Years ago, the haunting of the Overlook Hotel nearly broke young Dan Torrance’s sanity, as his paranormal gift known as “the shining” opened a door straight into hell. And even though Dan is all grown up, the ghosts of the Overlook—and his father’s legacy of alcoholism and violence—kept him drifting aimlessly for most of his life. Now, Dan has finally found some order in the chaos by working in a local hospice, earning the nickname “Doctor Sleep” by secretly using his special abilities to comfort the dying and prepare them for the afterlife. But when he unexpectedly meets twelve-year-old Abra Stone—who possesses an even more powerful manifestation of the shining—the two find their lives in sudden jeopardy at the hands of the ageless and murderous nomadic tribe known as the True Knot, reigniting Dan’s own demons and summoning him to battle for this young girl’s soul and survival…
Horror Book Review Blog: Doctor Sleep
The predecessor to this novel, The Shining, is a personal favorite of mine so when I heard that King was in the process of making a sequel to his classic book, I was excited. The book’s release came and went, and for some reason or another, I held off from purchasing the book. Needless to say, it took me a while to finally pick it up. In fact, it was not until I was on a mission to build my personal Stephen King library that I finally picked up Doctor Sleep. I made it a goal to read all of King’s books by the time my life on this planet expires. The problem is the damn man just won’t stop writing!
The novel picks up with Danny (now Dan) Torrance all grown up. He is a broken and damaged man like his father, Jack, who turns to the bottle for solace. The spirits of The Overlook Hotel still haunt him and, guided by Hallorann, Dan learns how to contain them in a confined space in his mind.
King took Doctor Sleep in a different direction than that of The Shining in that he explored Dan’s gift further and revealed that there are many in the world with similar, yet varying talents. These “gifts” are, in essence, powers that Rose the Hat her band of misfits, The Knot uses to their advantage to prey on the weak and others with special gifts. The Knot will stop at nothing at stealing them from unsuspecting victims, even children. The powers, known as “steam”, are food and fuel to “The Knot” which helps them maintain their strength and youth. To them, it is both a drug and a necessity fed by greed to prolong their existence and enhance their abilities.
Dan develops a relationship with Abra Stone, a young girl with similar powers to Dan only hers are much stronger. Eventually, Rose the Hat and “The Knot” catch wind of Abra and her talents and make it a goal to retrieve her to drain her of all her steam. This is pretty much the book, in a nutshell.
I’ll admit that this diversion from the tone and mood of The Shining was a letdown and a disappointment. While The Shining felt more condensed and confined, Doctor Sleep felt more open and safer. The Overlook loomed with dread with every turn of the corner in its corridors. I never knew what to expect, and that anticipation was enticing. It made The Shining scary. I didn’t feel the same with Doctor Sleep. Was danger imminent? Yes, and The Knot was not a force to be reckoned with. Still, there were very few moments where I felt that our main protagonists indeed were in danger. Whenever they were in danger, I knew that it wouldn’t last long and they would be OK. This pattern allowed me to put my guard down and is one of the reasons why Doctor Sleep pales in comparison to The Shining.
Gone were the spooky elements that the spirits of The Overlook instilled. These spirits were still present in the book for good measure every so often as if to remind us that this was indeed a follow-up to The Shining. Doctor Sleep could have, in my opinion, worked as a stand-alone novel with no relationship to its predecessor. Having a backstory already written just made it all the easier to attach this story to something already preexisting. King tried to tie everything together flawlessly, but I did not feel that the tone was similar, and it felt like two separate entities that did not have to relate to one another. That being said, Doctor Sleep was still an enjoyable read.