Rating: 
Summary: Forget seeing the movie....
Review: read this book. The movie simply pales in comparison. The underground post-apocalyptic game area of the movie just made no sense. This book actually takes part in the U.S. and regular people can call in and tell the Hunters where the Runners are. It's like America's Most Wanted turned in to a game show. All the characters are as real as they come and there's no cheesy weapons or story lines. If you are in to action stories this is it.
Rating: 
Summary: It's more like 4 1/2
Review: This is a very good book. Panomanal, exstrodinary, great! But not 5 star King. You see, I'm a very big fan, huge fan, but I don't throw out 5 stars. 5 stars in my opinon is like, The Shawshank Redemption, or Desperation, bouth very good. It's definetly, positivally worth the read. So go ahead, read it!
Rating:
Summary: One of thee best books I've ever read!
Review: I could baley bring myself to put this bok down! I'd read for hours every night trying to get to a good spot to stop, but I couldn't find one, the book made me read! The book has to have gotten a message across, but what? Anyway, King again discribed so good and clear that it's against the laws of nature...
READ THIS BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Thrilling, you want to constanly know what happens
Review: This was as really fun, fast read. It is not very long so you can read it in about an afternoon or if you are a slower reader, a day or two. Dont be fooled by the movie, this book is very very different. Other than the name Ben Richards and the fact that there is a game show in the book, it is very different. This is the fourth of Stephen King's "Bachman Books". If you pick this up because of King's name on the front you may be a little let down. I say this because writing as Bachman, his style is much different. This is not a horror story in the least bit, but more of a sci-fi thriller. We follow Ben Richards in this book, as he tries to win money for his family on a gameshow where, you win, or you die. If you can stay a fugitive for more than 30 days, then you win. But this is not easy, and nobody has ever won the game. The game gives you 24 hours to flee from the law to wherever you want to go, then the gameshows "henchmen" take chase. Every page of this book is a thrill ride, which will keep you turning them until the end. "The Running Man" along with all the other "Bachman Books" are a blessing and show King's true talent as the world's best selling author. This book has an ending that will leave you with your mouth wide open, prepare yourself. Great Book. Go Stephen King, err... Richard Bachman.
Rating:
Summary: great read..short and intense
Review: this was so different from the movie, thank god. it is a story about a society out of control and the tv game shows head the pack. one man gets fed up and takes matters into his own hands. if you think this is the movie, you are misguided. do not assume anything. the end is different(i did not like the ending and thats why i only gave it 4 starts. also i liked the long walk better and i gave that 5 stars) as are many other twists. a good read. took me one week. short, sweet and to the point.
Rating:
Summary: A pulp novel that transcends the genre
Review: When it comes to literary dystopia, most readers will name the big three as their favourites and/or most enduring: A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, 1984, and BRAVE NEW WORLD. There's no denying that those works have earned their place as classics of literature, and each has contributed theological ideas to society, and phrases to our common lexicon (i.e. "Big Brother," "doubleplusgood," "ultraviolence" et al). Yet for all their endowments to our culture, none can be said to be entirely prophetic in their executions; some elements have admittedly come true, while others are completely off the map. Predicting the future can be a dicey affair, even for the best of us. Isn't it interesting, then, that where some literary giants have tried and failed, a popular practitioner of horror fiction crafted what may very well be the most prescient look at our future to date.Stephen King, under the pseudonym of 'Richard Bachman,' composed THE RUNNING MAN in approximately one week, depending on which source you believe (some say a weekend, others say ten days). It is a peachy little piece of pulp fiction, an action-thriller that never stops to catch its breath, zipping along to its conclusion with muscle and verve. However, while King may not have intended his piece to become a social satire along the lines of Anthony Burgess's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, his vision of mankind's fate is bang-on, combining gritty realism with social commentary; Jim Thompson meets George Orwell. Set in the year 2025, RUNNING follows Ben Richards, an unemployed labourer in a world where the line between the haves and have-nots has grown into a yawning chasm. Desperate for money to support his wife and ailing newborn daughter, Richards tries out for one of the many gameshows which humiliate their participants, sometimes to the point of death (case in point: 'Treadmill for Bucks,' where competitors, who often suffer from heart problems, run on a treadmill and answer questions). Richards qualifies for 'The Running Man,' a game wherein he is given a twelve hour head-start to hide, outwit, and outrun 'The Hunters' for up to thirty days. Every hour he is free earns his family one hundred New Dollars. If he is caught, he is killed. No one has lasted longer than a week. The parallels to our current entertainment culture are all to obvious; the glut of 'reality' shows on television present the audience with contestants who survive in the wilderness, lie to others, win audience favour through back-stabbing tactics, and overall, exhibit humanity in its most negative light. THE RUNNING MAN is only fiction because television executives have not progressed this far. Yet. (For