A sequel to The Shining!  Stephen King just released his newest book, Doctor Sleep, but I have yet to buy it.  I usually buy his books the moment they are on the shelf, but this one has not pulled me to it yet.  I love King’s writing, though in recent years, I have found that he could have made some of his novels a bit shorter.  His short stories are really his best work, at least recently.  His older novels, such as The Shining, It, and Carrie showcase his ability to create a creepy scene and keep you awake all night wondering what is coming to get you.  I loved The Shining – and it was so different from the movie, which was great in its own respect.  But the book really kept me wondering if the hedge animals were going to be showing up at my house.  And I loved the way the hotel was a character; not many writers can make an inanimate object come alive like King can.  Anyway, will I read Doctor Sleep?  Probably.  But I am not sure it will live up to its predecessor.

A summary from The Tattered Cover newsletter: Several decades after the events of The Shining, Dan Torrance, haunted by the ghosts of his childhood, is deep in the ugly throes of his father’s disease, alcoholism. He lands in the small town of Frazier, N.H., where he finds meaningful work, a few good friends and Alcoholics Anonymous. Finally his life seems to be on track–until a little girl named Abra is born, whose “shine” is astronomically brighter than his ever was. A community of not-quite-humans is zeroing in on Abra; to live, they need what she has, and they balk at nothing, including violence toward children, to get it. Thus, Dan is again embroiled with the monsters he couldn’t drink away, but thought he’d learned to store in a lockbox on a dusty shelf in his mind.