Sadie Hartmann's Reviews > Duma Key

It's been years since I first read Duma Key. While I loved it the first time around and gave a five star rating, it's possible I loved it more the second time around.
I think just knowing the story better and where it was going, helped clarify some of the more supernatural aspects of certain events early on.
Lately, (on bookstagram) I've seen people rating a King book lower *because* he had a supernatural element to an otherwise, genre specific story--example: The Outsider. People thought it should have just been a detective novel.
Well, let me step up on this platform as a seasoned Constant Reader for second and announce that Mr. King is well known and admired for his genre-bending stories. The Dark Tower series, for instance, is everything. It's a Western, dark fantasy, horror, supernatural, apocalyptic, science fiction/time travel, you name it, it's probably in there to some degree.
Duma Key is not going to be pigeon-holed into a genre either so be prepared to just enjoy the ride and not try to figure it out--at its core, this story is about a man who has had his life stripped away after a body (and soul crushing) accident on the job.
He goes to Florida to stay in a big house at the edge of the sea for some contemplative walks on the beach. Of course this is a King novel so Edgar Freemantle isn't going to be left alone at "Big Pink" despite however lonely he feels, right?
Right.
My favorite aspect to this novel are the relationships. The unexpected deep friendship between Wireman and Edgar and perhaps even the crazy love between Fathers and Daughters, even the destructive/toxic relationship between former lovers is intense and compelling--told through dialog and inner mind chat that only King can tell it.
The climax and the way the story takes on that snowball-racing-down-an-avalanche feeling towards the end is some of King's best work.
This is definitely a top 20 if not top 10 King ranking for me.