Duma Key is a Stephen King book that some called an indulgent stinker and others called the best book that Stephen King had written in ages, but that level of divided opinion is probably nothing new to the best-selling author of some of the best horror and fantasy books of our time.
The book is about a man facing the biggest personal challenges of his life, Having lived through a horrendous accident that left him maimed and mentally scarred, Edward Freemantle then loses his marriage and his business too.
Freemantle decides to take the advice of his psychiatrist and he rents a home on a deserted piece of Florida coastline for, what his psychiatrist calls, a geographic cure.
As the story unfolds, we learn more about the inner torment that Freemantle is facing, as he lives in solitude on Duma Key. He sits on his own watching the sunsets and listening to the shells that rattle in the waves on the shore.
Still struggling with the pain of his injuries, Fremantle sees a figure in the far distance on the beach, but he can't walk to the figure because of his pain. After several attempts over a number of days, he finally makes it and finds out the figure is a man who calls himself Wireman.
Wireman, it transpires, is a man who has also found refuge from pain at Duma Key, where he works as the live-in caretaker for an elderly lady called Elizabeth Eastlake. They all, especially Elizabeth Eastlake, have some secrets they would prefer to hide.
While staying at the secluded location, Freemantle rediscovers his love of painting and drawing and that, plus his growing friendship with Wireman and making a re-connection with his daughter, begins to draw
Freemantle out of himself again. The paintings, though, begin to become an obsession and they start to take on a life all of their own. Either Duma Key, or something that lives at Duma Key, begins to take a hold an unshakeable over Freemantle
The frail and elderly Elizabeth Eastlake has some painful memories that are reawakened, and with them, something else on Duma key wakes up as well. It's not too long before the battle against the pain from his injuries and his own inner turmoil are the least of Edward Freemantle's problems.
Like all Stephen King books, there is far more to Duma Key than just a simple horror tale. While other writers of the genre rely solely on stomach churning gore to make you turn another page, Stephen King delves deep into the characters and reveals to us their darkest fears.
The personal pain that Edward Freemantle feels, both physical and mental, is as brilliantly described by King, as is the external evil that Freemantle must eventually face.
Duma Key is a long book, and that did give cause for some critics to complain. Without that the build-up, back story, and in-depth characterisation, though, you wouldn't care half as much about the characters as you eventually do.
In fact, without all that detail and the interwoven sub-plots, Duma Key would just be another shock and gore horror story, but thankfully, that's not what Stephen King writes. Duma Key is another superbly written book from the pen of the master who will scare and inspire you in equal measures.
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By
Neil Savin
