Doctor Sleep

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Winner, Fiction, 2014

Audie Award Nominee, Solo Narration - Male, 2014

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special 12-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.

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 spunky 12-year-old 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 fans of The Shining and wildly satisfy anyone new to the territory of this icon in the King canon.

©2013 Stephen King (P)2013 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Will Patton's delivery enhances King's prose in ways that make King's work so much more enjoyable in audio than just reading it…Patton's narrative voice captures the rhythm of King's words. His character voices, filled with a variety of regional American accents, remain consistent. Most importantly, the sinister aspects that embody characters and moments of this novel are superbly executed and will certainly leave listeners on edge." ( AudioFile)

"King, not one given to sequels, throws fans a big, bloody bone with this long-drooled-for follow-up to The Shining." ( Booklist)

"…a gripping, taut read that provides a satisfying conclusion to Danny Torrance's story." ( Publisher’s Weekly)

Worth every penny

This is a great story, a fair sequel. Stephen King takes you on a compelling adventure! This is now one of my favorite books.

Good

A great sequel to The Shining. Will Patton did an excellent job in the narration. Everyone has a little bit of the Shining

The book is always better then the movies

It's a plain fact that books are better than the movies. I am late to his line of work, but I don't regret discovering gems like this.

Awesome to the last sentence!!

The sequel to "The Shining", it is another masterpiece by Stephen King. The narrator was fantastic and really brought the story to life! This book follows the events of the book, not the movie. I never read The Shining, so I downloaded and listened to that first, and I'm so glad I did!! I STRONGLY recommend you listen to it first. Even though the books were written over 25 years apart, you'd never tell because of the seamless transition.

a good sequel

I enjoyed listening to this novel I was waiting to find out what happened next

good follow up to the shining

Tye story was very good and narration was one of the best I've ever heard.

Growing up is hard to do.

Who would’ve thought the sweet little boy from The Shining would come to this place? This is the first SK book I’ve read in years. I now remember why I was a devoted fan: not for the horror, but for the humanity.

worthy sequel

Will Patton does a great job, and the story is a wonderful tale to fill us all in on whatever happened to Danny Torrance

The Shining was only the beginning

If you could sum up Doctor Sleep in three words, what would they be?

Trauma.
Consequences.
Hope

What other book might you compare Doctor Sleep to and why?

Obviously The Shining comes to mind. This being a direct sequel to that classic. What happened to Danny Torrance in the years since the Overlook?

Have you listened to any of Will Patton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I do not believe I have. But I recommend it. Good performance.

Who was the most memorable character of Doctor Sleep and why?

Dan Torrance. Little Danny all grown up but a bit worse for wear. He has struggled with dealing with his experiences and memories of what happened to him as a child and, more importantly, since then. He has quite the journey throughout this story.

Any additional comments?

Something struck me as different about this Stephen King book...it took me a while to figure out what that was. It's Hope. This book has, at its base, a hopeful outlook and as close to a happy ending as I think I can recall in a King novel.

New Stephen King Fan, and Absoutely LOVED this Boo

If you could sum up Doctor Sleep in three words, what would they be?

Powerful, Hopeful, Pageturner

What did you like best about this story?

You could tell how much Stephen King put himself into this story, and although it is still the same genre as the Shining and other Stephen King books, it is also full of hope and promise and goodness.

What about Will Patton’s performance did you like?

Kept you entertained the whole way through, an you definitely got the personalities of all the characters.

If you could take any character from Doctor Sleep out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The Girl.

Any additional comments?

Would recommend this book to anyone, but you MUST read the Shining first. So glad I got to read the Shining for the first time (sooooo different from the movie) right before this book, and because I wanted to read this book. Excellent!