Read of the Town: Doctor Sleep

Just about everyone I know has seen The Shining, therefore they know it's based on a book written by Stephen King. He is heralded as probably this centuries best writer of thrillers and I would have to agree. I have not read another author who was able to make me so scared in my mind that I still have a hard time finishing his books. I have seen The Shining and I read the book earlier this year. They both differ as most would expect a book to differ from the movie. In interviews Stephen King has been known to say he didn't like the liberties the director took with the movie. They are both great on their own. Now, onto Doctor Sleep and why it's a book many have been talking about and I think many have already read since it's release on September 24th. This book is the sequel to The Shining which was first published in 1977! I can't imagine any sequel of a book having such an impact after 36 years but here we are and it's happening. Could the fact that the movie has been seen by millions be a part of it? Probably, but who cares. Reading is great and I love hearing when a book like this can make headlines. I only hope it's living up to the hype? I'm sure I'll find out once I get around to it. Unfortunately I have about 30 books ahead of this one on my TBR list right now.

I'll admit I haven't even read the summary I provide below or the jacket of the book yet. I bought it on faith, knowing it will be a great sequel. Have you ever purchased a book based on the author or the title or even the cover, without checking to see what the story is about?

Summary:

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.