Doctor Sleep: A Novel

It amazes me that Stephen King is able to write so many consistently good books over these many years. This is one of his best recent works and features the Shinning's Jack Torrance's grown son Dan. Dan must attempt to stop some incredibly evil beings from taking additional victims. He is however not a perfect hero. Like his father, he drinks, and his power known as the "shinning" has faded somewhat. He also suffers from guilt over some of the bad decisions he made when drinking too heavily. Nevertheless, Dan must rise to the task of fighting and destroying some deeply fiendish enemies and save a young girl who has a much stronger version of his now diminished power and which his newfound adversaries seek to harness for their own use. There are truly some heart-stopping moments in this book, which highlight King's standing as a master writer.

love King's books on CD. Makes the time go faster when driving.

Thank you

Sequel to, "The Shining," which was the first King novel I ever read. If you liked, "The Shining," especially the book and the TV mini-series, then you will love, "Doctor Sleep." This book give more information on Danny's psychic abilities.

This audiobook was read by Will Patton, none other than the beautifully raspy voiced Colonel Dan Weaver from Falling Skies! I love that show. Wish more people would watch it. His voice makes you feel like everything will be okay.

Patton does some wonderful things with this work, breathing life into the characters and always managing to suck me back into things if I started to drift a little (sorry, it’s King, one can’t help but drift and if you deny it, well your undies are probably on fire). I wish Patton could narrate all the books I want to read on audio. I cannot lie. I freely admit that my rating may have been compromised because of that man’s magical voice.

As most, if not all, of you know this is the sequel to The Shining. But this book is really nothing like The Shining. And that’s okay. Danny Torrance is all grown up and he’s a bit of a mess. I suppose I might be too if I grew up seeing the terrible things he’s seen. In order to turn down his “shining” and shut out the ghosts, he’s taken up drinking. Dan’s life has not been easy and drinking has only made things more difficult. He hits a low after a drinking binge and his action and inaction will forever haunt him. He eventually learns to use his powers for the good and works in an assisted living facility where he is known as Doctor Sleep because he is able to ease the dying into the hereafter but every day is a struggle against his addiction. This depiction felt extremely real and honest and was painful to read.

When a young girl named Abra with incredible “shining” powers comes screaming into his life, he becomes her mentor and finds himself entangled in a battle with a nefarious enemy who call themselves the “True Knot”. The True Knot torture and suck out the essence of children with the shining. They bottle it up and inhale it to stay immortal but their supply is running low and they are succumbing to human disease . . .

To be honest, these True Knot loons didn’t scare me all that much.

The True Knot were unique, horrible and selfish but in such bad shape that they didn’t scare me. Maybe if we’d met up with them at their strongest I might’ve felt differently. As written they were kind of lame and Abra is described as having incredible shining power. So much so that from the beginning, I never truly believed the True Knot steam sucking nutzos would stand a chance against her and that’s all I’m saying.

Doctor Sleep is eerie and suspenseful, with strong characterization and shocking moments of sadness and death but I didn’t find it flat out terrifying as I did The Shining. I did enjoy seeing what became of little Danny Torrance and I felt for him and his plight with Abra (abracadabra – sorry but that’s all I could hear in my head whenever someone said the poor child’s name). It was a terrific sequel that didn’t let me down and definitely worth a listen on audio.

Stephen King is someone who never ceases to amaze me! The audiobook was truly a getaway from everyday life!

Thank you was very satisfied

Stephen King has done it again with this fascinating, new tale that reunites an old hero with new ones, who have to face a traveling band of creatures that only King could think up. This story involves a now grown Danny Torrance, one of the survivors of the ill-fate Overlook Hotel in Sidewinder, Colorado, and a band of monster hunters on the trail of supernatural RV folks known as “The True Knot.” These horrific creatures we have seen before traveling the highways and byways when we’re on the road. They have those all too familiar motor homes, truck campers and what have you vehicles designed for cross-country jaunts. They stay in those all too-familiar, and quite creepy-in-their-own-way locales where these seemingly ordinary vacationers stay. But, beware, these folks are true monsters in search of the life essence we all have; our life force if you will -- Our “steam,” as it were.
Now, Dan, who has been battling his own demons of alcoholism for years has met a young girl who also has the “shine” to her, far more than even Dan has. The teen girl, named Abra Stone is very powerful, as well as desirable to The True Knot; who has made it a habit of killing hundreds; if not thousands of children over the centuries for their “steam,” and they want her badly. With Abra, however, the wicked band of traveling monsters are in for a surprise…
This book pays homage to King’s great work, and one of my personal favorites: “The Shining,” and returns to it for some reference, though does not over use the past success of the novel to take over this story. Instead, the psychic events experienced by Dan earlier in his life, as well as the haunts at the Overlook are put into perspective, and as a source for explanation, offering the reader a foundation as to why some things happened, and how his father’s issues visited him. It also brings closure to the past characters and their fates. Dan chooses sobriety, and leads a life of helping those ready to pass on, offering them a chance to do so with dignity and compassion, the source of his true power and strength…A strength that will be put to the test. Now, Dan ultimately teams up with others to hunt down the band of monsters, giving a similar feel to a much older team of English monster hunters such as Dr. Van Helsing, Dr. Seward and Jonathan Harker, or perhaps a more recent team of American monster hunters like Ben Mears, Jason Burke and Mark Petrie in our own little Jerusalem’s Lot. To be sure though, the hunt won’t be easy.

The audio book is great for those on the run like myself, and certainly makes the driving time go by faster, and certainly more entertaining. Read by one of my favorite actors Will Patton (Falling Skies), who acts out every character like a true thespian, this 15 CD set, or other delivery systems, and of course the book, will delight you in a way only Stephen King can: 10% intrigue, 10% levity and 80% terror, all delivered in strangely believable settings. An excellent story read by an excellent actor. I give it as many stars allowed by law…Can’t wait for the film.

If made for TV, maybe they can consider hiring Mr. Patton to play a part. As he can play good as well as evil with apparent ease, we might consider him for the part of “David Stone” (Abra’s father) or if playing the baddy, he would make a great “Crow Daddy.” For “Rose the Hat,” I get an image of Lucy Lawless (of Xena: Warrior Princess fame…God I love her), and when she turns into the monster that she really is; I would consider either Rosie O’Donnell or Nancy Pelosi…We need really evil women for that part. The other parts could vary depending on many things. The only other request is that if to made for TV, maybe it could be made on a better-than-average cable station like AMC, where you can show all the blood and guts that other stations won’t allow, as well as the proper language in order to reflect the book faithfully. If you add too much fluff to a King story, it takes away from the true girth that it was meant to be, kind a like drinking alcohol-free beer – What’s the point?

The story was well written as always and it drew you in and kept you there until the end.

Not usually a big Stephen King fan but this story is really quite good. I have a 3 hour commute home on the weekends and figured I would try an Audio Book to help pass the time. Really glad I did. Abra Stone is a great character and found myself looking forward to the drive so I could find out what happened next. I really do recommend this story/audio book.