I just finished listening to this as an audiobook, and I'm so sad that it's over. Aside from it being a very gripping story, Duma Key was visually stunning to the mind's eye. I don't know if I appreciated it more because I am (sort of) an artist, but every word assaulted my senses in the best way possible. I am now so in the mood for a visit to Florida, or at least to the beach.
I really cared about the characters, which I can't say for some of King's books that I have read so far. I found the premise to be deliciously chilling, too. I don't get spooked by a lot of "classical" horror entities, like vampires or zombies or aliens, which is why I seem to not be able to get through The Tommyknockers at the moment. But I am fascinated by ghost stories and supernatural activity, especially when it has a historical aspect. The artistic theme was just the icing on the cake.
As always, there is a fair amount of humor scattered about. I love that the best about Stephen King's writing; to be in the middle of a tense, horrifying situation, but then suddenly find yourself giggling at some perfectly phrased exclamation or description that catches you off guard.
I have nothing but high praise for the audiobook, too. It was read by John Slattery (aka "Roger Sterling" from Mad Men), and his vocal acting added a lot to the magic of the story.
Overall, excellent! This may become one of my favorites.
P.S.- I forgot about the subject of possessed dolls! Usually, this gets a big eye roll from me as it's usually laughably cliched, but I do understand that a lot of people are terrified of dolls. (I am a doll collector, and as I am writing this, there are at least 30 dolls in stands staring at me, and those are only the ones on my computer desk, lol.) In this story, though, the doll thing didn't bother me as much as I thought it would when it was first mentioned. I like the fact that the main character was helped a lot by his therapy doll, and that he wasn't ashamed to take comfort in her. I think this helped to balance out the idea of Perse as an "evil doll."
I really cared about the characters, which I can't say for some of King's books that I have read so far. I found the premise to be deliciously chilling, too. I don't get spooked by a lot of "classical" horror entities, like vampires or zombies or aliens, which is why I seem to not be able to get through The Tommyknockers at the moment. But I am fascinated by ghost stories and supernatural activity, especially when it has a historical aspect. The artistic theme was just the icing on the cake.
As always, there is a fair amount of humor scattered about. I love that the best about Stephen King's writing; to be in the middle of a tense, horrifying situation, but then suddenly find yourself giggling at some perfectly phrased exclamation or description that catches you off guard.
I have nothing but high praise for the audiobook, too. It was read by John Slattery (aka "Roger Sterling" from Mad Men), and his vocal acting added a lot to the magic of the story.
Overall, excellent! This may become one of my favorites.
P.S.- I forgot about the subject of possessed dolls! Usually, this gets a big eye roll from me as it's usually laughably cliched, but I do understand that a lot of people are terrified of dolls. (I am a doll collector, and as I am writing this, there are at least 30 dolls in stands staring at me, and those are only the ones on my computer desk, lol.) In this story, though, the doll thing didn't bother me as much as I thought it would when it was first mentioned. I like the fact that the main character was helped a lot by his therapy doll, and that he wasn't ashamed to take comfort in her. I think this helped to balance out the idea of Perse as an "evil doll."
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