Blaze: A Novel

Additional Blaze: A Novel Information

A fellow named Richard Bachman wrote Blaze in 1973 on an Olivetti typewriter, then turned the machine over to Stephen King, who used it to write Carrie. Bachman died in 1985 ("cancer of the pseudonym"), but in late 2006 King found the original typescript of Blaze among his papers at the University of Maine's Fogler Library ("How did this get here?!"), and decided that with a little revision it ought to be published.

Blaze is the story of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr. -- of the crimes committed against him and the crimes he commits, including his last, the kidnapping of a baby heir worth millions. Blaze has been a slow thinker since childhood, when his father threw him down the stairs -- and then threw him down again. After escaping an abusive institution for boys when he was a teenager, Blaze hooks up with George, a seasoned criminal who thinks he has all the answers. But then George is killed, and Blaze, though haunted by his partner, is on his own.

He becomes one of the most sympathetic criminals in all of literature. This is a crime story of surprising strength and sadness, with a suspenseful current sustained by the classic workings of fate and character -- as taut and riveting as Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.

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Bachman has a more in your face style peppered with a little King here & there. He turns into a small time con artist & hood. You find you don't look forward to the inevitable.I found "Blaze" right up there with "The Long Walk".Mr. There always seems a distinct difference between a King & a Bachman novel. King, you keep these wonderful manuscripts stored in the trunk much too long. His intellect, unfortunately, is the opposite due mainly to his abusive drunken father.Blaze grows up in orphanages & an abusive foster home. They are a treat for your "Dear Constant Readers"

But, you will find a page turner. Instead you find he's a rather likable fellow.The ending to this novel is quite predictable, yet it doesn't detract. You should feel nothing but contempt for him. King has a way of fully developing his characters & evolving a story around them. He winds up bonding with the baby he's pilfered.Blaze is a character who commits some rather heinous acts.

That's not changed here. The voice of his now dead partner has him looking to kidnap a baby for the one big score. He's a monster of a man in size. You'll not find the supernatural here. Blaze is a solid example.Published in 2007, from what King calls a trunk novel (A manuscript he's decided not to publish)Blaze was written years back as Bachman.Blaze is actually the main character, Clayton Blaisdell Jr.

I read it a while back but I seem to recall a lot of profanity---gratuitous language. However, I could not get into Blaze. It just didn't seem up to his usual level of quality. I really like King's writing. I didn't complete the book. As you can see, I gravitated a bit toward the generally less popular Bachman stuff. Some of my favorites are Cujo, Carrie, Misery, The Running Man, The Shining, Rage, The Long Walk, Christine, Apt Pupil, Dead Zone. So when King said Blaze was not one of his best, I didn't mind because I like some of the less popular stuff.

Anyways, Good book, even though it's short he's still Stephen King, Long winded, hard to follow at times and goes off in all directions. Short Stephen King book. Believe it or not, a short book. That's kind of an oxymoron huh.

And I especially felt some kind of sympathy for the main character. It was like craving chocolate and finding a piece that you had hidden away. I started off listening to this book on tape (rented from Cracker Barrel) during a trip taken in the fall. I have always pretty much loved anything written by Stephen King (excepting the Dark Tower series which I just couldn't seem to read.)., and this was no different. Highly recommended. I didn't get through the whole tape so after returning home, I immediately went to Amazon.com purchased the book. I found myself loving every word of it.