Book Review for Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

I was super drawn to the sequel to The Shining because I couldn’t wait to see what became of little Danny Torrence after the infamous events that took place at the Overlook Hotel. Dr. Sleep is largely Danny’s story, but we do get some snippets of information about what became of Wendy, Dick Hallorann, and even some of the nasty ghosts. We quickly find out that Danny’s life has been far from spectacular.

Danny has fallen into the footsteps of his father; he is an alcoholic. He can’t hold down a job and ends up being particularly haunted by events that took place during a drunken escapade and a one night stand. Luckily he starts attending AA, lands a job at a nursing home where he uses his shining abilities to help dying patients cross over, and eventually stays sober. I expected that Danny’s life would not be picture perfect considering his nightmarish childhood, but was completely surprised and fascinated about the introduction of new characters!

Abra is a young girl who begins showing signs of especially strong shining at a very young age. The True Knot is a group of ghouls who feed off of shining powers. King’s ghouls are obsessed with Abra and will do anything to get to her. Once King adds Danny into the mix as a mentor and protector things become action packed. Dr. Sleep provides a deeper understanding and back story of the shining power and has readers scared of a whole new set of creeps! It is definitely worth the read!

Kelly's Review: The Tommyknockers by Stephen King

          Imagine tripping over a small piece of metal as you walk through the woods. On closer inspection you find that it is embedded in the forest floor. Most of us would be annoyed and perhaps grabbing at our stubbed toe, but inevitably we would walk away and likely forget about it. This scenario plays out early on in King’s novel for Roberta “Bobbi” Anderson. Bobbi can’t simply walk away. Bobbi investigates the metal and soon finds that she must unearth whatever it is. Curiosity turns to obsession, and the obsession soon rubs off on others throughout town. Strange mind reading powers start to possess the people, and they begin to manipulate small devices/electronics and change them into inventions unheard of.

          The Tommyknockers will appeal to King fans as well as fans of aliens. While I am a King fan and did enjoy the book, I would not say it was my favorite. The ending seemed quite drawn out and I felt the book would have been a bit more enticing had the altered machines had a bigger role. Perhaps what makes the book most interesting is Bobbi’s eventual realization that her obsession and complete change of self was all for something that was not nearly as wonderful as she pictured it to be. 

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