Friday 28 March 2014

Book Review: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Doctor Sleep (The Shining, #2)Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure why this book is only four stars and not five. As usual, King really shines with his characters. Dan Torrance, the same Dan Torrance whose father went a bit crazy at the Overlook Hotel in 'The Shining', is our hero in this novel. He is the aforementioned Doctor Sleep, using his shining to help the elderly residents of the care home he works in to pass away peacefully. We meet Dan at his worse (a violent alcoholic, stealing from penniless single mothers) and continue with him on his journey of recovery.
We also follow young Abra Stone (a brilliant name!) who has the shining from a young age. It's clear that she possesses brilliant powers and they are only getting stronger.
Alongside Abra and Dan, we meet the True Knot, a band of people who only look younger and younger. To keep their youthful appearance they feed off of steam. Steam is obtained by the torture and prolonged pain of children with the shining. Now you can see where this is leading.
As I said before, King creates characters with depth and emotion, characters you love to hate and characters you root for all the way. Alongside Dan and Abra there are several smaller characters that provide the humour and create lots of interesting situations.
My one criticism were the villains of this piece, really. The leader of the True Knot is known as Rose the Hat because she wears a top hat which manages to stay on her head at an unnatural angle. I didn't particularly dislike her, I just found her annoying, which is disappointing really, considering King's talent for writing viscous females (see Annie Wilkes in Misery).
For me I can pick up one of King's books and know I am going to enjoy it. The tension is incredible at times, and his descriptions of the ghosts and ghouls are vivid and horrific. More than that, I enjoy the ride of his novels, I like getting to know the characters and unravelling the plot. Although a lot of content could be taken out without great loss of understanding.
For Doctor Sleep I award four stars, for a great protagonist and a world created with complete detail. I would also say it not essential to have read 'The Shining', although there are references to it throughout.

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