Rating: 
Summary: Regulate.
Review: This is a big, messy, gory novel. If you slam it closed really hard. blood literally sprays all over the place.
In "The Regulators", King quickly introduces scores of characters, them promptly lines them up like bowling pins and tosses a ball down the center isle.
To be sure, it's one of his more merciless works, with the first victim going down within the first few pages and scores more following his fate at regular intervals.
As usual, King's outlandish tale of a suburban neighbourhood being overrun by the fleshed out imaginings of an autistic child offers far more social insight than it may appear at first, but the B-movie style hack'n'slash antics will keep the the most wandering attention at bay.
Altough lengthy, readers will most likely blow right through this page turner. But while the ride is fun, you'll likely have forgotten it within a day.
Rating:
Summary: Sony, Nintendo and Company, Danger!!!
Review: What happens if a child with his console and his TV can transform the real world into the world of his game ? This book is a direct criticism of the emprisonment such console games represent for young users who entirely live in the games, in the worlds of the games. For them reality does not exist. They live in the virtual reality of their games. But the book tells us this story from another point of view, that of the people in the neighborhood who discover one day their neighborhood has been closed up and tranformed into the arena of some killing games whose targets they are. The story is very morbid but the curse manages to be lifted. The book is the story of how some people realize what is happening and manage to unplug the curse and save everyone. The cops arrive when everything is finished, as usual. A gripping though very pessimistic book about electronic games and consoles. Only Richard Bachman, and not Stephen King could write such an extreme story. Beautiful and page-turning. Try it and you will never put your fingers on a console the same way as before.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, bloody and gory
Review: I read this after reading "Desperation", which I do recommend you read first, before this one. "Desperation" is indeed the better of the two in my opinion. While this book is very good, and it is a page turner, the fact that the charcters have the same names as the characters in "Desperation" is a bit weird as they are really not alike at all. I know it's supposed to be a sort of parallel world, or maybe it's meant to be creepy in the fact that supposedly "Two" different authors...Bachman and King, came up with novels which featured characters with the same names and with other similarities. But whatever was meant by it, the characters in "The Regulators" really are not the same people as in "Desperation". The story line is quite unique, at least, as far as anything that I have read anyway. There is also a great deal of violence and gore...characters are getting killed off in the most grusome ways. The story though isn't really as believable as "Desperation" was, even though there is a link between the two. Tak doesn't seem to be the same Tak...it seems a completely different entity altogether. But if you try to separate the two stories from one another, this is still a good read and exciting.
Rating: 
Summary: A wild, tall tale
Review: Bonanza meets Power Rangers meets Escape from New York. This is the story of Seth, an autistic child, and the evil thing which dwells within him. One day it suddenly makes the lives of everyone on Poplar street a living hell, very brief, or frequently both. I will agree that this is not the best story ever told by this author, but it is still a wild, entertaining ride. It reinforces drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs' rule about a good horror tale - "Anybody can die at any time." It all starts with a beautiful, almost poetic description of a hot summer afternoon in an ideal neighborhood in Ohio. The peace is suddenly shattered by shotgun fire as the local paperboy and somebody's pet dog are blasted by strangers in a strange van. The rest of the story is a gripping, detailed account of the happenings over the next few hours and the few people who survive. The only real complaint I have with the story is the large number of characters. I had some difficulty remembering and separating them all in the beginning, but no problems by the end (since most were dead by that point). The story is at times disgusting, always exciting, and really kept me guessing as to who would survive. The musical interludes were interesting - sort of like Roy Rogers doing acid rock.
Rating:
Summary: Not King's best, but better than most authors.
