Blaze - Richard Bachman (a.k.a: Stephen King)

Stephen King's Blaze is a trunk novel. King says it clear and loud in the first lines of the book and you sense a certain shame that seems to mark his tone this time as he says you can really return this if you don't think you're going to like it. It was too late for me...and for the better. Is this your typical King novel? Frankly, it's anything but. It's as if the novel is wriggling out of King-style and into something a little more intriguing, a little more fascinating and a lot more human.

The experiences and action in Blaze are so human, so realistic, you really don't want it to end like you think it should. For a moment, you really want it to be a nice, fairy-tale-like, happy ending. Somehow, miraculously, King manages to get you sympathizing with a guy who kidnapped a baby. King can make you sympathize with anyone really; that's the whole point of the book! There is a lot of thought put into this; there are about two pages length given to a car ride. And it reads so much like a movie, you can almost hear the soundtrack.

This is a lovely read...Quite light, as with most King novels I guess, but still lovely. It is bitter and painful at many points. King is masterful at giving 'raw' pain...Sadness and tragedy that are just there. No introductions, no fancy wording, King seems to say; this is it and it sucks, deal with it.

A solid 10/10.