I start salivating about six months before any new Stephen King novel is released and couldn't wait to get my hands on Duma Key. As usual with the "master's" books, I read it in one weekend, driving my poor dog nuts because I wouldn't put the light out and go to sleep like a good doggy mommy. It took a lot of coffee to get me going Monday morning, but it was well worth it as this is King's best work in many years (yes, far better than Lisey's Story and as good as The Shining). King does a great job creating anticipation, steadily building the chills and horror; by the end, you are so invested in the characters and plot you would die rather than put the book down.
This was one great book. It reminded me of the shining but with a twist. It had mystery and some very beautiful descriptions. It's starts with main character telling you how he doesn't remember much of his old life, which is the life he had before he gets squished in his car and almost dies, but doesn't. He survives and has a lot of memory loss and anger issues which he helps control with therapy. Then his wife leaves and he decides instead of not killing himself he starts a new life in a new place. He starts to draw because he used like it in his old life and makes a strange career out of it. Then the story gets weird and interesting. A great read for anyone who likes the mysterious and different.
A long-time King fan, I couldn't wait for Duma Key to be released. I was not disappointed. Probably my favorite King novel since the Dark Tower Series, this book has all the well-loved classic King elements: colorful, hysterical language, dead-on descriptions, creepy toys, voices in the night, child ghosts, mysterious visions, a witty sidekick, tormented main character, and cursed ground. I know a great Stephen King novel when I have to read late into the night so that I can get past the scary parts so I can turn off the light...when I laugh out loud at the character's choice of words...when I can't stop thinking about it for days, weeks, months afterwards...when a place comes alive in my mind and I feel like I've been there myself and know the people intimately. Duma Key delivers again and again. Bravo, Mr. King!
Well, reader fear no more, or rather, be prepared to fear. I haven't been this spooked by a book in a while. This is an honest to god "read at home alone in bed at night and be prepared to jump at every creak and groan of the house" book. I dare say, King hasn't been this scary since "The Shining". And King seems to be showing off a lot of his Horror influences. The book starts off as a kind of Edgar Allan Poe story of paranoia (things real or imagined under the floorboards) and moves in to H.P. Lovecraft territory (I won't spoil with any plot points) and towards the end feels like a classic Robert Bloch/Richard Matheson pot-boiler thriller, with the cynical wise-cracking first person narrative.
As a long-time reader of Stephen King novels (since "The Shining"), I can recommend these novels below heartily!
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