Doctor Sleep (2013) image source: bit.ly/1hwHfth
*spoiler free review*
Was it worth the wait? Stephen King’s highly anticipated follow up to the instant horror classic “The Shining” (1977) was 2013’s “Doctor Sleep”. Though this book does unfortunately fall victim to the curse of the sequel, and just can’t compete with the propulsive white knuckle ride that was “The Shining”, it is still a pretty scary book and a page turner that is worth a read for fans of the first book or the horror genre.
Since I don’t want to spoil too much of the plot, I will just briefly say that the novel does require a pretty solid knowledge of the events of “The Shining”. Even though Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation is an excellent horror film, it does take quite a few liberties with the text, and it will be difficult to follow at least the first third of “Doctor Sleep” if you are not familiar with Stephen King’s actual writing.
But it is not entirely necessary to have read “The Shining” before reading “Doctor Sleep”. You should still be able to follow pretty much most of the book regardless. This book picks up after the horrific and traumatic events that took place at the Overlook Hotel. Danny Torrance, now an adult who goes by the name Dan, is scarred from his experiences there, and finds that he is making some of the same mistakes his father did, and has become an alcoholic. He cannot escape the figurative (and literal) ghosts of the Overlook, and the alcoholism and violent streaks that tormented his father are now destroying his life. Dan as an adult is a barley functioning alcoholic, struggling to remain sober, and keep up the 12 step recovery program.
Dan’s story is just one strand that makes up the rather complicated and intertwined plot of “Doctor Sleep”. In another town, a young girl named Abra Stone is grappling with immense telepathic and telekinetic powers of her own. She is able to form a mental link with Dan, and the two will be pulled into a fight against the terrifying True Knot, a group of violent vagrants and drifters who roam the United States searching for “steam”, a special element that people gifted with the ‘shining’ powers release when they are in pain. The True Knot hunt down victims and torture them, feeding off the “steam”, which gives them healing powers and grants them near eternal life. They can sense when people have the ‘shining’, and are drawn to children with these powers, which makes Abra a feast for the group, if they ever find her.
“Doctor Sleep” does not have the same secluded and eerie setting that made “The Shining” so memorable. Without a central setting that was as detailed and ominous as the Overlook, “Doctor Sleep” does seem to amble from location to location, as it heads toward a climactic showdown between good and evil.
“Doctor Sleep” is simply not as thrilling as its predecessor, which used its lonely location and small cast of characters (really just the three members of the Torrance family for most of the book) to great effect. With such a large cast, “Doctor Sleep” does sometimes shift focus away from Dan too much, and Abra does seem like she should be at Professor Xavier’s school with the rest of the X-Men with her wide and impressive power set. But King is a master storyteller, and creates a really thrilling book despite some ups and downs.
Image source: Wikipedia
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