the most concise telling of this premise, skip the movie version, which transforms the terror of the tale into a giant wrestling match. Instead, look for SERIES 7, a satire of reality shows where the contestants are forced against their wills to hunt down and kill each other. It is astonishing in its display of the human condition, and television's lust for ratings.) King doesn't dwell on the world he presents; its inner mechanics remain a mystery, providing the reader only tantalizing glimpses of how the world devolved. King is far more fascinated with telling a good story, rather than preaching. As such, his world is glimpsed only through the eyes of its protagonist, who is too busy to describe in great detail what is, to him, just life as he has always known it. His life is, unfortunately, one which many people can readily identify with; a life of hardship, depression, and unfairness. King may have used only his imagination in creating a world forty years in the future (RUNNING was published in 1984), but King understands the casual prejudice and easy hatred that exists between classes. It is this knowledge, and King's natural instincts as a storyteller, which elevates RUNNING beyond its customary placement on the pulp racks. King would never be one to put down the qualities of a good slick read, but RUNNING qualifies for serious consideration beyond its pulpy origins. THE RUNNING MAN may not be to everyone's taste. It lacks the literary pedigree that Aldous Huxley, Orwell, and Burgess have attained. Yet Stephen King, often looked down upon for his success, composes a story as memorable and worthy of serious consideration as any of the 'higher-ups.' THE RUNNING MAN may occupy a lower rung in King's repertoire, yet in its themes and performance, it is as good as anything he has ever penned.
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Summary: Stephen King crosses "Queen for a Day" with "Survivor"...
Review: I decided to take another look at the "Richard Bachman" novel "The Running Man," because I wanted to check and see how much Ben Affleck and Matt Damon had been ripping it off last year with their idea for a reality game show contestants tried to get from point "A" to point "B" with the entire nation keeping their eye out for them to cash in on a reward. The show got the plugged pulled on it after 9/11 and somehow the punch line to that particular story ends up being "Push, Nevada," but that is not important right now. Ben Richards lives in a futuristic bleak America where his only hope of getting the money he needs to take his daughter to a doctor, is to be "lucky" enough to get a spot on one of the big television game shows. Ben hits the jackpot and becomes the contestant on "The Running Man." The rules are fairly simple: you are given a head start and head off into the world where the government will give $10,000 to anybody who kills you. Add to that the show's hunters, who will be in hot pursuit as well, and it is no wonder that no one has every survived the one month necessary to "win" the game. Of course, "The Running Man" has never had a contestant like Ben Richards before. Anyhow, "The Running Man" is what they would have called a potboiler in the old days. The gimmick is how each of the 100 chapters countdown to the thrilling climax (a ploy Dickie Bachman likes a lot if you remember what the author did in "Thinner"). Reading "The Running Man" reminds me of watching "Survivor," (albeit with a killer twist on the old "Queen for a Day" game show) because the chief fun with each is wondering what you would do in that selfsame predicament. The original game concept is a lot more interesting than the lame version they came up with for the movie version, which was more a take off on "American Gladiators" to suit the peculiar talents of star Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is a quick and easy read, which is exactly what you want with a plot like this one. Final note, if you read this one you might as well do its evil twin, "The Long Walk." If not taken separately certainly when considered together these two stories will convince you that Mark Burnett does not have anything on Stephen King when it comes to creating reality game shows. Then again, I am not sure if King is amazing prescient, or if this is simply a reminder of how close King has his finger on the pulse of popular culture.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Phenomenal
Review: This is Stephen King's second best book, behind only The Stand. This is a superbly written action story. it has a great plot, moves quickly and draws you in to this nightmare like no one else can. the book does start out a bit slowly, but picks up tremendously, ending with one explosive (literally) ending! Don't watch the movie--you know the one with Ahnold! in it, because it was terrible. the adaptation screwed up the story. i wish that someone would do a true movie adaptation of this Stephen King masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Pending Cenorship?
Review: I read this book when I was a young teen and I like it still as a good indication of Stephen King's still developing talent when it was written. I only hope that this work doesn't share the same fate following 09/11/01 that The Rage did following Columbine.
Rating:
Summary: Read the book and forget about the movie
Review: The running man is the best of Stephen Kings Bachman books in my opinion. It reveals a gloomy and depressive future scenario where poor people take part in bizarre TV-shows to earn a few bucks. The main character decides to enter the worst of them all - the Running Man contest... Now...
The movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger is an abysmal attempt to make a movie out of this book. The overall tone of the book is completely lost and the Hollywood way of rewriting everything to fit the "Lowest common denominator" makes me outright sad.
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