember how they're referred to) due to infectious disease and the prodigy's burgeoning telekinetic powers. The show down is a bit of an anticlimax as it's more of a mismatch with the shining wunderkind.Also, not sure why King felt he needed to use a still relevant racial epithet for one of the side characters which repeatedly comes up in a sort of throwback to his heyday in the 80s when having characters use derogatory racial slurs was more acceptable and probably edgy and "real" in some way. But they're an anachronism now and completely unnecessary, and if you're not from the homogenous, white New England landscape, you're probably cringing every time a character (including the prodigy herself) utters it.

The Shining is a classic; that's undeniable. It was a defining moment in horror fiction that terrified children and adults alike (and that includes many of my family members, my Dad foremost in pushing me to read it). So, even though it's only been a few days since I picked up The Shining and sat spellbound by its supernatural thrillings, I was equal parts excited and nervous about Doctor Sleep.Would it live up to its predecessor? Or is The Shining a bottle of lightning that can't be replicated?Well, the answer to both is yes. The Shining cannot be replicated, but Doctor Sleep is a powerful continuation that haunts the reader in a similar way. It's horror, without a doubt, but I'd class it as more of a supernatural thriller. It's captivating and crooked, delving deep into characters just as well as its predecessor does.Doctor Sleep is a modern classic, with an author who's unafraid to tell the truth in its barest form and deliver thrills that no other can hope to match.SynopsisFOLLOWING A CHILDHOOD HAUNTED BY TERRIFYING EVENTS AT THE OVERLOOK HOTEL, DANNY TORRANCE HAS BEEN DRIFTING FOR DECADES.Finally, he settles into a job at a nursing home where he draws on his remnant 'shining' power to help people pass on.Then he meets Abra Stone, a young girl with the brightest 'shining' ever seen. But her gift is attracting a tribe of paranormals. They may look harmless, old and devoted to their Recreational Vehicles, but The True Knot live off the 'steam' that children like Abra produce.Now Dan must confront his old demons as he battles for Abra's soul and survival...Plot - 5/5 StarsDoctor Sleep, for its first quarter, moves through several different times. We follow Danny as a young boy dealing with the demons that haunt him from the Overlook Hotel, the psychological and the very real ones that have followed him; from there we see the ways in which he deals, alcohol and violence, as he falls into the same traps as his father; and then the tale of supernatural suspense and redemption kicks off. They're all magical moments, conveying terror, realistic life development, and diverse human emotions.And don't be worried. King amazes with his ability to naturally move the series' tone and atmosphere forward. The beginning, with Danny as a young boy, has the dark feel of The Shining, progressing into horror that's more ordinary than extraordinary before returning to the abnormal.Danny settles in the town of Frazier, New Hampshire (although there is a lot of travelling around America within the story), and events come thick, fast, and heavy. It's unstoppable. Some developments are predictable, the kind that you're supposed to expect and want to happen, but King has some sharp surprises in store that'll send your brain cells into overdrive.With self-destruction, guilt, and redemption, King escalates the second half to mystical madness, providing a tense showdown that has evil hiding in every corner.It's phenomenal, plain and simple.Pace - 5/5 StarsDespite Doctor Sleep's contemplative pace and subtle build, King ensures that every scene has its significance. Just like The Shining, you're never bored; whether it be physical demons on the loose or inner ones clawing to escape, Doctor Sleep stuns with its realistic representations of the unnatural and the painfully natural.In simpler terms, the novel's flow is smooth, but the story and characters demand that you take your time.It's a demand that I, as a reader, echo: Don't rush this experience (oh, and read The Shining first; it's not strictly necessary, but you'd be doing yourself and the story a disservice if you passed it over).Characters - 4.5/5 StarsDoctor Sleep has a few more characters than its predecessor, which is fine. Their developments are solid overall and there aren't really any duds. My only slight misgivings are the 'off-screen' deaths of Wendy and Dick (although it fits Danny's development perfectly), and the absence of an origins story for The True Knot (the bad guys).Getting away from those, however, this is Danny's story through and through, and he is absolute gold. With shades of his younger self, his father, and Stephen King himself, the now adult 'shiner' is a diverse and troubled main character. It's another instance of a protagonist that's both his own hero and antihero, and the tales that King tantalises with echo Jack from The Shining.Danny is haunted by guilt; he's haunted by fear; he's haunted by his vices. And, unless quenched with alcohol he swore never to touch, he's haunted by very real apparitions intent on his demise. I love the way King sets Danny on a path much like his father's. The way nature vs nurture collides and has the reader wondering if Danny will succumb to what inevitably was instrumental in his Daddy's downfall. The themes of identity, destiny, and choices are fascinating and intense as they explore trails that The Shining doesn't.Writing - 5/5 StarsTo keep it succinct: So many plots, themes, and messages collide in a smorgasbord of sensations that it takes a transcendent talent to organise them all with such precision and passion.Overall - 5/5 StarsI don't know if Doctor Sleep is the last foray we'll have with this world and its characters, but I deeply hope it isn't. With this entry, King proves he can deliver a sequel without sacrificing any of the elements that make the original what it is.Doctor Sleep is tense and terrifying, magical and malignant, deep and daring, and completely worth your time and attention.

