The Regulators

Rating:
Summary: Stinks. And I'm a King fan.
Review: I like Stephen King. And I'm the kind of fan who usually enjoys even discards and potboilers. But I felt cheated. This is the first King book where I didn't feel I got value for my money. This isn't just Homer nodding, this is floor sweepings.

All of King's faults stand out in this book. He never convinces me for an instant that his isn't just making this one up as he goes along. For example, long about the end of the book, it finally occurs to King that he has a problem: if Seth _does_ manage to evict the evil alien presence that has possessed him, what's to stop it from instantly invading one of the other score or so of humans within its ever-increasing zone of power? King's clever solution: he suddenly invents a law of his universe that says that if the alien invades anyone else but Seth, their heads explode.

It may seem odd to complain of gratuitous violence and grossness in King; it's always seemed to me that he has difficulty resolving his plots tends to end his books with a meaningless burst of ichor. But this book is _entirely_ like a King last chapter. Didn't care about _any_ characters in it.

This book is _exactly_ like what people who have never read Stephen King think Stephen King is like.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome Back, King!
Review: Stephen King has done it again! Just when you thought he was burning out, he flares up and shocks us. This is vintage King with believable characters and a wild, unpredictable plot. He keeps you guessing until the very end with unlikely heros and unexpected horror. Mike Bormann

Rating:
Summary: King Must Laugh All The Way To The Bank
Review: Having just finished reading The Regulators I must say that I find all of the enthusiastic praise for this book perplexing. The premise is ridiculous, even for King. Mix in gore, sex and profanity for mass appeal and you have the literary equivelant of toilet paper. Useful at the moment and then quite disposable. I also found the use of different typeface as well as pseudo handwritten portions nothing more than gimmickry. If anyone would like to experience a real chill then read Dracula, which is 100 years old. Does anyone really believe The Regulators will have any literary value (other than to King) in 100 years? It doesn't now

Rating:
Summary: An eerie mash of suburban nightmares
Review: Richard Bachman has created a novel that attempts to dissect the psyche of horror central to the science fiction and western. The characters, all cardboard cutouts, are placed in a situation not of their own doing, and all must find a way out, or die. Most die. The salvation of the survivors comes not from their own efforts, but from a delightful little rain man who speaks fluent telepath but the English of a newt with a respiratory disorder. Unfortunately for the suburban residents of this little Poplar street, the autistic child is also possessed by an ancient evil. This book will not scare you so much as make your buttocks clench at times. However, the image of the Moto-Kops teaming up with the boys from the Ponderosa will stay with me for a while, and I'll look a little more closely at the news van the next time it drives by

Rating:
Summary: Violently unentertaining and unbelievable
Review: Don't let "The Regulators" keep you from reading "Desperation."

Rating:
Summary: RICHARD BACHMAN DOES IT AGAIN!!!
Review: This book, in true Bachman fashion, keeps you turning pages long after you should be sound asleep. Combining an element of mystery, horror and fantasy, this book grips you right from the beginning, from the mundane ordinariness of suburban life to the murder of the paperboy, all in the first few chapters! Leading you through the ordinary lives of ordinary people, this book causes you to identify with the characters and sympathize with them as they go through struggles that are beyond imagination, spawning from the mind of a young autistic boy who's body is host to an evil alien attempting to create his own dying world out of Earth's richness. A classic horror-thriller to add to your collection, especially if you are a Richard Bachman or Stephen King fan

Rating:
Summary: The Power Rangers in modern day Mayberry
Review: I was very excited to find that the widow Bachman found this script. This is one of the better books that King or Bachman have had out lately. I have heard that "Desperation" is a little better but this is enjoyable. The storyline is easy to follow. The only problem I had was with the Power Ranger-like villains. This was very unbelievable, even for King. The conflict between the characters was very interesting. Bachman makes many of the characters self serving. They don't care about anyone except for themselves and their close family. That is how many of the people nowadays would act. I think it is definitely worth reading, although, I am looking forward to "Desperation" which has the same characters as "The Regulators".

Rating:
Summary: Not one of King's best
Review: We have all been there before. The characters are not defined enough which causes some confusion as to who's who. It is definitely not scary, but I don't mind as long as it is fun. This book is not fun. I hope Desperation is better. I was disappointed since I enjoyed THE GREEN MILE immensely

Rating:
Summary: Good. Confusing, but good.
Review: I began reading The Regulators the day after I finished Desperation, the book's "brother" so to speak. The story is great, the characters have their moments, and, although it comes no where close to Desperation, it is utterly enjoyable. However, it does have it's confusing moments if you have read Desperation before beginning The Regulators. Some of the character names are different, as the Carvers, and every character's background has been at least marginally changed. In other words, The Regulators is a great read. However, if anyone out there has found out how the two books are supposed to be related, PLEASE let me know

Rating:
Summary: Not too great, but okay
Review: If your are only going to buy one of King's new novels, better make it "Desperation". This book isn't very good, although it is certainly readable. It's not scary, or funny, or ineligent for that matter This book is not good, and has the lukewarm quality of "Christine". King is not even consistent regarding the characters behind the two books. Bottom Line: "Desperation" is King at his best, but this book makes him look, not like the "King" of horror, but more like the city councilman of it. It's like some college student read one of the initial five Bachman books and tried to plagurise it.