Rating: 
Summary: Bleak, Vivid Future
Review: It is once again the future, as seen from the early Reagan Years, and life in the United States stinks. Children of five years old die of lung cancer because of the air pollution. There's enough war to keep things stirred up, but not enough to keep everyone employed. If the government has a plan to solve the nation's problems, we don't hear about it. We only see their plan to keep the people in place: television.Ben Richards, formerly employed by General Atomics, is unemployed and desperate. His daughter is deathly ill and his wife has to sneak out and turn tricks to care for her. Even so, the medicine she can buy is all but useless. It takes serious money to get anything approaching real medical attention, and Ben's unemployment precludes any hope for cash or insurance. Finally convinced that there's no other chance, he tries to get on a game show -- they're a staple of the massive military-industrial-entertainment complex's television agenda. Their pay is decent and the mortality rate isn't too high. For better or for worse, Richards manages to end up on "The Running Man." It's the network's highest rated show. If Richards can elude capture for thirty days, hiding wherever he can in regulated and totalitarian America, he'll win big. If not, he's dead. The book's mood is bleak. Ben Richards is not a lone hero fighting for change in a corrupt society. He is an angry young man who wants to take care of his family in a world that seems to be conspiring to make that impossible. If there is any hope for this future America, it is not mentioned. At best, there is hope for Richard's daughter, and that seems like an unlikely prospect. Every character in this book is either corrupt or desperate. It is a dark, gritty future, and the reader can easily be pulled in. The name on the cover, "Richard Bachman" is Stephen King's pen name, under which he published a few books in the early eighties. This book, along with his other futuristic Bachman book, "The Long Walk" make me wonder why he abandoned the future has since stuck with the present and the past. The Running Man is short and intense, and is one of the less self-indulgent of King's revenge stories. Given the books's small size and small cost, it's a good read for anyone with a few hours to spare.
Rating: 
Summary: Whew boy... This book really takes the reader for a ride
Review: Ever see the movie? While books are usually better than the book, this one isn't even a contest, this books is light years ahead of the movie (not that the movie was breaking new boundaries, but as far as action goes, it wasn't bad). A man goes on a game show, and needs to run from a team of hunters for 30 days. He ca go anywhere he wants, he just has to mail back videos to the studio. So what's the catch? The public gets paid in rewards to turn him in so they can watch him get killed on television. With all the reality based tv shows we have nowadays, is it impossible to imagine this happening?
Rating:
Summary: A good thriller , action-packed , vivid.
Review: Sthephen King is not a science-fiction or fantasy writer. He is a horror writer. But - since he's an excellent one , he tried his hand at both - and succeeded more or less (his fantasy is better). "The Running man" is a sci-fi thriller in the near future. the story of Ben Richards and a giant T.V corporation. Ben sighns a contract that allows the "The running man" stalkers to hunt him down , for a period of 30 days. If they win , he dies - for the viewing pleasure of the mind-numbed masses. If he wins - they lose one million dollars. Anyway , unlike in the movie - that is excellent - Ben's not restricted to some "zones" , he can go anywhere in the world only that he got to keep moving , 'cause the stalkers are on his back - and the stalkers are'nt flamboyant killers with fans , that go one-on-one - they are regular guys (killers , I mean) dressed in "The running man" overall's , trecking him down in groups , and killing with simple guns. Pretty nice book , though I saw the film first , so it kinda ruined it for me (the film is more exciting). I like King's work - especially his "regular" horror , but if you want to try something a bit different by him try "Eyes of the dragon" or "The Talisman".
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile Read
Review: This is the weakest of the original four Bachman books (Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, and The Running Man), but it is still a good, worthwhile read. The premise: a game show that very few contestants ever win, and the rest pay with their lives. But this time the contestant is very determined to brake what the network has decided is his destiny. In a race for his own survival he finds himself taking things over the edge, and eventually "taking up his complaint" with the very president of the telivision company in a very unfriendly way. An action packed story similar in message and theme as The Long Walk, this story will keep you reading until the end. I certainly give it my recomendation.
Rating: 
Summary: Did not like it
Review: The Running Man may have a plausible future, it may have a realistic character, and it does have suspense. But I didn't like it one bit. It is not a book you can enjoy. If you have to check it out, go to your local library instead.
Rating:
Summary: A breather from SK's stereotyped supernatural horror stories
Review: We should be grateful that Bachmann allowed SK to write in another form so much different from what readers boxed him to be - a horror storyteller. I am no big fan of King but after looking at my book collections & reviewing the movies I have seen, I slowly realize that I have read & seen a lot of SK products. & I am proud to admit it. SK is a great storyteller - be it pure gothic horror, a touch of supernatural forces, mystery & drama & now, a futuristic sci-fi thriller. Hail to you SK!
