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What’s it all about?
Doctor Sleep is the long-awaited sequel to Stephen King’s The Shining that I didn’t expect and didn’t know I needed until it was published when I of course decided that I absolutely had to have it. Danny Torrance is now an adult with a troubled past including the problems with alcohol which bedevilled his father. He also has a taken for helping people to pass over (for want of a better way of putting it). He finds out that a young girl with a similar but more powerful ability to shine is the target of a gang of (again for want if a better word) soul-stealing vampires and determines to save her no matter the cost to himself.
Why did I want to read it?
I’m not a total King completist but I have been a fan for over 35 years (I first read Carrie when I was 15 or so) and I always look out for his novels though I don’t always read them right away (Under the Dome, I’m looking at you). And a follow-up to one of his most famous stories was irresistible.
What did I think of it?
I liked it a lot. It has a lot to live up and I don’t think it was ever going to reach those heights for a lot of people. But I liked Danny as an adult, warts and all, and although the story was in many ways more gentle than his earlier work (‘Salem’s Lot still gives me the creeps, which is probably why it’s my all time favourite) and there were a couple of curveballs towards the end in relation to Danny’s personal history, it worked as a narrative. The bad guys were sufficiently bad and the outcome wasn’t (for me at least) a foregone conclusion and the subsidiary characters were well-rounded and believable.
Conclusion
Has all the elements I look for in a Stephen King novel so OK by me.
This was my final read for RIP VIII.
What’s it all about?
Nocturnes is a set of short stories book-ended by two chunky novellas, one featuring Connolly’s PI Charlie Parker. The blurb talks about “chilling tales of the supernatural” and “our darkest fears” and references MR James and Stephen King so I’m there.
Why did I want to read it?
As well as the stuff mentioned above I read The Book of Lost Things (reviewed here) and wanted to investigate more of his work.
What did I think of it?
I really enjoyed this collection and the comparisons to James were deserved. I particularly enjoyed Miss Froom Vampire and The Wakeford Abyss, but the standout for me was The Reflecting Eye, the Charlie Parker story which I found compelling and unsettling and moving all at once.
Conclusion
Glad that my gut feeling I would enjoy Connolly’s books proved sound and I’m looking forward to reading more of the Parker stories in particular.
This was a read for RIP VIII
Bride of the Book God 