Duma Key: A Novel

Awesome, awesome book! Well done,Steve! One of his absolute best. Very cool characters and scary. I loved this book! Wireman was my favorite character. I could not put this down! I always had to know what was going to happen next. It was sad that Ilse got killed. I didn't like Wireman dying at the end, either. This book was well written. Extremely entertaining. Highly recommended. I got my sister to read this, and she enjoyed it. Her fave character was also Wireman.

I'm only half way through this book and hate to put it down! Will add more when I am through.

"Duma Key" is an absolutely incredible novel. The characters are so finely drawn they seem to be real people. The story's leisurely pace might be a turn-off if you're looking for something like "The Dark Half" or "Cujo", but in this book Stephen King proves he is much more than just an ordinary horror writer: he's an artist. One of the true great voices in American literature. Edgar Freemantle may be blessed (or cursed) with an almost divine talent to paint, but King has managed something even more miraculous: he has painted all of Edgar's works of art with words. In addition to the masterful prose, King has also constructed a great horror story. With a little patience and an understanding that the journey is what counts here, you're in for some good scares! And one of the best endings to a long novel I've read in a long time.

I tried, I really tried. I wanted to like this, but couldn't stand it any longer after 450 pages and no terror. Stephen King has gone from being the master of horror to attempting to be literary. The only problem is he has done so at the expense of the story. He takes 700 pages to tell a 400 page story. I won't go into plot and character, the other reviewers have already done so. I just long for the colorful, atmospheric, thrill days of "Salem's Lot". Don't tell me you are going to nail me to my chair with terror and suspense, then make me wade through 400 plus pages of development before you even attempt it.
I've got nothing against literary if it's done right and the story keeps moving along. Example; "Tethered" by Amy McKinnon (the best novel I've read this year).
I think Mr King wants to be the James Michener of horror writers (50 pages of descriptive narrative, 10 pages of story) That just doesn't work for me.

This was my first Stephen King novel. Since reading it, I have backtracked to read his earlier works, only to find that "Duma Key" is among his best-written and most mature novel. The novel had me from the first page; I read it in three days (250+ pages a day!)
I rarely include comprehensive plot descriptions. I'll only say that the main character has a horrible accident and that the riveting first-person account of his recovery kept me hypnotized. His recovery in Florida gives King a chance to display his skills with scintillating tropical imagery: after shutting the book on the first day, I was able to feel the Duma wind on my face, taste the salt floating in the air, feel the coarse undergrowth of strangler figs and sea oats beneath my feet. Literally, this novel has the most masterfully crafted and detailed world I've ever read.
Though the plot takes its time with events and secrets, the style and atmosphere kept me hooked, as well as the promise of being taken on a ride by horror's premier talent. King gradually pulls back the curtain to reveal that Duma is not a barren island; actually, it's a setting saturated with Gothic secrets, dark entities, and a sunset with deadly potential hidden behind its blood-colored surface.
King sucker-punches us with some surprise twists in the last part of the book and manages to pull off an artistic ending without a "deus ex machina" thrown into the mix (i.e. a meteor hitting Duma Key, the novel's setting).
The villain doesn't appear in person until later, though the antagonist's influence is evident from the early chapters.

I know everyone has different tastes, but I couldn't recommend this book more highly to anyone who can't afford the airfare to Florida in this economy. Even if you can afford it, the book still has a lot to offer. An excellent read, absolute 5 stars.