I enjoyed this but it was long and felt long.

The external character conflict doesn't start until about a third of the way into the book, but prior to that the Dan Torrance has plenty of internal conflict in dealing with his alcoholism and step 5.

I really liked the two main protagonists: Dan Torrance from The Shining and Abra Stone. Rose the Hat is an interesting villain. I wish King had spent more time giving her some depth, more to her story, less to Dan's.

In the end, this is a testament to the power of the AA program and how it improves lives through faith, acceptance, and responsibility. It's interesting that King wrote The Shining while in the darkest corners of alcoholism and wrote this novel after being sober for years, much like Dan Torrance. I guess it's just a coincidence.

I have high praise for the end of this novel. I fully expected a blown out epic battle sequence with aspects in the mind and in reality, and to some extent it was; however, it wasn't the spectacle that movies have taught us to expect. It felt understated and simple by comparison to modern movies. I loved it.

While I liked this novel, I'm not sure I can recommend it widely because the pacing feels so off. That said, anyone who considers him/herself a Stephen King fan will probably really like this.