I have a strange compulsion whereby I am incapable of reading a sequel before the first novel in a series. So when I heard that Stephen King was publishing a sequel to his infamous novel The Shining, I rushed out to grab a copy of the original in preparation.

Sure, I’d seen the Stanley Kubrick adaptation more times than I could count but, according to the acknowledgement in Doctor Sleep, King was not impressed with the film. I figured I owed it to the author, and myself, to prepare for the release of Doctor Sleep by indulging in the original cannon.

This turned out to be pretty good decision as the film is more about mental illness and less about the actual supernatural elements outlined in the book. The book also shows Danny to be a much more sympathetic character than the little boy in the film. In fact The Shining is really more about Danny than it is about his father Jack “Here’s Johnny” Torrence, which I found really surprising.

Upon finishing The Shining I couldn’t help but wonder, like many before me I’m sure, what had happened to little Danny after the trauma he suffered. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait the 36 years that the folks who had read The Shining back in 1977 did.

Doctor Sleep begins by outlining Danny’s descent into alcoholism which, given his father’s alcoholism, is sad but not entirely unexpected. Danny, now Dan,  is haunted by many demons that he has locked away over the years, including a few from the Overlook Hotel, but he’s beginning to unravel at the seams from the pressure of holding them all inside.

He’s become a nomad over the years and wanders from place to place working in hospices until his alcoholism takes over forcing him to move on. He’s also developed an interesting talent for helping the elderly die peacefully which is a manifestation of the powers he demonstrated as a child.

Finally Dan settles down in a small town in New Hampshire, and finds that he feels at home for the first time in years. He even decides to join AA, with a little nudge from some new friends. Fast forward a few years and Dan is contacted by a young girl named Abra who has an even stronger case of, what Dan’s old friend Dick called, “the shining.” She needs Dan’s help to try and find the body of a little boy who has been murdered by a band of gypsy-esque folk known as the True Knot.

They travel the country in a caravan of RVs and eat the essence of boys and girls that have the shining. It also happens that their home base is at the former site of a certain hotel that Dan happened to visit one winter during his childhood. The True Knot is led by a snake of a woman known as Rose the Hat, and when she discovers Abra’s shine she makes it her mission to find the girl no matter what the consequence.

I wanna start by saying that I would undoubtedly recommend that you read The Shining first so that you can witness how masterfully King is able to transition back into Dan’s world after 36 years. That being said Doctor Sleep has all the hallmark King staples: A flawed protagonist, a creepy bad guy that has lurked at the corner of everyone’s minds,, scares that will leave you wide eyed in the middle of a bunch of strangers on the bus, a young person in peril, a quest to vanquish the evil at the root of the story.
Doctor Sleep is also full of surprisingly tender moments for Dan who, as I mentioned earlier, is incredibly sympathetic. I even shed a couple tears fairly early on in the book when the “Doc” is performing his first assisted death. They weren’t the last either.

Doctor Sleep is proof that King has not lost any of his charm or imagination. I had a hard time putting either of the books down, and devoured both in a few days. This is the test of a truly great book series. It’s also bittersweet in that the first novel was written when King, like his character Jack Torrence, was still in the throes of alcoholism. It makes me wonder if the book wasn’t just about redemption for the broken Torrence family, but also for his younger self.  A perfect way to answer a 36 year old question.