Did you ever wonder what happened to the little boy in The Shining, after he escaped the Overlook Hotel? This book, the sequel, tells the story of Danny Torrence (now Dan), and how you can never escape the ghosts of your past, you can only face them head on.

Stephen King has been hit or miss for a long while now, he's produced some novels that feel forced (Cell) and some that are truly awful (I'm looking at you, Dreamcatcher). But this is one of the good ones. With this novel, I can tell he cared. There is a depth and attention that's been missing for a while. The story of an alcoholic clawing his way out of his addiction is obviously very close to his heart, as is the chance to revisit one of his favorite novels.

The psychic ability known as the "shining" factors very heavily, there are bad guys and good guys, faces familiar and faces new, action and adventure, deaths bad and deaths good. But through it all this is a story of redemption and of hope, of people banding together, and strength in letting yourself be vulnerable to those around you who care.