Tuesday, November 5, 2013

First Chapter First Paragraph - Doctor Sleep

Title: Doctor Sleep
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner (September 24, 2013)
Format: Hardcover; Pgs 544
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Series: Sequel to the Shinning



Hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea






Chapter 1

On the second day of December in a year when a Georgia peanut farmer was doing business in the White House, one of Colorado’s great resort hotels burned to the ground. The Overlook was declared a total loss. After an investigation, the fire marshal of Jicarilla County ruled the cause had been a defective boiler. The hotel was closed for the winter when the accident occurred, and only four people were present. Three survived. The hotel’s off-season caretaker, John Torrance, was killed during an unsuccessful (and heroic) effort to dump the boiler’s steam pressure, which had mounted to disastrously high levels due to an inoperative relief valve.

Two of the survivors were the caretaker’s wife and young son. The third was the Overlook’s chef, Richard Hallorann, who had left his seasonal job in Florida and come to check on the Torrances because of what he called “a powerful hunch” that the family was in trouble. Both surviving adults were quite badly injured in the explosion. Only the child was unhurt.

Physically, at least.


Overview

On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and tween Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the “steam” that children with the “shining” produce when they are slowly tortured to death.

Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant “shining” power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil,

4 comments:

kayerj said...

ooh, not for me. I don't read Stephen King. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

Carol said...

Not for me either. I have read some of king's books, including The Shining, but not often.

Unknown said...

What excitement for a sequel to "The Shining" I'll put this on my list. Thanks for reviewing it.

I'm doing OK in dealing with lung cancer that was diagnosed last year.

Don't get out too much but still love blogging and book reviewing.

If you or any other of your readers get a chance, please stop by my blog and say hi. Hearing from old and new friends is like medicine.
Sincerely,
Mike
http://mikedraperinguilford.blogspot.com

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Nancy...Sorry, I was late in responding to intro, but yes -- loved the intro and liked the sequel a lot....enjoy