Rating: 
Summary: Dark Tower Background Required
Review: I just don't see how casual readers of King could enjoy this book to its fullest. This book is essentially a Dark Tower book on a tangent and even with that I give it 3 stars. My enjoyment of this book was primarily due to its overall fit in the Dark Tower universe rather than the story at hand. For those readers planning to read this as a stand-alone novel who have no prior knowledge of the Dark Tower series I rate this as 2 stars. I can promise that you will have no idea what he's talking about and why some things happen the way they do without any DT background. One other thing: if you are pro-life you may find yourself getting a little hot under the collar at times. While King discusses the fanatical personalities and extreme measures of people that can surround an abortion debate (on both sides) the pro-lifers are definitely held in lower regard in this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Insomnia
Review: This book starts off really slow - took me 3 months to get past the first 50 pages and like 3 days to get thru the other 600 + LOL. Great book. Kept me on the edge of my seat (bed, couch whatever)A definite must read.
Rating:
Summary: Not one of Mr. King's better stories, but still engaging...
Review: Even though when you read a lot of works by an author you start to anticipate where that author might go...this story was just a bit TOO predictable for my taste. I liked the main character, but his companions lacked depth. I found myself not caring what happened to any of them. It's worth a read, but definitely wait to borrow it from a friend or from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Great story
Review: This book introduced very interesting ideas about insomnia and the plot kept me interested. I came to know King as a horror guy but this book was a little creepy.
Rating: 
Summary: One of his greatest novels
Review: This novel had been lying on my shelf before I touched it. In a way I needed a break after reading most of King's novel. After the break I read his more recent books "Tom Gordon" and "Hearts in Atlantis" first. But reading "Insomnia" reminded me of his first novels and their incredibly suspenseful plots. King is a real master of suspense. The only minor flaw you can criticize in this novel is that the final climax is too long. As a reader you cannot keep your breath for such a long time, and this is exactly where suspense can turn into its opposite. But King is at his best when it comes to characters. Most of the people he develops are so real you think you have known them for years. They are characters you have seen and talked to all your life. In addition, the author is brilliant in the presentation of the dark sides of the human soul and mind. In this novel we have all of it and this makes it one of King's greatest.
Rating:
Summary: A good read; in King context, "Medium."
Review: Insomnia was a good read. King is a masterful storyteller; the narrative voice, the compelling main characters and the absolutely unstoppable plot are all trademark King features. Still, compared to the other King that I have read, I would rank it somewhere in the middle. The recent King novels that I read before this were Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man and Bag of Bones. Insomnia is very obviously a 1990's King; he writes with the kind of dry, New England wit that has come to distinguish him. But Insomnia just does not feel as tight as The Running Man or as compelling as Bag of Bones, which I feel really is King's best work that I have read. The dialogue in Insomnia is a choppy (which isn't unusual) and the pace of the story seems to start out slow and then to fluctuate back and forth between slow and quick. There is also a lot of exposition involved, a good deal of fleshing out the world of the Dark Tower series, which is a little frustrating. The climax of the book turns out to actually be about two figures from the Dark Tower series which kind of annoyed me. I was compelled by the characters in the book, I felt empathy for them and I felt that the book didn't need this kind of deus ex machina to stress the importance of the climax, to make it integral to the continuation of the King Uber-story. I am focusing here on some of the bad things. I listed the good things above, but you really just can't say enough about King's easy prose style. King is one of the authors that I just flat out love to read; he is imaginative, his voice is distinct and he consistently reinvents the fantasy (because this book is more fantasy than horror) genre in very exciting ways. So to sum up: not King's best, but a good, fun read. Despite the three stars, I definitely suggest reading it (just make sure you have already read It, The Stand, Bag of Bones...).
Rating: 
Summary: not one of his best
Review: The idea behind the story is clever and ripe with possibilities, but this book just doesn't work. The biggest problem is, at 650 pages, it is way, way too long and at some points utterly dull. Just when you think you've hit the meat of the story, it meanders away like a lost dog.There are large chunks of boring exposition and bad dialogue and when you finally do start to find out what's going on, it gets repetitive. I'm a big King fan and think he's an incredible writer but this was a misfire.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome literary novel
Review: King expresses his absolute strange, but awesome mind in this novel. But, in the novel, King wasted too much time on the prolife antiabortionist issues and the abortion thing slowed the story down as a whole. Also, with the main character King made the reader feel that he was more like thirty than sixty+. Overall, besides slow, Insomnia is a good book. The little "doctors" portray the three fates and I love the "aura" powers the characters had. Good work.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story!
