Duma Key by Stephen King

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Duma Key
by Stephen King
(Audio)

I bought this at a library used book sale a few years ago--I'm always willing and happy to try another Stephen King book in audio. SqueakyChu actually recommended this one to me on three separate occasions (perhaps more that I'm forgetting) when ever the topic of King came up in conversation. I finally gave it a go. At 19 discs, it took some time to wade through, as my commute is just not very long.

It's the story of a man, Edgar, who is in an accident at a construction site where he works and ends up losing his right arm (luckily, he is left-handed). His rehabilitation both mentally and physically is realistically long and troublesome; his wife eventually leaves him and he ends up moving away to start over somewhere fresh in a "new life." Luckily, the man is extremely wealthy, so many parts of the plot are made easier because there isn't that obstacle of money in the way. It's also nice to know that rich people have these sorts of problems to.

And by problems I mean that Edgar develops a talent for drawing/painting that consumes him. The things he draws also start to come true--i.e. he can manipulate his reality by painting it. Of course this takes a lot of energy out of him. And, of course, there's a big bad supernatural force out there that seems to be telling him what to draw. Because it wants him to stir up trouble. Because it's out for blood. Because this isn't the first time it's done this. Broken people are given special gifts on Duma Key--the ability to paint like this, the ability to read minds, etc.

I came to really like Edgar. He wasn't as instantly lovable as most Stephen King characters are, because we meet him when he's at his worst. And secondary characters take a while to really show up in full force (his daughter, Elizabeth, Wireman, and Jack). And while I didn't feel as connected to them all as I do in most Stephen King stories, everything still really held my attention strongly and I didn't want them to die!

It's a great mix of supernatural and psychological thriller. Oh! And it's read by John Slattery, who I adore on Mad Men. John does such a great job of channeling Stephen King-esque-ness that many times I had to remind myself that it wasn't Stephen King reading!

Duma Key felt to me much more like classic Stephen King than any of his other recent stories have, which is a good thing, IMHO. It was a good old concept-driven story with a tight focus on characters and the supernatural forces at play. That's not to say it didn't drag, because it definitely could have been a LOT shorter and still get its terrible happenings across. But on the whole I thoroughly enjoyed it.