The Bachman Books: Rage, the Long Walk, Roadwork, the Running Man

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Summary: Every journey begins with a single step
Review: These tales are all great, but the LONG WALK must be read. Before you read anything else that Stephen King has written, GET this book and read that story. You will not be dissappointed, I Garrauntee it

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Summary: Stephen King "The Best" , as always.
Review: I absolutely adored all of the stories in this book. All were the typical Stephen King storyline that we have come to love. His writing reaches out to us and touches our bare soul and when we think we cannot stand the situation any longer, he adds just a little bit more horror to our already overloaded imagination. He is a wonderful writer and I hope to see him write many, many, more books for his readers to enjoy

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Summary: Some of King's BEST work
Review: Stephen King, the master of horror, has really outdone himself with this one. A collection of stories that are far from what you would normally expect from the mind of a madman, yet mad none the less. King's use of tremendous description makes you feel like you are experiencing everything the characters are experiencing. I've heard people tell Stephen King to stick to the horror stuff, but I say why stick to one category when you can write equally good straight fiction. This one almost rivals "Different Seasons" and "The Shining" as King's best work yet

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Summary: Ironically hilarious suspense
Review: I have read the Runing Man and The Long Walk (I hadn't read a book in years). These are the most raw and believable books I have ever heard of. King's use of countless descriptive words adds to the gripping suspense

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Summary: Stephen King Without a Conscience
Review: This books shows the other side of Stephen King, just like the author in The Dark Half. What I like about this books is the feeling the reader gets of the things that are happening to the characters in the story. Is like being there, feeling their pains. Thery are great

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Summary: This book is not as good as King's other books.
Review: I think that King should stick to the really scary and unbelievable stuff. I really loved 'The Shining','Salem's Lot' and 'Four Past Midnight'. Why does he have to write these boring suspense books?. I just hated the long walk. It made me feel like I just came from a long walk myself.

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Summary: Great
Review: This is what J.D. Salinger would write like if J.D. Salinger could write.

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Summary: Bachman -- King in overdrive
Review: Richard Bachman was a much more concise writer than Stephen King, an that's a good thing. The four "Bachman Books" read like the superb King novella collection "Four Past Midnight." "The Running Man," not to be confused with the campy over-the-top sci-fi movie it became and which it bears little resemblance to, is chilling. As are the "The Rage" (precurser of Columbine High School?) and "The Long Walk," which is a King horror story at its most basic. "Roadwork," is not quite as good as the rest, but it is still worth a read. Overall, this is one of King's best collections of stories. Thank you, Mr. Bachman.

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Summary: This is a review for Rage
Review: It makes me somewhat angry that a book like Rage has to be shelved because of an incident like Columbine. It's one of the best books I've read in a long time, a book I would tell other to read in an instant, but I can't. The novel has been pushed in to oblivion because it deals with a school shooting. Yes, it deals with teenagers being violent, and blowing up emotionally, and then it also deals with them coming to grips with everything, realizing who they are. That may be what disturbes most people about this book. When they realize who they are, what they realize is far from pretty. But at no point did the story feel forced. Everything these teens said fit with their characters. Everything they did fit with what was being thrown at them.

Do I think this book is dangerous? Not at all! It actually shows the danger of holding your fears and problems inside. That's why Charlie went crazy. He held everything inside, just so he could conform to the norm. And conforming led him to something... well, read the book and find out. That's why, in the end, everything works out in it's own twisted way. And yes, this book is twisted. Very twisted. But not dangerous. What happens in the end was was truelly frightening though. If you can get your hands on a copy, grab it. You'll never be able to put the book down. The pace is fast, the story is amazing, and the characters are so well thought out that you'll feel that you may have actually known them. This is one of King's best books.

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Summary: "Rage" is the best thing King has ever written
Review: First of all, if Stephen King is afraid that his writing will inspire some teenager to murder someone or take a school hostage, he is flattering himself. I don't think King, while extremely entertaining and imaginative, is quite enough to make anyone do anything that drastic. King taking it out of print is hypocrisy, pure and simple:"Rage" is obviously sympathetic not to the people that Charlie Decker, the high school student on a rampage, is terrorizing, but is written from HIS viewpoint, and sympathizing with HIM, which is entirely legitimate. This also points to the pretty obvious fact that at some point or another King felt the way Decker did as an adolescent or a young adult, albeit not murderous. I first read the novella when I was 14, and was stunned that a writer could connect so poignantly with alienated individuals like myself. I've read pretty much everything Stephen King has written with the exception of "The Dark Tower" series, which I have no desire to read, and still feel that "Rage" is the only piece of literature per se that King has produced. Taking it out of print is shooting himself in the foot.