Ralph is an elderly gentleman,who loves meeting his equally elderly friends for a gossip and a game of chess. A widower, he also has eyes for Lois in a charming gentle sort of way.

But Ralph starts waking up earlier and earlier for no apparent reason, although his tries dozens of suggested remedies from his friends.

This is the beginning of the most bizarre episode of his whole life. His mild-mannered friend becomes aggressive, people are not who they seem to be and to top it all, he sees little bald doctors with scissors and auras in scintillating colours.

His friend from the flat below is most concerned over Ralph's sanity and Lois seems the only one he can turn to. Between them they try to find an explanation.

The characters in this book are absolutely wonderful. Stephen King's observation of the elderly is superb and often very funny but with moments of pathos. Ralph could be anyone's Grandfather and his friends, the old men you see sitting on a bench on a summer's afternoon. The doctors are also very well presented characters and their part in the story is perfect. By the time the book is ended, you feel that you know them all.

I keep saying that this is my favourite book every time I read a King novel, but this truly is one of the best. Not a horror story in any way, but a gentle fantasy in the same genre as "As dreams may come", (the film with Robin Williams). It is a beautiful story, full of humour, pathos, atmospheric description and aesthetic value.

Impossible to put down... a book to incur very late nights.