Title: Doctor Sleep
Author: Stephen King
Published by: Scribner
Published on: 2013
Pages: 635 pages
Because that was then and this is now. Because the past is gone, even though it defines the present.
Chapter Nineteen: Ghostie People
I have a pet peeve towards sequels that aren't meant to be sequels in the first place. They're usually written as cashgrab and either the publisher or the author just wants to milk it. Hence, when I found out that Stephen King wrote a sequel to the masterpiece that is The Shining almost half a decade later, I was slightly peeved. What if it's not good? King said that the story would focus on adult Danny Torrance and how he battled the same devil as his father: alcoholism. A part of me refused to accept this reality because I ADORE DANNY WITH ALL MY HEART OKAY PRECIOUS BOY NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COST!!1!
LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS
But then curiosity got the better of me. And I didn't regret it for one bit.
Doctor Sleep doesn't immediately fast forward to ~40 years later. King took his sweet time reintroducing us to the set, to Wendy, to Dick Hallorann, and ofcourse to kid Danny. As we move forward to adult Danny, we see him making wrong choices after wrong choices. And everything started with alcohol. When the story properly starts, Dan was in his thirties, homeless, jobless, had no money, and basically had nowhere to go. His Shining guided him to Frazier, New Hampshire, where he met Billy Freeman who got a little bit of the Shine too and realised that this young man needed help. It was there that Dan was able to start over. Working at the local hospice, he earned the nickname Doctor Sleep by using his Shine to comfort the dying just moments before their deaths.
But if you think our main character is Dan and Dan only, well you are bloody wrong because midway King introduced us to the second and most vital main protagonist, without whose existence the story wouldn't move forward: Abra Stone. Abra is a little girl with a Shine so powerful, that she could contact Dan even when she was still a baby. They never met until Abra turned pre-teen, by the time she had made good friends with Tony -- little Danny's own imaginary friend. By that time, Dan knew of her existence though they'd never met, and Abra thought that Dan was Tony's father.
So what is the plot? Who's the villain this time, is it still the Overlook Hotel?
Enter The True Knot, a group of immortals who gained immortality by consuming the power of the children with Shine. Led by Rose the Hat (they have funny names, I know), each had their own well, Shine, that they used to track these children. And by some coincidence, Rose found out about Abra. And she knew how powerful this girl was. And her Shine could feed the True Knot for years, decades even.
Afraid, Abra turned to the only person she knew could help her. As Dan and Abra tried to find out as much about the True Knot, while also keeping Abra's defense up, truths from the past emerged and the Overlook Hotel might not be done with Dan Torrance just yet.
EGGLYSIS
Ladies and gents and those who have yet to make up their minds, I present you: adult Dan Torrance.
Even before watching the movie, I had such a huge crush on adult Dan when reading the book. These excerpts will show you why:
Dan lifted one foot, hooked it behind one of the tilted front legs of Carling's chair, and yanked. The chair spun away and Carling landed on the floor. [...] "Have I got your attention?" "You sonofa--" Carling started to get up. Dan put his foot on the man's chest and pushed him back against the wall. "I see I have. Good. It would be better right now if you didn't get up. Just sit there and listen to me." Dan bent forward and clasped his knees with his hands. Tight, because all those hands wanted to do right now was hit. And hit. And hit. His temples were throbbing. Slow, he told himself. Don't let it get the better of you. But it was hard.
Chapter Four: Paging Doctor Sleep
I don't know about you but THAT anger definitely butters my buns. *winkwink*
I am not alone in this. Even Abra knew it, too. Oh, and Rose the Hat -- at least in the movie.
It was also nice to have a grown man stand up for her, and it didn't hurt that he was handsome, in a scruffy kind of way that reminded her a little of Jax Teller on Sons of Anarchy, a show she and Emma Deane secretly watched on Em's computer.
Chapter Nine: The Voices of Our Dead Friends
YES ROSIE GIRL YOU SPEAK MY SOUL
I love everything about this book to bits. THIS is how every author should write a sequel to a story they didn't intend to make series out of it in the first place. The plot is engaging and the banter between characters is so enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the dynamic between Dan, Billy, John, and even Dave, Abra's father. Each character is developed really well, and a special round of applause to Dan Torrance. He feels so raw and real. My initial hesitancy is completely forgotten. YES, I truly believe this adult Dan Torrance is the grown up version of that adorable little boy in The Shining.
The True Knot didn't seem scary at first. Rose was described as being superhot since the beginning, and Rebecca Ferguson made me question my sexuality in the movie, so there ya go. But something about Abra's narration of seeing her true face outside her bedroom window, with a single tooth protruding from the top of her mouth gave me nightmare. I didn't realise that I got spooked until I turned off the light to go to bed, halfway done with the book.
Overall, Doctor Sleep is...
