Rating: Summary: Is Bachman better than King? Read this and then say yes. Review: This novel is something of an anomaly. It has near-constant action, sometimes unrealistic (yet always exciting and appropriate) gore, sweating suspense, and yet it has one of the strongest most frightening societal views I've read in a book. 1984, for instance, is a little too alien for most people to believe is possible. The Running Man, however, is too plausible. The book is enjoyable from every standpoint, except that it presents a future too possible to be ignored. This is one of King's best work, and not just because it is a Bachman book. It is, in my opinion, the best Bachman novel, and thus the best work Stephen King has written.
Rating: Summary: The Best Review: This book is King's (Bachman's) best next to The Gunslinger
Rating: Summary: Run For the Million Review: Citizen-neglecting government. Truth of horrible realism. Self-serving, spiteful nation. These are a few of the themes that are portrayed in Stephen King's novel The Running Man. This action packed thriller is one of King's best novels. There are 100 chapters in The Running Man, and at only 300 pages, there are only three pages in a chapter on average, giving this book an excellent plot and lots of action. There are many characters in the story, but the major character is Ben Richards, who enters a contest in the future in hopes of winning money to buy medicine for his daughter who has an unknown disease. The game is called 'The Running Man' and the game is just as it sounds. The contestants will be set loose onto the world where he will try to survive his enemy - the world. The individual who successfully kills Richards receives ten thousancd dollars from the government who runs the series of life-taking game shows including Treadmill to Bucks where heart-attack and stroke prone contestants run until they drop. Ben Richards must survive the horde for one month or die. He lays his trust on no one; doing so will get him killed. He must also survive the hunters, a trained group of people who's jobs are to hunt down and kill the contestants. Richards will do anything, incluiding killing others to survive, if not for the money, then to spite the government. The Running Man is a great book that any thrill-seeker would enjoy. It's a short read, only being about 300 pages, but a good one.
Rating: Summary: Quick read, Action Packed Fun! Review: This book reads amazingly fast. It is very different then the Movie. It took about 2 days reading to finish this book and I will remeber the characters for a long time. This book is not as political as I would like but it still is a good anti-government book.Fun read, very exciting and very nice ending.
Rating: Summary: My new favorite book Review: I really loved this book, it's fast paced and smart, there's never a dull moment. Stephen King predicts the downfall of society, The story takes place in the ghetto of Co-Op City is 2025. Ben Richards is a 28 year old married man living in a crappy apartment with a wife who has to turn tricks to get food on the table and a daughter dying of the flu. In an effort to save the two people he cares for the most, Richards auditions to play in one of the twisted game shows the Network plays daily on the Free-Vee. He is accepted to play in the game show, The Running Man. The object of the game is to stay alive for thirty days, the catch is that the world is out to kill you. Desperation and paranoia rule, and there's not a soul on earth Richards can trust.
Rating: Summary: Don't think of the movie! Review: I read several Stephen King books before attempting this one. No, it wasn't long like 'The Stand' or 'Bag of Bones', and in fact, it is one of his shorter books, just over 300 pages long. But I saw the movie, and, well, I hated it. I thought it was terrible, really, and somehow I thought the book might be the same. I am aware that books are nearly always better, but come on! How could a movie go so astray from the book? It seemed to happen here. First, the book is broken into 100 chapters, and at 300 pages for the book, each chapter is only about 3 pages long. I think the longest is 5, which means you breeze straight through it in less than a day if you try. The action is non-stop, the plot is great, and you're hoping that Ben Richards survives when you close it again. However, with such a great plot and ideas, this book should have been longer. LONGER?! Yes, I know, I never thought I would want a Stephen King book to be longer, but this one should have...I just hated to see it end. Since reading it, I have borrowed the book to a few friends, and they all love it, too. (Much for the same reasons!) There are no monsters or spirits in this book, but a man fighting for survival in the near future. And with CBS's 'Survivor' and ABC's 'The Mole' now airing on TV, it looks like the world may soon reach 'The Running Man'. That's what makes this book so scary; it's just too real for words. So if you're looking for a quick read--like for a roadtrip or for a plane flight--or just for your own enjoyment, grab this one. But if you're looking for something to get completely involved with for the next 3 months, think about a different title. You'll love the characters, but it might not be long enough for some people.
Rating: Summary: What a difference from the movie!! Review: I held off reading this book, foolishly thinking that I already knew the story because I had seen the movie years ago... boy was I wrong! If you're avoiding this book because you saw the movie, buy it and read it. It is completely different than the movie. The only thing common between the two is the Running Man game and it is set in the future. It is much more of a social commentary than an action movie, so don't wait...
Rating: Summary: fastest King book ever Review: This book reads at an amazing, and I mean amazing pace. I suggest it for anyone that wants something to read on a flight, or long car ride, because you'll be finished in a sitting. You'll have no other choice. It roars right out of the gate at the opening page, and steadily accelerates right up until you get to the last 50 pages or so, when it is suddenly forced into Mach 3, and is tearing you toward what I believe to be the best ending for a King book there is. (The ending of Running man may share that spot with the ending of Thinner, but this is a subject on which I am currently debating with myself, and hope to have a conclusion to soon) The Bachman books always have grim, but strangely satisfying endings, because they generally contain a twist during the last few stretches, or give you a deeply troubling feeling that you will carry for days after you finish, or, more likely than not, have potential for a little bit of both. If you have never read this book, or have never read a Bachman, then my advice to you is to put it on your book-buying shoes, grab 10 bucks from the dresser, and head down to your local bookstore for a copy of this fantastic read. You won't be sorry.
Rating: Summary: Another Bachman Book. Review: Once again, just as Thinner, this book was not very good. It was entertaining enough to get through it but it didn't keep me on the edge of my seat as his other books do. For some reason, he has a different writing style in the Bachman books. Maybe that was done purposely. I don't know. Whatever the reason, I don't like the writing style at all.
Rating: Summary: A great book Review: Now when I picked up this book, I realized it was a little short for a Stephen King novel, but when I opened up to the first page, it grabbed hold of me and didn't let go. It is so imaginative, I mean, the game shows that are fatal in a time when tv is called free-vee. I swear, when I finished I went to watch a movie and told my brother to pass the Free-Vee Remote! The main charachter, Ben Richards is the model of a normal guy trying to make a living in a tough society, just not the way you'd expect it done today. I mean, the day this novel becomes real is the day Regis takes a machine gun and chases you around the ABC studio! Anyway, I adored the book and didn't want the climactic final scene to end!
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