By Stephen King
Recently I decided to read The Shining by Stephen King,
exclusively for this reason. Dr. Sleep
is King’s follow up novel detailing what happened to Danny Torrance after the
incidents at the Overlook hotel.
The novel begins with our reintroduction to young Danny
Torrance. After the disaster at the
Overlook Hotel, Danny has remained friends with Dick Halloran who served as a
counselor for using his shining ability.
We jump forward 20 years to a Dan Torrance who is battling his father’s
demons. Dan is living his life from
bender to bender, all over the country.
He hits his bottom after a one night stand with a woman named Deenie in
Wilmington, North Carolina (This part is too powerful and haunting to spoil). Stealing her cash and hitting the road, Dan
soon ends up in New Hampshire. With the
help of his new boss, he joins AA to deal with his demons. While this is going on, we are introduced to
a group of “vampires” which feed on people who have the “shine” like Dan. The True Knot is lead by Rose the Hat. The True Knot travel the country in RV’s,
feeding off “steam” that they capture by torturing children with "the shine." Each member of
the True Knot has their own unique talent, which they exploit to capture their
victims. We are then introduced to Abra
Stone, a girl with a powerful "shine". In Abra’s childhood, she begins showing
unique psychokinetic powers and supernatural abilities. The family is unnerved by her abilities, and as
Abra grows older she realizes she needs to keep a lid on these abilities. At this point, Dan Torrance is working nearby
in hospice care at the Helen Rivington house in New Hampshire. At the Rivington house he uses the shining,
now unhampered by alcohol, to ease patients into the hereafter. One night, he is contacted by young Abra who
has felt the dangerous presence of the True Knot. As Abra gets older, she keeps occasional
contact with Dan. Years later, Abra contacts Dan for
help in finding the “baseball boy,” a boy who had been kidnapped by
the “True Knot.” Abra’s investigation
into “the baseball boy” exposes her to Rose the Hat. Running short of steam, the “True Knot” is
beginning to suffer various diseases, which makes Rose the Hat desperate to capture
Abra. Soon, Abra is in serious danger when a group of the True Knot travels to
New Hampshire. It’s up to Dan and his
friends to save Abra, and he’s going to need his “shine” to do it. The climax ultimately leads Dan to a familiar,
and terrifying location from his past.
Is his “shine” powerful enough to save Abra from the evil “True Knot?”
When
I heard that Stephen King was writing a sequel to The Shining, I had mixed
feelings. Either Mr. King had some
unfinished business with one of his characters, or he had run out of
ideas. Fortunately for fans of his work,
the reason was the former. I really
should not have been surprised, since I believe that one of the greatest
strengths of King’s work is his character development. There was obviously a lot of gas left in the
tank with Danny Torrance, and Mr. King has produced another phenomenal story
with well-developed and interesting characters.
Even if you have not read “The Shining,” this book stands well on its
own. I would highly recommend it.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Bunsen Burners
Up Next: Haunted or
Damned by Chuck Palahniuk, Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett, The Gun Seller by
Hugh Laurie, Xenocide by Orson Scott Card, or Patriot Games by Tom Clancy. I apologize to you, and myself for the severe
backlog.
