Rating: 
Summary: Appropriate for King not to use his own name...
Review: Ive been deployed to iraq and consequently had much time to read many of Kings novels, my first one being Salem's Lot. Since that one, I have read many of his books including some of his older stuff, his newer stuff (ie Dream catcher) and the Dark Tower Series thru Book 5. Other than Rose Madder, this was probably about my least favorite. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are too many characters introduced far too quickly. I found myself constantly asking myself, "okay...who are these people again?" I didnt really care about any of the characters, largely cause I couldnt remember who they were, and the characters that were easiest to remember (ie Seth) were kind of hard to root for when you knew there was a demon inside him. King is my favorite author, by far, and in my opinion makes authors, even as good as Koontz, look like weak writers. And perhaps that is where the extremely high standards for critiquing come in, I dont know. In the first chapter of the book, where he describes small town Ohio life, I was excited, it brought me back to Salems Lot, where we feel the presence of evil just around the corner from the ice cream shop, but then all hell broke loose as we expected, and then instead of being gripped by the story and being scared for the characters like in Salems Lot, I spent the whole time wondering who so and so was, and thinking about how predictable it was. Maybe I had read Desparation this story would be more interesting to me, but on my "Kings Books to read" it is not very high if it is anything like this one. My advice, dont rate king based on this book, its not his the top half of his stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: pulls you in from the beginning
Review: The Regulators by Richard Bachman pulls you in from the beginning with the horrific murder of the local paper boy. The Regulators are rebuilding and they're cleaning house they want the world to be clean. The little normal neighborhood is changing quickly it's becoming something horrible, dark, and scary. But that is nothing compared to the way Audrey Wyler has been living for 2 years since she lost her brother and gained custody of his only surviving son, Seth, who is autistic. Since then she has lost her husband too. There is something very strange about Seth...
I think this book was great; it shocks you with all the horrific murders. The Regulators never has a dull moment in it; it builds you up to the climax, when something horrible is going to happen. I liked this book because it has what seems to be a perfect little neighborhood and suddenly it all starts to fall apart. It kind of wakes you up and lets you see nothing's perfect, and bad things happen all the time.
Rating: 
Summary: My first Bachman novel
Review: Until I read some of the reviews here I was unaware this book was by Stephen King. The book was drawing dust on my bookshelf and I was hard up for reading material so I thought it might be worth a read. It passed the time for an evening.I've never read any Stephen King novels so I don't know how it compares with the others. All I can say is the book is relatively fast moving in most parts. I'm not certain it qualifies as a thriller. The reader's not required to suspend disbelief too often during most of the book. A number of distracting insertions within the text, correspondence only peripheral to the plot, but intended to explain away holes were one of the two things I found distracting and easy to skip over after the first few. Those probably removed an hour or more of reading (but speeded the plot). The other item I found unforgiveable in a seasoned writer. The descriptions of handguns and projectiles by characters claiming to know what they are talking about reveal an ignorance on the subject by the author. At one point a character (while claiming to know about such matters) examines a spent projectile and explains to the others that there's no mark on the base from the 'firing pin of the gun that fired it'. I don't hold not knowing about firearms against a writer unless he insists on explaining them. I hope Kings techniques in his writing have improved since he wrote this one. Otherwise the story flows well and if you jump past all the unnecessary digressions it's a pleasurable enough distraction.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Desperation!
Review: This book is so incredible!!!!! I couldn't put it down! This could only come from the wonderfully sick mind of Stephen King. It is a sister book to Desperation, but written by his Richard Bachman pseudonym (the one King calls his "evil twin")! It's obvious in the differences between the two. I highly recommend reading both, but it can get confusing. Both books use the same character names with different personalities to bring the same basic plot of evil to different conclusions. I, personally, preferred The Regulators because it seemed more twisted and moved a bit faster. I might have felt the opposite if I'd read Desperation first though. Read them both and decide for yourself!!! Open your mind for this one, it is kind of comic-bookish, but it is so worth it! This is one of the best books I've EVER read!
Rating:
Summary: Stephen King lets his hair down
Review: "The Regulators", published under Stephen King's alter ego Richard Bachman, is probably among his most imaginitive (and twisted) works to date. Like it's companion "Desperation", the antagonist in this story, a demon called Tak, molds to fit his environment and the tone of the book does the same. In "Desperation" the evil was dark and foreboding, in good accord with the abandoned ghost town it kept as it's residence. In "The Regulators", the evil is a more rampant force, fueled by the imagination of a young child perverted to the demon's liking. The characterization is thinner here than in some of King's more well known works like "It" and "Salem's Lot", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact it helps to prevent the story from being bogged down so the reader can concentrate more on the conflict and the insanely creative force that King utilizes to it's full advantage.
Rating:
Summary: Regulate this!
Review: I loved this book. What would happen if a child could imagine things into reality... his imagination becoming our world? Would his favorite TV show come to life? Would the sky begin to look like a cartoon or a crayon drawing? This is a great read. "Desperation" by Stephen King, is kind of a sister book to this one, with basically the same characters just twisted around a little. "Regulators" was much better though. I hope you read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Get Regulated
Review: Starts off fantastic...couldn't put it down. Then becomes the usual Stevie King craziness but is still so interesting. The gore adds to all the confusion and makes it great, you can picture everything that is going on in the book with such easy clarity. Go get regulated by Dweem Floatah.
Rating:
Summary: A very imaginative story
Review: I'm a little baffled by all the lackluster reviews I'm reading about this book. While not perfect, it is a very good novel. It has more imagination than the last 5 books I've read combined. So much in the horror field today is the same thing I read ten years ago. I've never read anything quite like this. Also, King keeps feeding you little bits of information so you never completely figure out the whole story until he's ready to reveal it. Others have said it's too bloody and gory. While there is violence and blood, it is driven by the story and I have read alot worse. The biggest complaint I would make is that like 90% of King's books its too long. Apparently editors don't edit anymore.
Rating:
Summary: Potty Mouth attacks again
Review: This item would probably not have been published if Stephen King had not hit the big time with his other novels. This is a loose collection of mostly obscenities and nasties with a little gore to glue it together. It appears to be a test project for future novels.
I will not go too much into detail as each incidence relies on surprise. However we start out with a normal small town. Bizarre events eventually turn into a surrealistic nightmare. People are trapped in a twilight zone type of atmosphere and the question is if anyone will survive? It does not look possible.
Rating:
Summary: a wild ride
Review: Stephen King's recent books haven't been much fun so I've decided to go back and read the old ones. The Regulators came out under the Bachman pen name and it's a goodie. You have a villain with no redeeming traits. Tak is a demon with enormous power and the imagination of a kid. That's a deadly combination. In the Regulators nobody is safe. The good and bad, old and young are not off limits. One thing that King has always done well is his characterization. You care about Collie, the twins, Seth and his brave, suffering aunt. The ending was flat out gut wrenching. Check this one out.
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