Rating:
Summary: The future is not what it used to be
Review: The future is not what it used to be, as the old saying goes. How should we look at a futuristic novel 29 years after it was written? I call the book futuristic, as it does not earn the name of science fiction. What immediately struck me is the similarity of this book and the recent blockbuster, The Matrix. There are differences, obviously, but they are not crucial. There is the Matrix, and there is the Network. In both environments, people in their whole mass live either terrorized, or corrupted, but almost everyone is living in a sort of a bad dream. The Bachman's world of 2025 is not a pleasure to live in. Inhuman institutions which took the earth over - that has been the dread of XX century, now coming slowly to its end. Many authors fantasized about it in a great many of ways and it does not really matter whether the novel is framed as realistic, naturalistic, pure science fiction, or just futuristic, as in the case of The Running Man. We may sketch yet another comparisons. This book and The Long Walk sport the same theme of a wild national pastime, where human life is sacrificed to entertain the bloodthirsty masses, and by no means the boogeymen - all the ordinary people, all of us, or, rather, all of them. Circus and bread, that's all the society need, sad but true, at least since the Roman Republic. Similarities may be pointed out between the book and the last to date Bachman novel, The Regulators, in the sense of the power the media have over us. The danger of detachment from reality. In The Running Man, the evil is personalized in the Free-Vee, an Orwellian, omnipotent super-television. Coming back to what I mentioned at the very beginning, the future-world Ben Richards lives in is a little funny from the point of view of a guy who lives in a cyber era of the Y2K. Technology is faster-paced than the best industrial prophets can estimate. A funny thing is that Ben's aircraft is Lockheed. Well, the firm went bankrupt several years after the publication of the novel. One can list such oddities, but why the hell? Does the fact that 2001 the Space Odyssey was directed in the 60s DETER all the entertainment? No, it doesn't. Same goes here. To me, it's a sort of fun to read old futuristic prose and compare to the reality. One might wonder why King wrote such a novel, so much unlike the other ones. First of all, it only proves his ability and breadth of his capacity as a writer. On the other hand, what we look in his prose is not so much the scene, the environment, as the characters themselves, narration, dialogues, and IT, something unique and King-ian (or King's King-ese? King-ous?). All in all, I liked the book very much, was entertained throughout, was brave enough to disagree with the author that Schwarzenegger is not a good type of guy to portray Ben Richards, and of course I was sad with the way it ended. Before I finish, I have to complain, though. I have just bought a Signet paperback sporting FOREWORD by Stephen King. What is the purpose of foreword? We all know, I suppose. Nevertheless, as I worked my way through it, I had to grimace when King revealed the ending of the book in his preface. Oh, Master, why have you done it? You, who often complained that readers have itchy hands and peek at the last pages because they can't hold to the end? You, who published The Green Mile as a serial novel and publicly admitted that you liked the idea that readers couldn't just open the last page and see the end? I am angry with you, Mr. King. But just a little. Inside, I am glad as hell that I had an opportunity to read this outstanding novel. Thanks. And I ask for more.
Rating:
Summary: A fast-paced, action-packed story
Review: I had read a few of Stephen King's bestsellers before this one, but "The Running Man" is the best novel of the lot. This fast-paced, action-packed story was fantastic, and I almost finished all 300+ pages in one sitting. Ben Richards, the main character of the story, is a person with true grit and determination. He enters a life-and-death game called "The Running Man" to get money to pay for a doctor for his sick child. He comes across as a good-hearted and caring individual, even though he uses foul language and violence. Stephen King brilliantly creates a two-sided character who is both morally good and outwardly bad, depending on your point of view. Despite Richards' witticisms and snide remarks, I couldn't help becoming attached to his character and his struggle to come out of the game alive. His never-ending push forward through the throws of life was well-written by King. More than once it seemed as if Richards had been beaten, but then King added a new twist to the tale. I never really knew whether Richards was safe from the hunters or in danger of losing it all. This is one of the reasons why it is hard to put the book down -- you don't know what to expect will happen next. The story progresses with increasing tension as time goes on for Richards. It reaches a climax at the very end of the novel that was unexpected by me, but also served as a suitable ending to Richards' plight. In a way, Richards had already decided the outcome of the game from the very start. This adds another element to the book that makes it even more interesting. A lot of people who may not have read the book have likely seen the movie, made in 1987 and starring Arnold Schwarzeneggar. If you saw the movie, regardless of whether you liked or hated it, read the book! The movie is only remotely similar to the book with regard to the general scenario, but from there, the book takes over and makes the story far greater than the screenplay. The movie was interesting, but the book was astounding! I am not a big-time fan of Stephen King, but I have to say that "The Running Man" is a great piece of literature from an author who is renowned for writing horror stories. The novel is about a struggle for survival and a story of one man's rebellion against the upper-class. Horror fans need not despair, however, because King throws in some of the guts that have made his horror stories spine-tingling. Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is willing to let his/her imagination run wild on an adrenaline rush.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book is about Ben Richards. In the year 2025 he goes on a game show called "The Running Man" because he needs the reward money to pay for his daughter's medical bills. On "The Running Man" they send people out on the streets and hunt them down. If the people survive for a month they get 1 billion dollars. There was one part of this book that I really liked, the ending. It was perfect, it was the only way to bring "The Running Man"(as in the TV show) to justice.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Stephen King books Ever!
Review: The future is much different from the time we live in now. Jobless people are glued to their Free-Vee's. The only means for entertainment are "The Games". "From "Treadmill to bucks" and "Climbing for Dollars" to the sadistic "Running Man"! Benjamin Richards is out of work. His infant daughter is sick and his family is running out of money. Richards resorts to "The Games" to pay for his family. Ben goes to "The Games" building where he is assigned to "THE RUNNING MAN". Here he meets Killian, the owner of "The Games". Richards must run to earn money. The rules are simple. For every hour he is at large, he gets more money for his family. He can go anywhere in the nation. He can be reported by people. He must mail two 10 minute video clips of himself in daily or else he will be running for free! All of this does not get Ben down. Getting a head start, Richards runs through cities meeting new people. He gets some allies as well as enemies. From purchasing fake I.D.'s to stealing cars, Ben keeps on the run. What will happen to Ben Richards? Will he survive the Game that nobody else has? You'll have to find out for yourself in "THE RUNNING MAN".
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