This book is going out on a bookray! Send a PM if you are interested in joining. The bookray will be U.S. only due to the size of the book.

From the back of the book:
"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.

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 and the ghosts of her childhood begin to appear, the damage of which they are capable is truly devastating.
The tenacity of love, the perils of creativity, the mysteries of memory and the nature of the supernatural -- Stephen King gives us a novel as fascinating as it is gripping and terrifying."

1. Please journal as soon as you receive the book and again after you read it and mail it to the next person. This will help everyone else keep up with the book's current location.
2. Put the book at the top of your TBR pile (after the book that you are currently reading and any other rings/rays that arrived before this one.)
3. If you don't think you will be able to read this book within a reasonable time (approx. 1 month) after receiving it, please let me know before the book is mailed to you. I will be happy to move your name down on the list if needed.
4. After you read the book, please PM the next person on the list for their address. If you get the next person's address from RABCK.com, you may want to PM them just to ensure that the address has not changed.
5. Mail the book to the next person on the list using the cheapest shipping method available.
6. PM me if you have any problems with contacting the next person so I can help with trying to contact her/him.

Here's where the book will be traveling. I reserve the right to change the order if needed.
innae, CO
nightraine56, MO
liz-z, OH
oldreader, CA
ariesgirl29, TN
Hyphen8, HI
jsmeltser, IA
dastephan6, NJ
fungirl503, OR
spoiledrotten, NJ
awakeagain, NJ
dabercro, UT
cyber-librarian, NC
tempestsans, GA
Rrrcaron, NH

I am a big fan of Stephen King's books, but the last couple of books that he has written were not as great in my opinion as some of his earlier stuff. This one was pretty good, in my opinion. It involves a bit of the paranormal and a bit of mystery, so it was just my kind of book! The main character loses his right arm in an accident on a construction site and soon finds that he has gained some strange new abilities! This was a great book! I'm so excited to share it with you guys for my first book ray!

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Please take a moment to leave a journal entry to let me know where you found this book. You may remain anonymous if you wish. After you read the book, please come back and let me know what you thought about it and what you will do with the book when you finish with it. You may come back any time to read where this book has traveled and what others thought about it. Thank you for letting me know where this book has traveled!

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is off to innae in Colorado for a bookray. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did.

Duma Key has arrived safely in Colorado. I will finish up the book I am reading now, and get started (as per usual King style, it is a TOME! I will do my best to get it finished quickly)

I finished this earlier today, but wanted to wait until I had time to make a longer than usual journal (because often my JE's are about one line :-)

As I don't want to accidently spoil it for anyone...please highlight below to see what I thought. . . .

I have been reading Stephen King novels since I picked up my mom's copy of Night Shift and read it at the same time she did. I truly love his writing. Although lately...something has been lacking. His novels just haven't had that "magic" that could make me stay up when I was tired, just to read another chapter...or finish the book! With this book, the Stephen I like to read is back!!!

In fact, I think it has more chills than some of his other "supernatural" books. This one was almost back to horror, only it had a purpose to the horror. I am specifically thinking of when Edgar is trying to dispel the nightmares, and is turning on lights -- wants to make a phone call -- and when he turns on the kitchen light! OMG!! it's a "ghost" with a handcuff waiting for him!! I jumped. Who jumps when they read a book??? Thank you Stephen for coming back to us....Constant Reader missed you.

I happen to have a second copy of this book (a friend gave it to me just after Ladybug told me the ring was on the way) and I will be passing it around to my friends, because...the KING is back.

I have nightraine's address and will be sending this out soon!

ED: Mailed out via Media Mail this morning (March 5, 2008) :-)

I got this over the weekend. I am a few pages in and it looks like it will be good. Thanks ladybug74 for sharing. I am a slow reader, but I'll get it done asap.

RELEASE NOTES:

This was classic King. The last couple of books I read of his I have been disappointed with. However, this was truly old style King and I really enjoyed it. Thanks ladybug74 for sharing. It is on it's way to liz-z. Enjoy!

Just came home from a backpacking trip and look what I found at my doorstep! I am looking forward to reading this, the last couple of Stephen King books I have read I was not impressed with. Hopefully this is truly classic King.

