Duma Key

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: John Slattery

Length: 21 hrs

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2009 Audie Award for Fiction

A terrible accident takes Edgar Freemantle's right arm and scrambles his memory and his mind, leaving him with little but rage as he begins the ordeal of rehabilitation. When his marriage suddenly ends, Edgar begins to wish he hadn't survived his injuries. He wants out. His psychologist suggests a new life distant from the Twin Cities, along with something else:

"Edgar, does anything make you happy?"
"I used to sketch."
"Take it up again. You need hedges...hedges against the night."

Edgar leaves for Duma Key, an eerily undeveloped splinter of the Florida coast. The sun setting into the Gulf of Mexico calls out to him, and Edgar draws. Once he meets Elizabeth Eastlake, a sick old woman with roots tangled deep in Duma Key, Edgar begins to paint, sometimes feverishly; many of his paintings have a power that cannot be controlled. When Elizabeth's past unfolds and the ghosts of her childhood begin to appear, the damage of which they are capable is truly devastating.

The tenacity of love, the perils of creativity, the mysteries of memory, and the nature of the supernatural: Stephen King gives us a novel as fascinating as it is gripping and terrifying.

©2008 Stephen King (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Classic King

If you’re looking for a “logical” thriller then move along. If, however, you are able to suspend reality and allow the story to develop, then you should get this book. It’s classic King with a plot that will keep you guessing. As with most Stephen King novels this one is long! The characters are well developed and like able!

The only con is the lingo. It helps to endear the characters, to a point. There were some eye rolling moments when I was thinking “ok, we get it!”

Great read!

Too long before it gets good

I had a hard time finishing this one. It took too long to really get into the meat of the story

A difficult story to tell

Very unique.

As an artist, I found Edgar Fremantle’s instantaneous rise in the Florida art scene much to my chagrin, but the supernatural underpinnings and Faustian bargains surrounding it were pleasantly mysterious.

The story has a substantial helping of the “Dumbledore’s Pensieve” gimmick to relay relevant but lost exposition, but this back and forth can sometimes be confusing or off-putting when we perhaps want more meat on the bones of either given time-period at that given moment.

Liked the characters, though I didn’t always buy them. What salvaged the story for me was the unique setting, unpredictable mythos, and constant red herrings. I found some of the imagery and imagination to be incredibly interesting, particularly in the final act. How our hero uncovers it, perhaps less so.

Don’t expect a big dose of Lovecraftian imagery in these shallow waters of Florida. While King may twist a popularly-known Lovecraftian theme here, there is no subterranean temple or cult mayhem that comparison might allude to in setting. Instead, prepare for a uniquely water-logged Floridian buddy tale of art-wrangling amongst monstrous, ever elusive forces that eventually does lead to some fairly compelling answers.

Very good

The book was awesome. The only thing that bothered me is that Steven King always has pedophilia in his books. I haven’t read one yet that doesn’t have it.

Opens With a Bang & Excellent Narration

Pretty much loved this book until the last sixth it's runtime when the story became rushed (more than any other King book that comes to mind) and hard to follow. Probably the best performance I've yet to hear on Audible and a majority of the book was a delightful look at solitude and a fresh start. Still comfortable giving Duma Key a resounding recommendation regardless of the lackluster and clumsy final chapters because of how personal it comes off...and Slattery's performance is legit 10/10.

best work ever

outside of the shining and dr. sleep, this may be the best work I've seen from Mr. King.
John Slattery's narration was great.

Entertaining, listened to last 8 hours non-stop

Enjoyed the narrator, the story became increasingly more and more gripping as it went on! I will never be without a flashlight again!

Very Good!

It’s not one I had heard a lot about. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of my favorite SK books.

worth your time

Long book. A good read if you have the time to stay with it. multiple stories intertwined.
Not the typical S.K. novel. The reader was the key to this book being really good. he kept the rhythm throughout.

Good Book

I loved it. and the narrator seemed to like the story too. would read it again