Duma Key

I read the new Stephen King novel, Duma Key, over the long weekend. I couldn't stop. I'm embarrassed at how long I let Syd play her video game on President's Day, with me sitting there turning the pages like a mad woman and her saying incredulously, "Mama, can I REALLY play again??" By then, it was too late to be reasonable about it. Even when it got scary toward the middle, I was too hooked to put it down. And it is SO well-written. There is humor right alongside the creepy ghost ship scenes.

This book is about life imitating art - literally! The main character is in a terrible accident at a construction sight. He wakes up in the hospital with a scrambled brain, a missing right arm and the uncanny ability to change reality through his painting.

Brilliant. And even though it did scare me a little, it was also brilliant how it suddenly turned into a ghost story.

I loaned my copy to Sydney's teacher, Ms. Tracy. At first she told me she didn't like scary books, but when I said "oh, it's nothing like say - the Shining!" She said that she loved The Shining and it didn't scare her at all.

Okay then. Duma Key might seem like Mary Had A Little Lamb to her! But I was pleasantly surprised by my first Stephen King novel.