I will start this as soon as I am finished with the book I am currently reading.

I just finished this book off and it is ready to be mailed to the next reader as soon as I get the address.

As far as my review of the book, I thought it mediocre. It was an ok story, a bit long, a bit of non-sense and overall not the Stephen King that I loved when I was in high school. Maybe I have just outgrown his style of writing but I don't think that his books are what they used to be and maybe they never will be again. I really wanted to love this book but just couldn't.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent off this morning to the next person.

arrived today.thanks

king never lets me down.Just the most amazing imagination ever.This has to be one of his best.Pretty much kept me guessing all the way through.Thanks so much for sharing.Sending on it's way to ariesgirl.

RELEASE NOTES:

mailed today.

Got in the mail yesterday - will get to this asap! Thanks for sharing!

07.12.08 - finished book this morning, was great! I'm so glad I got the chance to read this - I really liked it and it brings me back to loving Stephen King again!

Pm'ing ivylibra for address and will get right out.

07.12.08 - Ivylibra passed as she picked up her own copy. Pm'd Hyphen8 next.

I sent this out on 07.22.08 with DC 0308 0660 0001 0299 7296. This is the posting as of today.

Label/Receipt Number: 0308 0660 0001 0299 7296
Status: Processed

Your item was processed and left our RICHMOND, CA 94804 facility on July 25, 2008. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.

I hope it's just delayed and not lost...

So just when I was wondering whether or not I should be worried about this book..it arrived today, apparently having come over by boat or something. (Must remember to be very nice to my poor mail carrier who keeps having to walk up our driveway with heavy boxes of books. This box only had the one but it's HUGE!)

The front cover is pretty tame for Stephen King..but the back cover is suitably bizarre.

I need to finish my current book first, but this is going on the *top* of the TBR stack so it will be next.

Oh, by the way, I'm hanging on to the box it came in so I'm prepared when it's time to send the book on to the next reader. :)

Just want to post an update here: I haven't started yet, sorry. Busy, busy at work, plus the Olympics are on so I'm not getting much reading done!

Also - note to future readers - don't be alarmed, the white stuff is just baking soda. I'll do my best to get as much of it out as I can, but in order to read this book I need to try to reduce the smoky smell (or it will give me a major headache).

Hoping to start this in the next couple of days - I don't have to work on Friday (state holiday) so I'm planning to make a big dent in this book then. :)

Thanks for sharing this!

I haven't read much Stephen King recently (I think the last one I read was Hearts in Atlantis) but once I got started this went pretty fast - it sucked me in and didn't want to let me go! When I went to the art supply store for the binding supplies they had the cutest tiny canvases (maybe 2"x3") and itty bitty easels to match. I can't even draw, let alone paint, but the satisfaction it gave Edgar made me wish I could...or maybe not, after all! ;)

The story also made me think of Larry Niven's Gil Hamilton (aka Gil the Arm); if you've read those stories you'll know why.

Although I don't know much about book binding, I *think* I've managed to securely re-attach the pages to the cover, and most of the smell is gone. Hopefully the book will be ok for the rest of the readers on the list.

I see that I'm just about in the middle, so that's not a bad place for a short vacation, right? ;)

I appreciate everyone's patience. I've got jsmeltser's address and will be sending this out at the beginning of the week.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to jsmeltser, probably Monday 8/25.

Here's an audio version on my shelf.

Received today. I'll read it as soon as I finish the book I'm reading now and send it on it's way to dastephan6.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Pretty basic King, several re-heated themes from his past books... That said, I enjoyed this more than most things he's released since completing the Dark Tower series. Mailing to dastephan6 today...

i got the book this weekend in the mail. i will read it as soon as i am done the book i am reading now.

i wasn't really thrilled with this book. while it was some what a mystery, it just didn't ring as a 'stephen king' for me. there are plenty of details to give you the whole picture. not too much action. you can pretty much predict what is going to happen.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

being sent to Portland, Oregon as part of a bookring!

