Stephen King needs no introduction. He is the quintessential fiction writer encompassing mystery, thriller, love, and horror.
Most, to this day, don’t realize King’s writing is more than just horror. He also authored Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, 11/22/63, all of which spawned Oscar-nominated movies and a Netflix series, respectively.
King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining. Doctor Sleep is a riveting novel about the now middle-aged Danny(Dan) Torrance and a twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous quasi-immortals.
In Doctor Sleep, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless — a mixed bunch of mostly old travelers married to their RVs. The True Knot appear to be immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
Haunted by the horrific memories of the Overlook Hotel, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. He lives a subdued life in a New Hampshire town, working as an orderly in a hospice where his shining power helps terminally ill patients pass away.
Then Dan meets the precocious Abra Stone, and her shining is brighter, stronger and more dangerous. Abra’s abilities reignite Dan’s own demons and drags him into the world of dealing with evil he’d thought was in the past. He must fight for Abra’s survival (reminiscent of how Dick Hallorann protected a young Danny at the Overlook). This is an epic war between good and evil, a glorious story that will thrill the millions of devoted fans of The Shining.
I loved Doctor Sleep and for anyone wondering how little Danny turned out – well, wonder no more. Although the book takes place 40 years after the events of The Shining, Danny’s first-person narrative provides a backstory to his past and where he is now. *Without giving away any spoilers* It was great to relive and revisit characters from The Shining in Doctor Sleep.
What other character would you want to see revived from a Stephen King novel? If you rather skip straight to live-action on this one, the book was adapted into a Netflix movie starring Ewan McGregor as Danny Torrence.
