Doctor Sleep

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 18 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

King says he wanted to know what happened to Danny Torrance, the boy at the heart of The Shining, after his terrible experience in the Overlook Hotel. The instantly riveting Doctor Sleep picks up the story of the now middle-aged Dan, working at a hospice in rural New Hampshire, 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 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....

©2013 Stephen King (P)2013 Simon & Schuster Audio

Really enjoyed this

kept me interested the whole book. might have to go back and read the shining now

Fantastic!

A fantastic sequel to a beloved story. The narrator did an excellent job in bringing this book to life. Definitely worth the purchase.

Complicated story but quite possible. I enjoyed t

Struggle to remember the names and places. The little girl developed during the story, but little info on her mother.

Loved this book.

What made the experience of listening to Doctor Sleep the most enjoyable?

I listen to a lot of Stephen King, and his books always entertain. However, this one is exceptionally good. I will be revisiting The Shining to catch up with Danny as a child.
What adds to the pleasure this audio book gives, is the narration. Will Patton does an amazing job, and I felt myself being sucked in to the story. Only one other narrator has done Stephen King's tales such justice, and that was the late, great Frank Muller.
I'm a massive fan of both audio books and Stephen King alike, but the narrator can make or break it for me. Will Patton made this book a joy to listen to.
Bravo to Stephen for another great book, and bravo to Will for a great performance.

Revisit The Shining if it's been a while

Seriously, I liked this book but I did feel that I wish I had re-read/listened to The Shining before listening to this one.

The Narrator - Will Patton does OK. His accents are alright but I got the feeling that there was no great love of Stephen King. Maybe I am wrong but I always felt that if I were to listen to one of these stories it would be read in a New England accent. "Heya" etc. Having said that the narrator does not impose himself and lets the story tell itself. So that is good.

The Story - The story was alright. You really expect something extraordinary from Stephen King. Even though he has written nothing extraordinary for a long time, you still expect it. It's kind of like going out with a friend who you used to laugh with a lot. Then the friend got old and bitter. You still go out with them because you remember that you used to laugh a lot and there is always a chance that things have improved. This book is like that. I bought it because Mr King entertained me all those years ago. This book only just did that. It's not great but it's still better than most.

There are other worlds than these

Would you listen to Doctor Sleep again? Why?

maybe, but then I hardly ever read anything twice

What did you like best about this story?

I liked this more than I did the Shining, it expands the world more. It also has some good links from the Dark Tower series

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

I haven't heard any of Will Patton's performances before but he is really good. I haven't been able to put this Audiobook down

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

not yet

Shining 2 - Doc strikes back

Ever wondered what would have happened to Danny if he grew up with his psychic powers?

Would he see ghosts elsewhere? How would he cope as an adult? Would he become like his father?

This is why this book was made and it’s a fantastic story of redemption for Danny. Sad, but bitter sweet.

The overall story is chock full of vampires of a sort, psychic powers of all sorts, ghosts and great call backs to the original shining.

I loved every minute of this book! I especially liked it starts as a direct sexual to the original book before the time skip.

I’ve only seen the original movie and the TV movie, but I feel I’m missing big chicks of references, but that did not spoil anything! I will now get the original shining and then re-listen. Probably but missing too much so don’t let that put you off, it’s a great book!

I hope King continues this universe with the additional characters introduced, because the world building of the Shining and what the powers can do is extremely interesting.

Good story. Terrific performance!

It starts of slow, but Will Patton's narration is EPIC once he gets going. Wow!

A Good Sequel.

I worried at first that it was going to drag out and become boring before the crux of the story got started but I was wrong. Im glad I stuck with it and am now worried the film coming out later this year is going to leave out important stuff just so it can be connected to The Shining but that if it doesnt a lot of fans of the Kubrick film are gonna be pissed because the book continues King's vision of the story not Kubrick's.

A deeper look into what we've come to know as the shinning

I have read this book over three times n have listened too it at least four, I loved the book the shinning ever since I read my mother copy as a child my mother ended up giving me her copy when I left home n I always wounded n hoped there would be a second coming, now I hope to see a third. ( listen n find out whom I'm now wondering what happened to.) this book takes us back into Doc childhood n through to what I understand to be about his late 40 or early 50 possibly even older I lost track. So realax ( turn up ur hearing aids if u got em) n become amazed at the story that follows Dan Torrent's life as he grows up in our heads.