I got the book today in the mail. I am almost done reading another book so this will be the next one. Mostly likely will start this book today :) Thankyou for letting me be part of this ring.

this book has me thinking that stephen king is sort of writting again about when he had his accident one year ago. Beside that thought it was a great book I liked when I was in the middle of the book that it really picked up. As soon as I have a mail address this will be out in the mail to the next person :)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

going to the next person :)

Recieved in the mail today, perfect timing as I just finished my current book. Can't wait to read this after reading the reviews, I too was a huge King fan, then found his work got quite boring. Whill journal again when done. Thanks for including me.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book was sent to awakeagain yesterday so that it can continue on its journey!

Once again I was disappointed in King's writing. I have to agree with was liz-z stated previously. I think it is all over for me and Stephen King. Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Rec'd this bookring today and PMd the next person on the list.

I think this book had a better beginning, middle and ending than many Stephen King books. All too often he gets caught up in little side stories or just throws in all sorts of supernatural stuff that doesn't fit. This book was coherent I thought. I wish we'd learned a little more about why these people developed special abilities.

PMd dabercro for an address and still waiting to get a message back.

Received in the mail yesterday. I will start this book as soon as I finish the book I'm reading now. I'm hoping this book is like his earlier writing but not so sure after reading the mixed reviews in the other journal entries. I guess I'll soon find out.

I liked this book better than some of King's later works that I have read. I especially liked that he didn't use lots of guts and gore to tell the story. I liked the paranormal storyline.

Thank you Ladybug74 for sharing.

I have the next participant's address and will get this in the mail early next week.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

sending to cyber-librarian

I received this book in the mail today from dabercro in UT ... as part of this bookray. I have 3 other bookring/rays in front of this ... but will try to read it in a timely basis and pass it on to the next reader.

c. 2008 -- 609 pages -- Hardcover -- my nephew's favorite author -- 3 weeks on the USA Today top-10 Bestseller list:
#1 on 1/27/08
#4 on 2/3/08
#8 on 2/10/08

I finished reading this book today. I think this is Stephen King at his best. It surprised me that his location was out of Maine ... to one of the keys off southern Florida. It also isn't fully of religious opinion that his other books are (that I've read). King is so good at drawing you into this book before it gets creepy. Half-way through I was hooked into the story ... but also foresaw the possibility of creepiness quickly approaching. By then it was too late to stop reading, I was already into it. LOL Great book!

Quote: "Do the day ... and let the day do you!"

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm mailing this book today to tempestsans in GA ... as part of this bookray. Sorry for the delay, but the last week was quite hectic for me.

DC# 0306-1070-0000-8356-1204

arrived safely today. am in the middle of one other ring and then this one is next on my list. am excited by the comments cyber-librarian made regarding getting hooked into the well built story and then the creepiness. that's the thing i love about a good King book. looking forward to it!

wow, just wow.

once again, King has managed to take his skills and pull me into a world that should be totally unbelievable, but as seen through his eyes is not. introduces us to his fully believable characters, lets us grow to know and care about them and then takes us on a supernatural, crazy Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (ha! those of you who have read the book get the references i'm sure and those who will soon will understand).

my only quarrel with this one is the liberties King took with the geography of the west coast of florida. probably not a distraction for the occassional visitor of someone who knows little about the area, but to one such as me who is a florida born and bred girl, it was a mite distracting.

be that as it may, a thoroughly enjoyable read and perfect timing as it definitely has helped me completely unplug from my job (which i hate, and my boss who tells me every day how she is doing all the work and i am nothing, all the while slinging and lobbing the scut jobs over the cube wall for me to dig through and her to take credit on)

thanks for sharing. Rrrcaron has been PMed for address and the book will wing it's way to NH sometime next week after i've received that info.

This book was waiting for me when I picked up my mail yesterday at the post office. It may have arrived earlier, I haven't picked up my mail in a week. I have a book in progress, but I'm sure I'll be opening this one before the week is over. I'm looking forward to it. I haven't read a Stephen King book in a long time.
Ruth

I loved this book. I gave up on King for awhile, but now I'm hooked again! This book was like a come back for me. I hated to see it end. Thanks so much for sharing!!