Steam is in the Air

Daniel Torrance had always had ghosts from his past haunting him, literally and figuratively. The story goes forward with the events that transpire in Danny’s life after the Overlook Hotel burns down. Richard Hallorann who rescued Danny and his mother at the Overlook continued to be his guide and teacher. Danny gradually gets a hang of his power and tackles his ghosts. However it so happened that real ghosts which came along due to his powers were the least bit of his problems. He inherited his father’s temper and alcohol addiction which were successful in ruining his life.

Abra Stone born with a caul on her face was special all along. Barely walking she was adept at telepathy, telekinesis, astral-projection and precognition. Neither of her parents were willing to believe the tell tale signs but Abra had found a similar soul miles away in a hospice in Frazier. She exuded shinning at an unprecedented scale and her power in-turn was drawing an ancient evil towards her.

A travelling group, nomads of the modern world, moving along the highways of America in their caravans, living on the roads and Truck stop restaurants and bars had a deep dark secret. They blend into the other caravan folk just the same except for the fact that they seem to never age. Or rather age and then mysteriously return to their younger versions. They are the True Knot. Rose with the tall black pointy witch-hat leads them.

All three lives are heading for a dramatic collision and as fate would have it Danny has to retrace his steps to where it all started. King’s own quest to figure out answers to what Danny’s life would be like post the events of his first outing lead up to “Doctor Sleep” and the reader will be left with a nostalgia that will eventually be laid to rest.

I will rate the book a four out of five stars with its in-depth character profiling, his thorough research into the AA meetings and harmonious integration of human emotions into the story evoking anxiety, concern, revulsion, fear or disgust directed at the characters.

In Stephen King’s own words, ”Nothing can live up to the memory of a good scare”, Even taking that into account while pitting ‘Doctor Sleep’ to ‘The Shining’, I would still have loved the book to have a tad bit more horror, not have it jumping out of the book but sufficient enough to make me jump a few times.