Doctor Sleep

Wheel. Decades after writing The Shining, Stephen King decided to answer a question he was often asked: “What happened to Danny?” The very satisfying answer to that question arrives in King’s novel, Doctor Sleep. Dan Torrance is now a middle aged alcoholic working in a hospice where he provides comfort to the dying. During the course of the novel, Dan hits bottom, then begins recovery through a sponsor and Alcoholics Anonymous. I can imagine King’s delight in using his own experience in AA to develop Dan’s character. King writes, “Life was a wheel and it always came back around.” This is not a sequel as much as it is an updating. Dan is older, and still very special. His help is needed, and he provides it, in protecting a young woman, and in defeating a powerful foe. As constant readers expect from King, this is a great story, full of frights, and one that can prompt an urgency to reach to the ending. I read this novel during a deep winter freeze, and I couldn’t distinguish the shivers that came off the page from those that were caused by the cold wind. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Doctor Sleep from amazon.com.