Review: First off, when deciding whether or not to purchase this novel, keep two things in mind... this is not the all out "horror" we're so used to from King, this is more of a thriller. Secondly, this novel has a serious tie-in to his Dark Tower series. Even if one has not read the Dark Tower novels, the reader could still enjoy this.
Now, this novel starts off much like 'The Stand' does, in the aspect of very slow start, yet once the action kicks in it's non-stop! Ralph Roberts starts off with bad luck, his wife is mis-diagnosed by the family doctor and Ralph soon hears the "deathwatch" ticking his beloved's life away. Shortly thereafter, Ralph develops a form of insomnia, then that graduates and he can live in what others refer to as hyper-reality (seeing the auras of others). Then come the little bald doctors... and Ralph's world is turned completely upside down... This novel has a serious side to it, King discusses the ever present abortion issue, and the effects that it (the issue and one's feelings) would have on a town, where everyone knows everyone (or so it seems). As this town's residents are split between pro-life and pro-choice, the reader also becomes involved; 'Where do I stand?' he/she might ask to the wind.
The magic that King wields here is unreal, from his character development (that the reader can easily love or hate), to his description of the town... one can see every inch of Derry. The sights, sounds, even the smells in that town become alive in the reader's imagination. Bottom line... a King fan will love it, a non-King fan will cross-over, lol. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Great premise, poor execution!
Review: Stephen King has a knack for taking seemingly mundane and ordinary objects (cars, dogs, menstruation, etc.) and transforming them into vehicles of pure, chilling horror. At other times he floats into the realm of fantasy or strict supernatural horror (Dark Tower series, It, Stand, Pet Sematary, The Shining) and succeeds at making the reader believe in the plausibility of the premise while simultaneously scaring us out of our wits. Occasionally, or perhaps I should say rarely, does he fail in either plausibility or chill factor. "Insomnia" is just such a rare book.
The premise itself is great: Ralph Roberts, a man in his twilight years, begins experiencing gradual sleep loss to the point that he begins catching glimpses into another world, a world that those around him cannot see. Soon Ralph uncovers an evil plot begun against the town of Derry, Maine, that is far-reaching and backed by the more sinister powers of his sleep-deprived spirit world. Since Ralph is the only one who can see into this spirit world it is up to him to intercept the threat to the town before a terrible evil is unleashed. As Ralph struggles with what to make of his newfound abilities he also wrestles with the loneliness and pain brought about by his beloved wife's death. Will Ralph be able to overcome his pain? Will he be able to stop the threat against Derry?
The premise of one man's sleep loss allowing him to peer into another world has tremendous possibility for a horrific adventure, but upon reading further one gets the sense that King dictated the story a bit TOO much rather than letting the story dictate itself. Dialogue appears contrived a lot of the time, certain situations have you rolling your eyes in disbelief or boredom, and the story tends to drag in its narration (it's close to 700 pages; 500 would have worked better). Character's moods shift from terrified to syrupy-sweet at the drop of a hat, and there's little in the way of development for pretty much everyone but Ralph Roberts. We get to see Ralph Roberts, and ONLY Ralph Roberts, perform nearly every task of his waking life to the seclusion of all the other major characters. When it ends you are indeed connected with Ralph, but his friends and their personal plights are of little interest to anyone. I love King, and I'll read anything he puts out because he's simply the best there is, but "Insomnia" was overall a huge disappointment.
Below is a rundown of the major points of this book and how they rank. (10=Excellent; 1=Awful) 1. Dialogue - 5. Felt contrived and silly a lot of the time.
2. Pacing & Action - 4. Very unevenly paced. Could have been shortened and would have had a better effect. Action takes a long time in coming.
3. Narration - 8. I haven't really read a King book yet where his narration wasn't on the money.
4. Scare & Suspense Factor - 5. Few and far between.
5. Character Growth & Likeability - 4. Sole focus is given to Ralph and it severly impedes the rest of the story. Ralph is a likeable protagonist, however. Throw-This-Against-The-Wall-In-Frustration Rating: 8 Suggested reading BEFORE "Insomnia":
1. Cujo
2. Misery
3. Pet Sematary
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