Just the other day, I was saying that sequels are not normally as good as the first book, well, Doctor Sleep completely disproved that theory. It far exceeded The Shining, in my opinion, and has become one of my favourite King novels!King has taken the best parts of The Shining, and carried them into Doctor Sleep. Not only did he keep the best bits, but he enhanced them. Danny’s ‘shining’ is brilliant, but Abra’s is next level, the extent of her abilities were so interesting to read about, simple and complex at the same time – simple in that you could easily read and understand it, but complex in that when you really think about it, it’s some next level stuff! What was fantastic was this novel comes with a range of supernatural abilities, varying in strength and wonder; the paranormal aspects of this novel were amazing!As a sequel, this far exceeds its predecessor, and that’s no small praise, because The Shining was very good! To enhance your enjoyment of this novel, you should read The Shining first, so, not only can you pick up on elements that have been carried over, but you understand the mention of previous events and past characters. There are some really clever things in this novel that you will miss out on if you don’t know the beginning of the story.“Because that was then and this is now. Because the past is gone, even though it defines the present.”Doctor Sleep joins Danny as a middle-aged man working in a hospice, and let me tell you, I adore Danny. His character was one you believe in with your whole heart, you can see that he is the boy you met in The Shining all grown up now; surviving his demons and ready to fight for Abra. And Abra is up against some tough adversaries, one being Rose ‘the hat’ O’Hara who has some telepathic abilities of her own. You witness some real battles of will power in this novel, psychological warfare. One thing King has mastered is his ability to create amazing antagonists, ones that, while you don’t like their characters, you appreciate what they do for the story.Abra is a brilliant protagonist, and it was interesting to see how she coped/lived with her ‘shining’ compared to how a younger Danny did. The relationship between Abra and Danny was so well done, they were both such endearing characters; to see Danny guiding Abra as best he could just warmed my heart, because I remember the trauma Danny experienced in The Shining and how he struggled with his ‘shining’ initially. Seeing Abra come to embrace hers, and test the extent of her abilities made for great reading.“The shining. It was a good name, a comforting name, because she had always thought of it as a dark thing.”Doctor Sleep is an addictive read, with some great characters – everyone that made up The True Knot were interesting in their own right. The suspense was felt, the plot intensified when it needed to, but most importantly this novel has so much heart, you become emotionally attached to some of the characters and this guarantees you’re invested in the plot and fearful for their survival, because we all know King has no issue killing-off his characters, whether they are main characters or secondary ones!I could talk about this book all day, I loved every aspect of it; without fail, it’s one of my favourite books of the year!

I absolutely loved The Shinning. I watched the film first and then read the book. I was really looking forward into finding out what actually happened to Danny. I found it quite slow at first and a little depressing, With Danny as an alcoholic. It took a while to get into it. I liked meeting the girl who also has the shine and finding out about the evil Rose.It's a good book and I'm looking forward to seeing the film. Enjoy

Danny Torrance is back! He older and on a very slippery slope. Is history going to repeat itself?'Life was a wheel, it's only job was to turn and it always came back to where it had started'.I read The Shining last month and loved it but this book is genius! It was interesting to read Stephen's afterword, how Danny has played on his mind for so long, how this sequal was dying to be written and my goodness Stephen this book a is Corker.And once again it's another SK book that name drops books and I just love that Stephen's love of books is so evident in his writing.Argh I love this book so much but I dont want to say anything about it because you've got to go in blind.If theres calls for a book three I am cart wheeling onto that bandwagon.5 stars full of the shining!

An excellent story that could have been disappointing because of book one, however, it was brilliantly done and in some ways better.Dan is a great character, his gift fascinating, so it was intriguing to see him as a man. Abra, too, made for good reading.The True Knot - yikes, disturbing in so many ways.A great tale with insight into the weaknesses and strengths of humans alongside the spookiness of others.Very well-written and highly recommended.