Paris Carter

After losing his teaching job, Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic and writer, gets a job working as a caretaker for the winter at Overlook hotel, an upper scale hotel located on the top of a mountain in Colorado. But when his son, Danny, starts to have visions of a woman attacking from the room 272, things start to turn downhill as strange phenomena after phenomena starts to threaten the family’s lives, but the roads too icy for them to get down the mountain, they are trapped inside of the house until spring.

The Shining, is the third novel by Stephen King and is by far one of his most memorable novel. Written in third person ominous, you get to feel the tension grow through each character, creating what would become a literary classic in the horror genre.

With characters that you can relate to can actually believe in makes the scares throughout the novel even more frightening. With the turn of each page you face the fear your favorite character might die or be attacked. The characters are a big reason why I love this book. Dan, a five year old, who has the ability to see scenarios before they happen, makes him an interesting character, and also the fact that he has a imaginary friend names Tony, also makes him just down right intriguing and near impossible not to have some curiosity for. Jack, is also interesting character with his internal struggle after the “Bad Thing” carrying throughout the entire novel and watching him try to do what’s right for his family. All of the characters come alive in their own creative ways, each having their own struggles and viewpoints, it’s something a lot of books now a days lack.

King’s quick voice, short sentences, and only a few pages a chapters, turns The Shining into a true page turner. With such an engaging plot and interesting characters I’s near impossible not to become hooked with the plot and anxious about what’s going to happen next. Late at night, I would read underneath my lamp trying to get a few more chapters in and trying to find a little more about what’s going on.

The Shining is a horror masterpiece and I can’t find a single thing wrong with the plot, characters, pacing, or narrative voice. I would recommend this book to anyone who is at the slightest interested in reading this novel or anyone of King’s other books. I will be reading and reviewing the sequel Doctor Sleep in due time. (Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Books-A-Million)