Rating: 
Summary: TAK is BACK!
Review: Once again, evil befalls a select group of innocent people. In this case, it takes place in the suburbs of Wentworth, Ohio. The entity, Tak, who was granted new life from an old abandoned mine in Desperation Nevada, is back.And, when Tak is back, there is hell on earth. So is the reality, displaced and altered to accommodate the visuals of an autistic boy named Seth. In the course of a few hours, Tak strives to act out a western movie and "wipe this town off the map." As Tak plans and begins to act out his strategy, the neighbors on the block of Poplar Street watch in horror as everything around them turns into an old desert mining town, complete with the chinese laundry, log cabins and hitching posts. Then the life size toy vans drive through and unleash their barrage at the stricken neighborhood. Remarkably, oddly constructed animals and signs sprout up and it reminds everyone of a first grader's attempt at drawings come alive. How to stop it, how to confine Tak? Tak literally feeds off the souls of dead, sucking their life energy and making him stronger. Yet he is trapped in the body of a 7 year old, and can only physically accomplish what the 7 year old can do. In his frustration, he attempts to move on, but finds that Seth, the 7 year old autistic child has reached deep inside his own malfunctioning brain to change Tak's course forever.
Rating: 
Summary: Vintage Stephen King? I think not!
Review: I read more than 75 novels each year and have read most of King's stuff. Obviously, with so much output from one writer, there are bound to be hits and misses. This one was a miss, in my opinion but there is still enough here to make it worth the read. I had already read Desperation, the companion book to this volume, and came away with the feeling that I had just experienced a pretty good King novel. It also was far from his best but I enjoyed it none-the-less. So, naturally, I turned to this book, The Regulators, hoping for a similar experience. Stephen King is well known for marketing gimicry, pushing the envelope in the publishing business. At first it was through using brand names without permission. Then it was the alternate ego, Richard Bachman, followed by the serial novel (Green Mile) and now it is a "dual novel." Frankly, I don't think it worked this time. I just couldn't get the parallel between the two books/settings. Same names but different people and places. What was the point? Really, they are two seperate books. In this novel, King definitely displays his famous talent for scene setting. The opening chapter is one of the best I've read, setting the stage for the coming horror. The plot was also pretty good, although the evil 'Tak' seemed somewhat ordinary. King uses a great mechanism to deliver the horror this time. The manifestation of the mind of a small autistic boy. The horrors come in the form of all of those things that frighten young children and, consequently, frighten us. The text is sprinkled throughout with other tidbits as well that help to tell the story: letters, postcards, diary entries, even a script. Another King tool to attack from all directions. But somehow, it didn't all flow well together. There were so many characters that I lost track of who was who and as they started to die off, I found myself not caring too much who was left. Perhaps I was a victim of having read Desperation first. I guess I was expecting the same characters to survive. Overall, a middle-of the road King entry. King purists will want to read this one but King samplers should pass.
Rating: 
Summary: Richard Bachman, Not Stephen King
Review: When you see the name Richard Bachman on the cover, you can be sure you're not getting Stephen King. The Regulators falls into that side of Stephen King that involves mass destruction by some sort of unknown force. People die. There is blood. Chaos ensues. And most importantly, the book didn't make me peek behind closed doors before I went to bed. Here's to hope that Desperation fills in the gaps of horror left out in this part of the collection.
Rating:
Summary: GLAK
Review: Richard Bachman's, "The Regulators", is an un-suspenseful story about an evil spirit on a street in Ohio. Although it was in our opinion poorly written( for we are 4 teenagers in an english class) it was greatly descriptive of the characters and setting. It confused us because it jumped around to view the many characters in the plot. It centered around blood and gore rather than supense and horror, and so then had major loopholes in the plot. 2 out of the 4 people in our group liked it.
Rating: 
Summary: I wish I could have read it while sleeping...
