Insomnia

Book Details

Library

Author

Stephen King

Category

Horror

Editor

Reference #

Contributor

Location

Translator

Status

Publisher

Hodder & Stoughton

Owner

Country

Australia

Personal

Language

Read it

Yes

Year Published

1994

Date Read

28/02/2006

ISBN

0340608455

Personal Rating

 9/10

LCCN

Purchase

Edition

Purchase Date

10/02/2006

Printing

Acquired from 

Marlborough Library

Binding

Hardcover

Price

$1.00

Pages

650

Value

$0.00

Overview

You'll lose a lot of sleep.

Ralph does. At first he finds it hard to drop off. Then he starts waking up earlier. And earlier. But that isn't when he begins to see things. Colours, shapes, strange auras around his friends. Not to mention the bald doctors who always turn up at the scene of a death. The evil-looking one clutching a rusty scalpel. All that comes later.

After Susan Edwina Day's visit to the town of Derry, Main, is announced - when the once placid town starts to divide over women's issues. And the hitherto mild mild-mannered Ed Deepneau gets out of control - dangerously so.

That's when Ralph begins to lose a lot more than sleep. When he begins to understand why Ed is obsessed with the notion that Derry is becoming the new Armageddon. And to realise that time is ticking away for the residents of his home town.

An evil of unimaginable proportions has found a way in. And Ralph has one chance to beat it. In a card game. The stakes are high. They always are when you're playing for human souls. With a Joker in the pack ... a bald one with a rusty scalpel...

Comment

There are two reasons that I love Stephen King novels, and in this story they are present in spades.

The first is the sheer amount of details that he manages to get across - his language is blunt and to the point and you get a very clear picture of the town and the characters. In this book, set only a few years after the climax of It, this first reason mixes with the second - the casual mention of characters and events from other books.

There is also a sense that this book is one chapter of a much larger story. The dark tower and the little doctors are obviously a running thread through many of Kings books, but this is the first time I've seen much of it. The idea that I should read all of his books in order popped into my head, but considering the twists found in any one book, there's no guarantee of finding anything but a bigger desire to be in the know.