Book Review: Doctor Sleep

Book: Doctor Sleep (The Shining book #2) by Stephen King

Edition: Digital

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Review:

Doctor Sleep, which takes place between the 1980s to the present, focused on three subjects: Daniel Torrance, Abra Stone and the True Knot. The story begins with a young Daniel Torrance and his mother Wendy trying to get their lives back to normal. Well, as normal as can be following the devastating ordeal they went through at the Overlook Hotel.

It wasn't long before one of the ghostly residents from the Overlook sought Dan out to kill him. For anyone who is not familiar with The Shining, Dan has a psychic ability which is referred to as the shining and it's something that almost seems to draw the supernatural to him. With both him and his mother scared the only person they could turn to was Richard "Dick" Hallorann, the former Overlook chef, who also had the shining.

He gave Danny advice on how he could get rid of his ghostly visitor. But not before telling him a disturbing backstory that really did nothing but inform Danny of something that he already knew which was that some people were horrible in life and even more so in the after life.

From there the story gives the reader a glimpse into the mysterious group the True Knot, a seemingly immortal group where each member has psychic abilities. They were lead by Rose the Hat and had recruited their newest member, Andi Steiner. It wasn't until later that you get the full knowledge of how terrible they are. They prey on children who have the shining, they torture then kill them to acquire steam, the life force that sustains them.

Dan's life was at the point of hitting rock bottom. He couldn't keep a job, he was constantly drunk and increasingly prone to violence as he drifted by throughout the years. It wasn't until he found his way to a little town in New Hampshire that his life finally started to head in a different direction. The start of his new life had him getting a new job and trying to stay away from alcohol but a ghostly experience nearly had him going back to drinking.

Alcoholics Anonymous is what finally helped him yet it couldn't do anything to stop the shining from occurring. And little did he know it was going to bring him into contact over the years with Abra Stone, a girl who was going to need his help.

Abra has the shining but she was even more powerful than Dan was. Her powers were even present while she was a baby but as the years went by her abilities grew which caused her to see the True Knot murdering a boy to acquire his steam. Unfortunately this also had Rose become aware of her. At the time she didn't know who Abra was but she had left her alone in order to wait for the right time to go after her.

That brings the story to the present when Abra is 13 years old and finding herself becoming a top priority for the True Knot. Despite being very powerful, Abra was going to need help if she was to avoid being captured by the True Knot who had a terrifying plan in store for her.

The Shining was not a book I thought needed a sequel but I'm glad I was wrong. Although Doctor Sleep had a shaky start, Stephen King created a unique story while also introducing a collection of new characters that were engaging and at times terrifying. As the story progressed, the plot and characters begin to overlap even before the fight to stop the True Knot starts.

There are some grim and gruesome aspects to this story which is a given since it's horror but it almost feels like a backdrop to Dan and Abra as you get thrown into their lives. There is a connection between these two characters that once revealed surprised me because I never even considered it.

I really hope this is the only sequel to The Shining because this had a very satisfying ending and doesn't need any more accompanying stories.