Reviews

Duma Key by Stephen King

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tdwightdavis's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

Took a little longer to get going than most of King’s books do, but once it kicked off I couldn’t put it down. Not top tier King, but a strong middle of the pack book nonetheless.

emilyreadsinallentown's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

milesmark's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was amazing. It moves into my top five Stephen King books.

tobin_elliott's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Yet another Stephen King, the next in line for the Great Stephen King Re-read. The first time I listened to this, I was driving the family and myself down to Universal Studios...and it lasted damn near the entire trip from Canada to Florida.

I remember enjoying it, both for the story, as well for the fact that we were driving closer to the place where the novel occurred.

This time around, the book was taken in in shorter gulps on dog walks, so I was able to digest it better along the way. And, to be honest, this is just a fascinating read. If there's three things that King has come back to in these, the latter years novels, they are, first, having a main character who's an author (see books going back to 'SALEM'S LOT and as recent as LISEY'S STORY); second, plumbing the horror of going through a terrible, life-threatening event that almost killed a character...or dealing with the aftermath of an event that DID kill a character (see LISEY'S STORY, FROM A BUICK 8, DREAMCATCHER, BAG OF BONES); and finally, a rather detailed examination of the creative process (see LISEY'S STORY, BAG OF BONES, ON WRITING, and even ROSE MADDER to a degree).

This book covers those last two, but swapping out an author for a artist. For me though, those two elements—surviving and coming back from a terrible accident, and the scenes of Edgar Freemantle deep in the creative process—are captivating. As usual, King also builds fascinating characters in Freemantle himself, but also his daughter—and their relationship—and also Wireman. Again, the scenes with Freemantle and either of these two just sing.

If I have any complaints, it's the seemingly overcomplicated ending and the rush to get some backstory out, but neither really overstays its welcome too much. Not his best work, but this one sits far more toward the top of the list of his good stuff. I truly enjoyed this one, less for the horror more for the characters and the creative process.