2017 Feb 19
by Ridhmi Subaseela
On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”
Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of hyper-devoted readers of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.
While the reader will benefit from having read The Shining beforehand, Doctor Sleep can act as a standalone novel in its own right. It follows the now adult Danny Torrance as he struggles to leave his past behind. Danny’s character change from the first book to this, has been executed with finesse as the ramifications of the traumatising events from his childhood follow him into his adult life. Stephen King’s book makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read and remains true to its genre.
The members of The True Knot appear as formidable opponents on the surface, however, as the story progresses the reader has to wonder if they really are as daunting as they seem. Some may find the climax to be slightly too convenient and unworthy of such adversaries. Nevertheless, the narrative has an overall consistency which doesn’t take away from the momentum, rather it adds to it. Doctor sleep is a highly entertaining story, teeming with gory imagery, child torturing and murdering monsters but also, hope.
Rating: 3.8/5