Review: A lot of people like to criticize this novel for one reason or another. While I feel this not one of Stephen King's best novels, it still stands above 90% of what you find at the book section of your local department store. I have several good reasons for defending this book. First of all it makes a statement about the brain-numbing overuse of popular media. I used to work at a factory in which the radios could only pick up one station. This particular station would (and still does) play the same songs over and over again. When radio, TV, or any other media indulges in this sort of monotony it has adverse effects on the intelligence of those who tune in. Anyone who has read my Crimes Against Humanity lists knows how I feel about such things. King drives this point home in the numerous scenes in which Seth's videos are playing 24/7. The second point is how well Seth's character is done. I did have a difficult time reading this book. It was not because the book was poorly written or that it was excessively violent. I found it difficult to read because of its emotional content. Seth is perhaps the character that induces the most sadness out of any of King's books. The eight year-old autistic child's entire life consists of canned pasta, chocolate-syrup flavored milk, and western or cartoon videos. Seth constructs a fantasy world while a demonic entity feeds off his imagination and slaughters those that Seth loves. It reaches a point in which the only one Seth has left is his aunt, who is clinging on to sanity by a thread. Whether we admit it or not, what the demon does to Seth is what many people who miscall themselves "parents" do to their own children. Anyone who is sensitive about the fragility of children may not want to read this book. And finally, I can't really compare this book's plot to anything else except for maybe Joe R. Lansdale's DRIVE-IN OMNIBUS (I recommend that book too). Both highly original books attack popular culture and have a supernatural villain, but that is where the similarity ends. Overall rating: 3.75 stars
Rating: 
Summary: Small Town Ohio vs. Power Rangers
Review: Power Rangers gone mad is all I could think about while listening to this audio book. Maybe a cross between the Twilight Zone and some Saturday morning cartoon mutants. Richard Bachman, or should I say Stephen King was really letting his imagination go crazy on this one. Small town Ohio, a hot summers day, and a malicious red van; suddenly, gun barrels come out of the windows of the van and people begin getting blown away where they stand. That's the start of it. Page after page of people being wasted. This is probably the bloodiest book Bachman/King has ever done. Where did these mutants come from? Who's controlling them? Most importantly, who can stop them? To find out the answers to these questions your going to have to read the book. Why did I give this book only 3 stars? Simple, just as I stated in the first paragraph. It was almost like Bachman/King was sitting in front of the TV watching Power Rangers or something with his kids and thought, "Gee, if I made these guys evil, what a book I would have". It by far wasn't the worst book I've read by this author, but it wasn't the best either. Good plot, but to me it seemed obvious that it was a twist on something gotten from TV. OK, OK, so TV has something to do with the plot of the book, after all this is fiction. But for a writer as great as King, he could have done better. I have read many books by Mr. King and I have also read some of his Bachman books and I can't say that any of them are bad. In fact, if you read some of my other reviews for this author, you will see that Thinner is probably the only book I have rated as below average. If you like Bachman/King, you will like this book; however, don't be surprised when you find the plot simplistic and predictable.
Rating:
Summary: A great pair...
Review: Buy this and buy Desperation (under King) at the same time. You read one, your 'other half' can read the other... now switch! These two books were clearly meant to be read together as a pair - released around the same date and following the same dusty trail. Another great read in the same vein which will keep you hovering over the book with a nightlight.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning!
Review: This Richard Book (a.k.a. Stephen King) is a classic. It has science fiction and horror combined. It will make you think and then scare you also. It has vulgar language but the language is well used in the story. It isnt a must read, but it is a very good book!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, to say the least....
Review: I just finished reading this for the second time. It is a very good book, quite thrilling and it is a perfect exapmle of a book that keeps you turning pages, as you always wonder what's going on next. It all starts with a typical summer afternoon on a block Wentworth, Ohio; things are peaceful, kids are playing, etc; you get the picture. Then the red van at the top of the hill began to make its way down the street. Shotguns pop out, and the killing begins. It won't end for a while. The van leaves after it claims the life of the paperboy and a dog. It will be back, though. When help doesn't arrive, the people on the block are confused. As night approaches, they find themselves in a child's imagination land: A mix of a desert and a cartoon. There is nothing beyond their black but emptiness and desert. We soon find how this is occuring. A young autistic boy in the neighborhood, Seth, is controlled by an evil prescence named Tak. Tak is using his favorite things, ie. Westerns and MotoKops 2200(an animated cartoon), to terrorize his neighborhood for the thrill and power of it. His caretaker, his Aunt Audrey, knows she can help everyone but doesn't know how. The survivors endure various attacks of creatures, as well as the coming of more vans. When they learn of Tak from Audrey, they have a plan. But the vans are coming by for the finale shooting, much like the conclusion of a western. They find themselves very short on time. I really liked this book. I like most all of Stephen King's books, I began reading them when I was 9 (I'm 15 now) and they always keep me entertained. This is one of his better ones, though not as good as The Shining, It, The Stand: the classics. But it is still just as involved and entertaining. Check out Desperation as well, but be warned that they contain the same characters. It is better if you leave time in between the two books, or you will find the experience less than it's pottential.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic reading.
Review: A book you can't put down! It grips the reader from page one to the end. If you read this book, you must read it's sister, Desperation. It's strange how King uses the same character names for two entirely different books and two completely different set of characters. If that last statement totally confused you, then I suggest you read the books and you'll fully understand what I mean. Actually, it's very clever. King's mind always seems to be ticking over, seeking strange and clever twists for his many books. I fully recommend both of these books.
| 
