Duma Key
Ratings104
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings104
Average rating3.8
Edgar Freemantle reached a T-junction in his life's journey when a freak accident cost him his arm... and his marriage. He takes the turning marked Florida — home, as they say, of the newly wed, or nearly dead.
But rather than choosing a typical holiday location, Freemantle is drawn to a beautiful, eerily remote stretch of land off Florida's West Coast: Duma Key, a tangle of banyans, palms and pines next to a deserted beach — uninhabited bar a few houses owned by an old lady named Elizabeth, once a famous patron of the arts.
Encouraged by his youngest daughter, Freemantle discovers a unique talent for painting, starting with the fabulous sunsets. But soon he finds himself experiencing weird phantom pains in his missing arm. And something strange and disturbing is happening with his pictures: they are becoming predictive, even dangerous to those who buy them.
Freemantle must team up with his fellow resident, Wireman, to chart his way through the increasingly disturbing mystery of
Duma Key, where out-of-season hurricanes tear lives apart and a powerful undertow lures lost and tormented souls. Eventually, they will have to discover what really happened to Elizabeth's twin sisters, who disappeared in the 1920s — and the haunting secret to which this strange old lady holds the key. Duma Key is a mesmerizing and compelling story about friendship, and the bond between a father and his daughter. It is also about the power of memory and truth, art and nature.
--front flap
Featured Prompt
2,709 booksWhen you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
Featured Series
1 primary bookDuma Key Split-Volume is a 1-book series first released in 2008 with contributions by Stephen King.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is probably my favorite book.
King made me feel so much with this one. Every emotion that he put to the page felt real and I really felt for the characters at all times. I cried and laughed the whole way through. I've heard that King doesn't do endings well, but that absolutely wasn't the case with Duma Key.
A completely satisfying read that I truly loved.
This had classic horror elements of Stephen King, but they were fewer than in previous books in my memory of Stephen King novels I have read in the past. Or at least that is the way I remember it. The relationships between the characters are very strong and the main characters are well developed. Many of the minor characters are well developed as well. The horror elements were well done without being limited to a defined type, ghost, demonic activity etc. Long and enjoyable read.
Not one of King's greatest works but a nonetheless good read.
This is a book that I approached thinking that I wouldnt enjoy, based on the premise. Still, I heard it was good and so I gave it a go as I wait for Kings new book next month.
The book is in first person which most of the time I don't like, though there are exceptions, luckily this was one of them. King is such a good writer that I actually enjoyed the basic premise of Edgar painting eerie pictures that foretell the future and also have powers of their own.
The thing I did not enjoy was the fact that this is essentially a ghost story, which I wasn't aware of when I started reading. Now I am not keen on ghost stories, not because they are scary, because they rarely are, but because there always seems to be some element which seems too far out. In this book I didn't like how Edgar knew everything he was supposed to do and knew everything that had happened in the past.
My main problem with Duma Key is that it gradually built and built and got more intriguing and exciting as it went on...only to just drag and bore me with the final act. I was expecting an exciting conclusion to the story but in the end it didn't interest me much at all. If it had ended strongly then I would have given this an extra star but it let me down, unfortunately.
Duma Key is still a good book though, King has several good characters, the best being Wireman, and as always his writing is strong. Lovers of ghost stories will absolutely love this book.
