I usually like Stephen King’s books. As a person waging a lifelong battle with insomnia, a book involving the insomnia of the main character interested me.
My Conclusion
While Insomnia was a decent read, it was far from King’s best work. The story was just too long. I kept waiting for things to get really interesting. Had I not known King would eventually deliver, I would have stopped reading.
That being said, Insomnia is a solid read.
The Plot
Retiree Ralph Roberts lives in the fictional town of Derry, Maine. One day he is out for a walk when he encounters a neighbor named Ed Deepneau. Ed deliberately causes a car accident with another man, assaults him, and accuses him of transporting aborted babies in the containers of fertilizer in his truck.
Later, Ralph is horrified when Ed’s wife Hellen arrives at a local store badly beaten. In time, Ralph learns Ed beat Hellen after she signed a petition supporting efforts to bring a famous pro-choice speaker to Derry.
As the story continues Ralph, now a widower, begins suffering terrible insomnia. With his mind suffering from a lack of sleep, Ralph begins seeing little bald doctors. Eventually, he comes to believe the doctors exist in a higher reality.
When Ralph’s friend Lois tells him she is seeing things and suffering from insomnia too, Ralph has someone on his side. The question is: can Ralph and Lois stop Ed from killing thousands of people?