Duma Key

Another Stephen King book down.

Picked this guy up during the end of the summer while in Hawaii. It was sitting on the condo's Take-A-Book, Leave-A-Book shelf; figured, why not give it a go? After staring at it for a couple of months, I finally cracked it open and was not disappointed by what I read.

Every's been jumping up and down about the rumors that King will be returning to horror again in his next novel (something along with a sequel to The Shining), which always lead me to believe that he's been focusing on other genres this whole time. Duma Key, published in 2008, is a horror story about a man moving to the Florida keys, recovering from a traumatic construction accident that leaves him without a right arm, and finding himself doing battle with an evil spirit that has reawaken and haunts the nearby waters. Like most of King's work, it succeeds at providing some quality entertainment. Also a reoccurrence in King's work, there are many moments that could probably be cut down or cut out to bring down this 600 page novel to a more standard length - although a fun read, it's not really until 2/3 of the way through that the excitement and suspense cranks up. 

The full jacket cover (what I have displayed up top) really intrigued me when I first picked up this book. Other than the fact that this guy was free for the taking - no, I didn't exchange this book with another - the abstract, incoherent artwork was really... I don't know... cool! It made no sense and offers no insight as to what this book could really be about, unlike his more recent novels: Under the Dome or 11/22/63. Going in with this fascination at not knowing what the fuck to expect, I was surprised and delighted for a really chilling tale about supernatural spirits manifesting themselves through one's own artwork.

I'll drop a quick breakdown of the plot. No spoilers here. You have Edgar Freemantle, moving to a secluded little community out in the middle of the Florida keys. He's recovering from a traumatic construction accident that's both cause some slight brain damage and the use of his right arm... all of which has resulted in a divorce with his wife and a separation from his two daughters up in Michigan or Minnesota... somewhere cold and depressing. As part of his healing and therapy, Edgar begins to paint. While painting, Edgar finds out that he's good. Really good. Possibly a new genius on the rise. More importantly than that, Edgar learns he can alter reality based on what he paints or ever see into the future. From there, a bunch of weird shit begins to take off, all of which alludes to the mysterious past of the island that Edgar is currently living on. As Edgar unpacks this mystery, he learns of an ancient evil spirit that haunts the region and that this spirit is capable of using his paintings far more sinister acts.

I feel as though my goal is to always get one King book read a year. I have no - outright - goal to read his entire work, but I do think his novels are a great source of entertainment. While there are still plenty of his novels I'm eying (Misery and Skeleton Crew), the next one on the chopping block will 11/22/63. I've heard nothing but great things so far. Can't wait.

And back onto these reflections of Duma Key, it's not his best work, but I had a lot of fun devouring this guy. Like I stated before, there are plenty of points that could have been cut out as they're a little slow or maybe scenes could have been condensed a tad to keep the pace running. All that aside, it's fun, it's entertaining... and near the end, shit gets pretty damn creepy. 

Looking forward to my next read of his. Until then, I'll think twice before swimming in the Florida Keys.