Duma Key

A Novel

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: John Slattery

Winner of the 2009 Audie Award for Fiction

A terrible accident takes Edgar Freemantle's right arm and scrambles his memory and his mind, leaving him with little but rage as he begins the ordeal of rehabilitation. When his marriage suddenly ends, Edgar begins to wish he hadn't survived his injuries. He wants out. His psychologist suggests a new life distant from the Twin Cities, along with something else:

"Edgar, does anything make you happy?"
"I used to sketch."
"Take it up again. You need hedges...hedges against the night."

Edgar leaves for Duma Key, an eerily undeveloped splinter of the Florida coast. The sun setting into the Gulf of Mexico calls out to him, and Edgar draws. Once he meets Elizabeth Eastlake, a sick old woman with roots tangled deep in Duma Key, Edgar begins to paint, sometimes feverishly; many of his paintings have a power that cannot be controlled. When Elizabeth's past unfolds and the ghosts of her childhood begin to appear, the damage of which they are capable is truly devastating.

The tenacity of love, the perils of creativity, the mysteries of memory, and the nature of the supernatural: Stephen King gives us a novel as fascinating as it is gripping and terrifying.

©2008 Stephen King (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Excellent! Best narrator ever!

I can't say enough good things about this book. I love the story (of course - Stephen King is the best) but John Slattery's narration is excellent - great voice and subtle but distinctive character differences. Very memorable. I've probably listened to 40 audio books in the last couple of years and this is the best. I've listened to it twice. I'll listen to anything with John Slattery.

Not your regular Stephen King novel

Another great story from the amazing Stephen King, but very different. We have an interesting main character, a strange place and a fight with pain. This one seemed to me much personal than other works by this author and as I understand it he wrote it after his almost deadly car accident.

John Slattery brings all the characters, places and events to life with his calm, relaxing voice.

Wow. Just ~ wow.

I was completely, totally caught up, sucked in, taken up with this book. I listened at every possible opportunity ~ made excuses to wash dishes, do laundry; any mindless activity where I could rationalize putting on my iPod. I loved the characters, loved the story, loved the narration, just loved everything about this book. If you're a Stephen King fan ~ or even if you're not ~ get this book. You won't regret it.

Well done, SK!

Like other reviewers, I, too, could not stop listening to this book. I both cared about and LIKED the characters. Much like The Green Mile and The Stand, there were elements of the supernatural, but the book was just as much about what makes us tick as it was about the journey (both literally and figuratively) taken by Edgar. The narrator was outstanding, and never got in the way of the book.

I was struck by King's repetition of the surname "Freemantle." The name is unique, and I can't figure out why Mr. King used it again. There's probably no deep, dark reason; however, I am probably going to wonder about it for a while...

Mr. King, thank you for a wonderful read.

Absolutely fantastic!

One of Stephen King's best books! Worth MUCH more than the price!!!!!

Awesome!!

I've been a SK fan since I was 17 and read The Shining. I don't even know how that book found it's way into our house. My mom was NOT and is NOT a fan of this kind of material. Needless to say, I read The Shining and I was hooked and I've not been off the line since.
I purchased Duma Key prior to Apt Pupil. I gave AP a 4 star just because it was true SK style GOOD. I gave Duma Key a 5 start because it deserves it. Someone said that SK didn't live up to his potential in this book, they are insane. Stephen King has grown, not only as an author but as a person and it shows in this book. The person saying that Duma Key isn't, that person ISN'T.
SK has a habit of starting out slow. I've seen this in nearly all of his books. It's his way of setting the scene. Giving you the details that are actually important, but you don't seem to realize until later. Then SK hooks you and doesn't let go until the end. When he's let you go, you are wishing he'd hook you up all over again. I'm done with this book and I even told my daughter that I was missing it.
People buy it. For the price you are definitely getting your money's worth. In fact, the price is a sale. John Slattery deserves an award for his narration. Thank you Mr. Slattery for allowing these characters a life beyond paper.

Do not miss this!!

I have read hundreds of books and have listen to twice as many in my life, in saying this you must realize that calling this book one of the top 3 books is saying a lot. It was long listen but worth every second of it. I am a King fan yes, but this had nothing to do with it.
I truly felt as if I was right there in the story for one, and best of all the characters were so likable you did not want to leave them. The story was creepy, funny, and sad. I bought this book for my wife after listening to it and she who is not a King fan totally agreed with me. A MUST BUY!!

Captivating Ride

This Stephen King novel is continually intriguing in an eerie and very captivating way. The novel is well paced for the first 3/4 of the book, but slows down some for the final 1/4. This being said it was still very very good and rarely ever boring. All of the characters are well developed and incredibly likable, especially the main character, Edgar Freemantle. This audio book was thoroughly enjoyable and definitely worth the download.

Good stuff - old King

Nothing deep here (ala The Stand), and no answers at the end, but a nice solid horror show from King. Better than it's been in a while. There are solid characters to empathize with and straight good and evil 9with some gray thrown in for good measure).

He still has his patent King style and words and now he's brought back some old school, seat-of-your-pants "scary". Even if you can see some of the story coming and a slew of it makes no sense. Still it was a nice fast read for a big novel and when you need a little nail biting, it's nice to know you can count on King again.

Reader

Excellently written. Well defined characters. Well developed plot.

I was unaware of what a good write this man is.