The Regulators

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From Publishers Weekly ---------------------- Why revive the Bachman byline more than a decade after Stephen King was found lurking behind it? Not for thematic reasons. This devilishly entertaining yarn of occult mayhem married to mordant social commentary is pure King and resembles little the four nonsupernatural (if science-fictional) pre-Thinner Bachmans. The theme is the horror of TV, played out through the terrors visited upon quiet Poplar Street in the postcard-perfect suburban town of Wentworth, Ohio, when a discorporeal psychic vampire settles inside an autistic boy obsessed with TV westerns and kiddie action shows and brings screen images to demented, lethal life. The long opening scene, in which characters and vehicles from the TV show Motokops 2200 (think Power Rangers) sweep down the street, spewing death by firearm, is a paragon of action-horror. The story rarely s after that, evoking powerful tension and, at times, emotion. The premise owes a big unacknowledged debt to the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life"; echoes of earlier Kings resound often as well?the psychic boy (The Shining), a writer-hero (Misery, The Dark Half), etc. But King makes hay in this story in which anything can happen, and does, including the warping of space-time and the savage deaths of much of his large cast. The narrative itself warps fantastically, from prose set in classic typeface to handwritten journals to drawings to typewritten playscript and so on. So why the Bachman byline? Probably for fear that yet another new King in 1996 in addition to six volumes of The Green Mile and Viking's forthcoming Desperation might glut the market. Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is certain: call him Bachman or call him King, the bard of Bangor is going to hit the charts hard and vast with this white-knuckler knockout. Main selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild and Science Fiction Book Club. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) From Library Journal -------------------- King's millions of fans are in for a treat: Two of the author's new novels are being published simultaneously, one of which bears the name Richard Bachman, a pseudonym King previously scrapped when, in the late 1980s, an enterprising Maine reporter discovered that Bachman and King shared many similarities. Those who have read the cynical but exciting Bachman books (e.g., Thinner, 1985) know that King's stories take on a misanthropic edge when he dons his nom de plume, and The Regulators is no different. The novel is set in an idyllic Ohio suburb where a group of residents are treated to a day-long horror show courtesy of an autistic child who is serving as host to an alien intelligence. Bachman gleefully kills off his most sympathetic characters in a plot that's reminiscent of an old Western crossed with a Saturday-morning cartoon. Although the action is fierce and Bachman's imagination proves boundless, the hopelessness of his characters' predicament makes it a bleak and tiresome reading experience. Although Desperation features many of the same characters as The Regulators?some of whom will once again meet grisly ends?as well as the same villain, it is nonetheless everything that The Regulators is not: The plot is tight, the action is well orchestrated, and King's running theme of redemption packs a mighty wallop. The novel, named after a small mining town, tells of a group of travelers who encounter a nasty presence along a Nevada freeway. Ultimately, both of these titles will remain on library shelves for nanoseconds at the most, but if you can only afford one, stick with Desperation. -?Mark Annichiarico, "Library Journal" Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more ( javascript:void(0) ) See all Editorial Reviews ( /dp/product-description/0525941908/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&isInIframe=0 )