Review: to save time. Well, it almost had the same effect. Forced myself to get through it. I have Desperation, but don't know if I want to read it now. Every time I thought the story was going to get exciting and interesting, it would never quite peak. Quite a tease that way. It read like a Bachman/King concept that never fully developed by the time the book was written. The hand-written diary entries grew VERY tiring.
Rating:
Summary: what's with all the hoopla?
Review: The plot of this book reminded me of an episode of "Tales from the Crypt" or something. I was so bored I couldn't wait to finish it just to get it over with. I think King is highly overrated and people just like him because its him (even if it is Bachman). Desperation had a few good points but it was also very very preachy and therefore irritating. Some of the characters are well done but there still seems to be a major lack of excitement, twists, and there is no point to this book. Alot of people seem to have liked it, but I found it a big waste of time. I kept waiting to here the Cryptkeeper at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Desperation, Characters are Great
Review: I really liked The Regulators a lot better than desperation. The whole interplay between the possessed Seth, and Audrey was great. I also enjoyed that the book, in the style the great novel Dracula was written (I can't remember the name for this type of literature where different things are interposed ie journals, letters, etc) We have Audrey's diary, screenplays (phony) and letters to tell the story along with traditonal writing. I loved this book because of the interplay between Seth and Audrey. The ending, corny though it may be left me in tears! The use of such commonplace items as Spaghettios and Hershey's syrup, and kids toys helped make this book great. My only question is, in Desperation God is such a big part of the story yet not mentioned in Regulators at all. Why is this?
Rating: 
Summary: regulators great, as well as desperation
Review: I liked Regulators a lot. I have read almost everything King has put out and i felt that he he had come home with the release of this book and it's companion Desperation. At one point I thought King had lost it (whether writing as King or Bachman), not that any one book failed so horribly, only a general feeling I had about his recent work , and when Desperation/Regulators was released together I wasn't too excited, but after reading both I KNEW that Stephen King was as strong as ever. Regulators picked up the same characters from Desperation (at least by name, and sometimes more) and delvered an incredible set of events for these characters to deal with. Although totally different from Desperation, Regulators was the perfect compliment to the other novel. A must read for anyone, especially for King fans who think he has lost it.
Rating:
Summary: I am fetished...
Review: Here we go. After 10 years, Stephen King exhumed his well-known Bachman pseudonym. This volume, and companion 'Desperation', share the characters, although having read one, you will be seriously surprised how he shuffled the cast of characters. I claim that this is an outrageously excellent idea - haven't seen one so far. Bravo! This has been my greatest pleasure of reading those two books one after another. This one I read first, and strongly recommend doing so. Characters are introduced within first several pages, whereas in 'Desperation', there are substantial lags between the intros of particular heroes. Reading in this fashion, you will wonder and wonder, how else the characters were mutated in the latter book. I guess that guys who reversed the sequence were equally amazed, but in the way I can't grasp right now. 'Regulators' is a fast-paced, dark, cruel novel, ideal for the cinema script. I actually found it thrilling. The lonely suburban street in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. A sequence of vans enter the street. The massacre rampage begins. Put yourself into such a situation. Try at least. Now, I guess that fashions and dedication to teleseries and film characters inspired King to construct the main theme of the book. The nedd to identify with flawless celuloid heroes. Detachement from reality, which usually in now way resembles the pastel environment of television and movies. For those who are bored with the idea of a small kid with supernatural powers, who always survives the mess King envisions in his numerous novels: here there are no winners. Especially among kids. Who said that Bachman is just King without a consicence? Last comment - the book design is very inventive, as you will see if you purchase the hardcover edition. I am a book-lover and felt fetished by this carefully edited volume. Go for it!
Rating:
Summary: Bizarre
Review: Bachman's bizarre world that he leads us into is spectacularly imaginative in its own evil warped way. It certainly is a step outside your run-of- the-mill novel realm. Too weird to describe, I recommend you do make the purchase. Most enjoyable to read.
|
