For a while, reading Stephen King’s DUMA KEY took me back nearly 25 years ago, when the junior high student in me would be so completely absorbed by his books that I would forego sleep to read them in a single night – as I did with THE SHINING – or zoom through standardized tests at school so I could have more break time with FIRESTARTER or CHRISTINE.
The main reason being, the characters here are really strong. There’s a lot to like about Edgar Freemantle, although he’s pretty much a bitter asshole when we first meet him, struggling to recuperate from losing an arm in an accident. His words are scrambled, his mind is frazzled, his marriage is over.
Wanting to get away from it all, the multimillionaire gives most of his money to his wife and two daughters, and makes a break for the secluded shoreline of Duma Key, Fla., where he rents a salmon-colored home and spends his OxyContin-fueled days being bitter and working his hip by trying to walk a few steps more down the beach each day.
Things calm down for Edgar internally when he decides to take up painting. Turns out he’s damned good. Turns out his canvases could score serious coin from a gallery showing. Turns out his paintings predict the future. Or do they shape the future instead?
Helping Edgar discover the answers to these questions are a near-invalid old lady who has lived there all her life and holds many secrets, and her caretaker, with whom Edgar makes fast friends. His name is Wireman, his soul is equally as broken, and he has an annoying habit of ending every sentence with a Spanish word, be it “muchacho,” “amigo” or even “huevos.”
With a post-tragedy psychic protagonist and prescient paintings created in blackout situations, DUMA KEY strikes one as a mix of King’s own THE DEAD ZONE with the Isaac Mendez story arc of TV’s HEROES. (Like his KINGDOM HOSPITAL television series, it also seems informed by his own brush with death after being hit by a van.)
While I miss the pure horror of King’s early career, this remains engrossing stuff. His characters still drop names of King’s fellow writers and friends (John Sanford, Carl Hiaasen, Peter Straub), and the author has not lost his sense of humor (“He and his wife had [settled] in one of those gated communities. Residents must vote Republican and own small dogs with rhinestone collars, stupid eyes, and names that end in i. Taffi is good, Cassi is better, and something like Rififi is the total shit.”).
Despite Duma Key’s deep, dark mysteries, King’s warm, rich descriptions of it are tranquil enough – and its residents, friendly enough – that he makes you want to move there. Something happens about 450 pages into it that you’re either going to accept or not. I’m afraid I couldn’t, and this is from someone who was – and still is – freely willing to believe in pet cemeteries and telekinetic wallflowers. It makes the waters of the final 150 pages a bit patchy and rough, compared to the smooth sail before it.
DUMA KEY isn’t essential King, but it’s quite good King. And I’ll take that any day. –Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF STEPHEN KING:
• CELL by Stephen King
• THE COLORADO KID by Stephen King
• CREEPSHOWS: THE ILLUSTRATED STEPHEN KING MOVIE GUIDE by Stephen Jones
• CUJO by Stephen King
• THE SECRETARY OF DREAMS: VOLUME ONE by Stephen King
• STEPHEN KING: THE NON-FICTION by Rocky Wood and Justin Brooks
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Good to hear! I have this on my amazon wishlist to pick up soon!
My curiosity is piqued. What could possibly happen that a Matthew Reilly fan would find impossible to accept? I must purchase this book to find out!
I will have to read this one.
Edgar Freemantle, huh? Is he any relation to You Know Who?
Ha.
King and I parted long ago, although I did pop back to visit him with Lisey’s Story which I called a ramblesnooze. I have two problems with King these days: one being that he does go on and on and it can be boring to read him flesh out everything and numb the imagination; the other being that he seems to want literary recognition (if Lisey’s Story was any indication) but doesn’t know how to go about it and should just not bother. Or take his stories, cut out all the supernatural stuff, and work with a good editor that can cut his prose down to an effective level.
I’ve always felt his short stories were better, but then they started to get far too long. And his novellas, by anyone else’s standards, would be fully fledged novels. (Thinking of Four Past Midnight.
I remember when I first heard of Duma Key and thinking it just sounded like he was retreading old water, namely an exetended version of Word Processor Of The Gods (Skeleton Krew), only with painting thrown in. Is it?
I saw the book and may yet pick it up after keeping an eye on the reviews as they come in.
Also, was Kingdom Hospital any good? I never got to see it over here but I do have the original Danish TV show, Riget, on DVD and that was fantastic, although a shame that it will never be completed.
Yes, KINGDOM HOSPITAL is indeed good. I just finishing watching the entire series in full, and while some of the later episodes start to lag a little, it was enjoyable. It helped that they knew it was going to last one season, so it has a definite beginning, middle and end. It works so much better on DVD, rather than having to wait a week in between episodes.
AS someone who watched both the original Kingdom in the theater mind you. The King version never measured up at all. It felt really forced with to many weird additions that took away from the Danish one.
As far as I’m concerned the original Danish ending to the first part is still one of the greatest cliffhangers ever. Two words: Udo Kier
It’s a great cliffhanger alright. The second series has never been released over here and I’m too stubborn to find out, prefering to wait optimistically for it.
Actually, Stewart, you’ll be pleased to know THE KINGDOM: SERIES 2 came out last week!