Duma Key
Stephen King

A terrible construction site accident takes Edgar Freemantle's right arm and scrambles his memory and his mind, leaving him with little but rage as he begins the ordeal of rehabilitation. A marriage that produced two lovely daughters suddenly ends, and Edgar begins to wish he hadn't survived the injuries that could have killed him. He wants out. His psychologist, Dr. Kamen, suggests a "geographic cure", a new life distant from the Twin Cities and the building business Edgar grew from scratch. And Kamen suggests something else.
"Edgar, does anything make you happy?"
"I used to sketch."
"Take it up again. You need hedges... hedges against the night."
Edgar leaves Minnesota for a rented house on Duma Key, a stunningly beautiful, eerily undeveloped splinter of the Florida Coast. The sun setting into the Gulf of Mexico and the tidal rattling of shells on the beach call out to him, and Edgar draws. A visit from Ilse, the daughter he dotes on, starts his movement out of solitude. He meets a kindred spirit in Wireman, a man reluctant to reveal his own wounds, and then Elizabeth Eastlake, a sick old woman whose roots are tangled deep in Duma Key. Now Edgar paints, sometimes feverishly, his exploding talent both a wonder and a weapon. Many of his paintings have a power that cannot be controlled. When Elizabeth's past unfolds as the ghosts of her childhood begin to appear, the damage of which they are capable is truly devastating.

This novel seems to be one thing for the first three quarters and then explodes into the supernatural for the last quarter. It's a slow burn, exploring the life of Edgar Freemantle after his accident and learning about those who surround him.

At first, his painting seems harmless. He just seems to have an unbelievable untapped talent. Then, he learns that he can change people and the world through his paintings. He is able to kill a child molester with a painting and restore a friend to health as well. His paintings catch the eye of a gallery owner and he has an unbelievable showing where his works sell out completely. While these parts don't have much horror to them and barely any of the supernatural, they are still amazingly interesting.

As the novel moves on, Edgar realizes that his paintings have awoken something old and evil. Something determined to have him and his soul at all costs. Something willing to kill his friends and family to show its displeasure, and something that can act through any of his paintings or drawings. Unfortunately, they have all been sold and therefore it is not easy to try and destroy them.

The slow burn and then fantastical ending is one of the things that makes this book a great read. I have yet to be disappointed by any of Stephen King's novels and this is no exception.

I highly recommend this to any King fan who has yet to read it and also would recommend this to anyone who likes a good supernatural thriller.

My rating: Four out of five snails.