Duma Key: A Novel
Written by Stephen King
Narrated by John Slattery
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Master storyteller Stephen King’s classic, terrifying #1 New York Times bestseller of what happens when the barrier between our world and that of the supernatural is breached.
After a terrible construction site accident severs Edgar Freemantle’s right arm, scrambles his mind, and implodes his marriage, the wealthy Minnesota builder faces the ordeal of rehabilitation, all alone and full of rage. Renting a house on Duma Key—a stunningly beautiful and eerily undeveloped splinter off the Florida coast—Edgar slowly emerges from his prison of pain to bond with Elizabeth Eastlake, a sick, elderly woman whose roots are tangled deep in this place. And as he heals, he paints—feverishly, compulsively, his exploding talent both a wonder and a weapon. For Edgar’s creations are not just paintings, but portals for the ghosts of Elizabeth’s past…and their power cannot be controlled…
Stephen King
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes the short story collection You Like It Darker, Holly, Fairy Tale, Billy Summers, If It Bleeds, The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King), and the Bill Hodges trilogy: End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and a television series streaming on Peacock). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower, It, Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and Firestarter are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest-grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.
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Reviews for Duma Key
694 ratings168 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not one of my Favorite King novels. Started off slow…very slow. It took me about 2 years to read-I’d pick it, read a little then put it down… bring that I’ve read everything else of kings i though I’d give it one more try…it was tough to finish. Glad it’s over!!!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Slattery provides excellent narration. The story itself is quite good, though slow to build. Kings incredible way with characters makes the long trek until action begins a very enjoyable one.
While Duma Key treads a lot of familiar ground for the author, it all works quite nicely. King really sticks the ending here, which he doesn’t always. It is very poignant, and heartfelt, and very much worth waiting around for.
Check it out!1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One of Stephen King's best.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked the interaction between the two main characters. The story was a little thin in the beginning, which, at least in my eyes, makes the wife out to be very cold hearted for divorcing this poor crippled man. The only thing it was missing (and maybe he's gotten cynical in his old age) is the little touch of a happy ending that keeps a story from being too depressing. In books like these you really need that. "Rita Hayworth..." had it. Even "IT" had it (Audra wakes up...yeah!). But "Duma Key" didn't. It deliberately ended on a sad note, which is unfortunate. Otherwise, it was a great book.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is not entirely standard King, but I liked it for it's explanations of why people might be the way they are.
I DID wonder why Edgar and his wife didn't divorce far earlier. She is a shrew.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great as always nothing but a wonderful story to tell
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Duma Key chilled my soul as it delved into monsters. Yet, and the reason that Stephen King is my favorite fiction author, it warmed me as it also delved into a father’s love for his children.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I was pulled into this book to listen to It almost nonstop. Very good!
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Yawn, is it over yet? Just because a well known author puts words on paper does not make it a best seller.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54.5 out of 5. Strays with you long after the end.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Book was decent. John Slattery was amazing. Highly recommended.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is not his all time best but it comes very close and is far better than some of the previous few stories he has written. I thought the concept behind the story was original and interesting. Great read.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A slow burning novel that quite suddenly shifts gear as the mystery of Duma Key is revealed.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I am a die hard King fan so this was a no brainer as far as enjoying it, but I read a review on the book that commented "In this book the journey is more interesting than the destination". I agree.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slow building up. I love king but everyone of his works ain't for everyone. I liked it for just the story. told well, but no antagonist explanation really let me down personally. Worth a read but not a "must read" imo
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved it! The best way I can think to describe it is atmospheric and creepy.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Long story, but well worth it. King does a good job intertwining supernatural elements with creepy settings and interesting characters. It's a bit slow starting at the beginning, but it doesn't take long to speed up. The background to both the protagonist and antagonists add interest to the story and help explain what the plot is trying to show. Good story with a satisfying ending.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Compelling and imaginative story, although we can see some of the author's tricks in this one.
Perfect narration. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The ocean, the friendship, his success.
Learning to live a new life through adversity .Good winning over evil. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wow! Another amazing book from the talented Stephen King. A must listen!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It's not a bad story by any means but it's no where near as great as The Shining or Salems Lot for example. The narrator is fantastic and made an average book a little better.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5King created a Master full story about brain injury, rage and putting your life back together after Extreme trauma. I absolutely adored the story, as a person with a traumatic brain injury myself. It took a very Supernatural turn about chapter 12. But I do love a good horror fantasy. His characters are real and they react like real people in the face of danger, dropping things, throwing up, and feeling slapped in the face by their own limitations. Duma key is its own Supernatural space shrouded and death. It illustrates the cost of listening to the voices and allowing yourself to fall under their spell. It also speaks to the love between fathers and daughters and how it transcends the living.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Different from most King novels, but every bit as wonderful. Highly recommend!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love even more than the first time I read it
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is such a great book. I’d read it years ago so I thought it would be a great casual listen and decided to give it a go. I was quickly drawn in, I’d forgotten so much about the story that it was almost like I’d never read it. The narration was perfect.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great Story. I actually enjoyed this as an audio book and the narration by John Slattery was superb!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is one of my favorite Stephen King novels, right up there with "Bag of Bones". The emotional turmoil, the engaging characters, and intriguing plot make this a "super-naturally" satisfying read.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent, excellent, excellent. Fantastic story that pretty much took my breath away. Definitely a must read if you enjoy King.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Edgar Freemantle is a man with anger problems due to an accident that almost killed him. As a result, his marriage has split up and he is now living on Duma Key for a year by himself. He takes up painting as a hobby and finds that he is brilliant at it. So good, in fact, that he is possessed by an unearthly desire to continue painting. That is until his paintings begin to possess others driving them to suicide and murder. I enjoyed this book very much and give it an A+! Although I thought it was a tad long in parts. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not one of King's greatest works but a nonetheless good read.