Thursday, February 22, 2018

Review: Blaze by Richard Bachman (Pseudonym), Stephen King

1202644 Summary from Goodreads:

He's got a plan.

But he hasn't a clue...

Clayton Blaisdell's capers are strictly small time until he meets George Rackley. With Blaze's brawn and George's brains, they pull off a hundred successful cons. Then George plans the one big score every small timer dreams of: kidnapping the infant heir to a family fortune.


The trouble is that by the time the deal goes down, the brains of the operation has died. Or has he?


Now Blaze is running into the white hell of the Maine woods with a baby as hostage. The crime of the century just turned into a race against time...


"King's brilliance is in making his readers root for the kidnapper" Daily Telegraph



"An essential missing piece in King's oeuvre... compelling" Independent On Sunday

My Review:



I'm trying to read one Stephen King novel a month this year, so far I'm on track, and I went into this short novel blind. It is one of King's old stories (1960s) that he only just published in 2007. I only went in expecting good writing, and maybe some paranormal elements, and ended up enjoying it. 

What I Liked:

Main Character. The novel is solely focused on the character, Blaze, and King's writing made it easy to connect with him

Writing Style. Once again I enjoyed the writing because I like King's detailed and lyrical writing style.

Story.  It was easy to get sucked into King's story, mainly because Blaze was an interesting main character. King always creates unique story lines and he did the same with this one. 

Audiobook. I randomly picked up the audiobook format and enjoyed the narration style. It was 8 hours long but it went by quickly because it was well performed and well written. 

Paranormal Elements. I was expecting some horror or supernatural element because King usually includes those in his works. However, this time I enjoyed how he subtly he put in the paranormal elements. I loved that it unraveled slowly and was not over the top. 

What I Disliked:

Format. The novel went from past to present with each chapter and I'm personally not a fan of that format. It was confusing 


I recommend checking out this underrated Stephen King novel if you enjoy his writing style and story telling abilities. 

My Rating:


4 Stars Out of 5 Stars

2 comments:

  1. Great review! I read this book when I was a teenager. That was so long ago that I don’t remember it very well. Good luck with reading a King book every month. I should do that. I’m way behind with his work.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks! It was a good read, I enjoyed the audiobook format. I'm in a few stephen king reading clubs on goodreads and that seems to be helping me read more of his novels. :)

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