Blaze - Richard Bachman

...a sharp tongue could persuade Blaze to do things he may not be too keen on normally.

That person is George Rackley and that thing Blaze isn’t too keen on is kidnapping. George is a con man with a dream of most conmen; of making on big score, collecting a lot of money and vanishing. Because this is his dream it also becomes Blaze’s dream, even if all Blaze is really doing is going along for the ride. When the time comes to commit the ...
...wouldn’t be a problem, but Blaze can’t quite remember all the little details of George’s plans.

Somehow, Blaze manages to get it together long enough to kidnap the child, but with George’s voice telling him he’s made more mistakes than he can count and that the police are about to close in on him, Blaze is swiftly on the run, into the wilds of Maine in the middle of a snow storm. Throughout it all we discover that no matter how harsh ... more

For years now, it has been fairly common knowledge that Richard Bachman and Stephen King are the same man. Recently, however, it has seemed more and more that the person most reluctant to accept this is King himself. That can be the only reason that “Blaze” has been published under the Bachman name, but “with a foreword by Stephen King” all over it. After all, that message isn’t going to attract any new readers; if you’re a King fan, you’ll already know this is his writing; if you’re not, that message is going to make you walk away.

There is a warning in the foreword, in that King readily admits that this is a thirty year old novel and that he thought it wasn’t all that good once upon a time, although the intervening years have changed his mind. Maybe he figures that as some of his recent efforts have been a little lacklustre that no one would really notice the difference if this were to be published now. Whatever his reasoning behind it, when an author feels that they have to justify the publication of a novel in a foreword, you have to be a little worried about what is to follow, no matter how enticing the jacket copy.

Clayton Blaisdell Jr. is a huge chunk of a man, more than 2 metres tall and with a build to match his height. He’s blessed in every department except for brains, thanks to an abusive father who left him with a hole in his forehead and learning difficulties. This means that he is easily led and anyone with a sharp tongue could persuade Blaze to do things he may not be too keen on normally.

That person is George Rackley and that thing Blaze isn’t too keen on is kidnapping. George is a con man with a dream of most conmen; of making on big score, collecting a lot of money and vanishing. Because this is his dream it also becomes Blaze’s dream, even if all Blaze is really doing is going along for the ride. When the time comes to commit the crime, however, Blaze finds himself on his own, with only George’s voice for company; George having died a little while before. For anyone else, this wouldn’t be a problem, but Blaze can’t quite remember all the little details of George’s plans.

Somehow, Blaze manages to get it together long enough to kidnap the child, but with George’s voice telling him he’s made more mistakes than he can count and that the police are about to close in on him, Blaze is swiftly on the run, into the wilds of Maine in the middle of a snow storm. Throughout it all we discover that no matter how harsh Blaze’s present and future may be, his past has had worse moments.

The major problem I had with “Blaze” Is that any synopsis makes it sound better than it actually is. Like Stephen King’s own “Cell” and Dean Koontz’s “Velocity”, there is a great idea in here, but it doesn’t get fully explored and the novel just seems to stop abruptly, rather than ending, as if there was a specific word count Bachman/King was working to and he reached it.

It is a bit of a shame, as Blaze is someone you can’t help but like. Admittedly, he’s a habitual criminal in the midst of committing the most serious crime of his life, but he comes across as a decent enough chap. The way he relates to both the kidnap victim and the way simple things surprise or please him are both very touching and the whole thing is almost a case of Stockholm Syndrome in reverse. The problem is that no matter how much I found myself liking Blaze, the story wasn’t strong enough to engage me emotionally and I couldn’t relate to him.

For all this, “Blaze” is really no worse than any of King’s recent works, or much that has previously been published under the name of Richard Bachman. However, this is to damn the novel with faint praise. King seems to be on a bad run of late, which may explain why he thought “Blaze” fit for publication now when it wasn’t three decades ago, or at any point in between.

This means that the RRP of £16.99 is a rip off, even for the most hard core King fan. The fact that there are copies going on eBay for 99 pence when “Blaze” is still discounted in bookshops as a new release possibly says all you need to know about the longevity of this book; it’s one you can only read once and then it will lose what little thrall it had. For those King fans who absolutely demand their own brand new copy, I would urge you to wait for the paperback version to be published and discounted before you buy, as new prices for the hardback from Amazon are currently £10.18, which is far more than the book is worth. 

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