Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Apparently I'm in the minority when it comes to being very disappointed with this book. I've read a great deal of King's work, and consider the Dark Tower series to be his best. I re-read The Shining immediately before Doctor Sleep was released, and was eager to resume the story of Danny Torrance. I wasn't sure what to expect, but what I got was an overblown AA story (Danny's a drunk just like his daddy was -- surprise, surprise) filled with useless (and distracting) pop culture references (Amy Winehouse? Really?) in what I can only assume is an attempt by King to stay current, one-dimensional characters, a predictable plot, and cartoonish, extremely non-scary vampires for villains who may well have been the Night Flier's bastard offspring, only they putter along in RV's instead of a Cessna. The dialogue was terrible, particularly between Dan and Abra. One moment she's an innocent adolescent and the next she's swearing like she's on shore leave. I hated the True Knot -- they were about as ridiculous as their goofy pirate names. Usually King is excellent at creating an atmosphere within his novels, a sense of foreboding, and a real fear of the villains he's created. Doctor Sleep has none of that. It drags on for more than 500 agonizing pages and the big showdown between Abra and Rose was trite and predictable. I didn't care about any of the characters because, with the exception of Dan, Rose, and Abra, I could hardly tell them apart. There's nothing here. Imagine your own ending for Danny Torrance, because he deserves a better story than this. Save your time and money for something else. King will continue to churn out 500-page tomes and people will continue to buy them because he wrote them. But for the first time in my thirty-odd years, I will not be among them. This once-constant reader is done.