By Randall Stephens
When Stephen King announced Doctor Sleep, the much-anticipated sequel to The Shining, he promised a “return to that all-consuming, sleepless terror.” King delivers, albeit in a more subtle and nuanced way than The Shining. Where The Shining was about confronting fear, the claustrophobic impact of being trapped in a small space where your worst nightmares are becoming reality. In comparison, Doctor Sleep often feels more like a love story, albeit one set in a world where an equally insidious evil lurks. There’s a clear gulf between the two books, but despite that, Doctor Sleep is still a phenomenal read that’s sure to become a classic. A must-see for horror fans, especially fans of Stephen King.
Dan Torrance (as he’s now called) has grown up. Although the Overlook has been razed to the ground, Dan is still haunted by his fateful time there. His supernatural abilities – which he still calls “The Shining” – are as powerful as ever. Beyond that, however, Dan is no longer the Danny we once knew. He’s taken to drinking, and in many ways, he’s more like Jack Torrance’s son than ever before, just without his father’s Overlook-induced madness.
Soon after the novel begins, Danny gets a job at a hospice, helping people transition to the other side. He soon develops a telepathic connection with Abra Stone, a child who also possesses the gift of the Shining. The two develop a deep bond, but Abra is soon threatened by the novel’s villains, the True Knot, a group of vampire-like creatures that feed on the “vapor” created when children with the Shining die. Contrary to what I expected, the ghosts of the Overlook are not the villains of the novel, although they occasionally appear.
Like all of King’s novels, Doctor Sleep is well-written, highly readable, and highly entertaining. I personally think it is the best book King has published in years, and I would rank it as my fourth or fifth favorite King book of all time. King develops characters better in Doctor Sleep than in any of his books since The Stand, and the pace of this novel is much faster than most of King’s other works. I am a big fan of King, but I often feel that his stories drag and are long-winded. Doctor Sleep is continuous action and character development, and this book is really hard to put down.
Doctor Sleep is a treasure trove for longtime Stephen King fans, with numerous nods to his work, including a clever reference to Charlie Manx from NOS4A2 (the most recent book by Stephen King’s son Joe Hill) at the beginning of the novel.
Since this is a sequel, there are multiple references to The Shining in the book. Sadly, however, Doctor Sleep doesn’t illuminate the events of its legendary predecessor. If there’s one downside to the book, it’s this: its connections to The Shining often seem forced. Stephen King could have easily written the book with a new character and used a different term to describe Danny’s supernatural abilities. The trailer for Doctor Sleep reads, “Danny Torrence has grown up. His demons have grown up too.” This line is little more than a clever marketing ploy: Danny’s time at the Overlook has little to no connection to Dan’s battle with the True Knot.
Overall, Doctor Sleep is well worth the read. If you enjoy the genre, or you’re a fan of King, you should put this book at the top of your list. While this novel may not be as well-known as its predecessor, and there’s a huge gap between the two books, it’s still one of the best books I’ve read this year. Stephen King has long been known as the master of horror, and Doctor Sleep is a prime example of how he earned that reputation.
Who will like this book: Horror lovers, Stephen King fans, or even people who rarely read horror novels.
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Rating: 5/5
