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Blaze [Kindle Edition]

Stephen King (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews) |
Print List Price: £6.99
Kindle Price: £4.49 includes VAT* & free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet
You Save: £2.50 (36%)
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Formats

 Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition £4.49   -- --
Hardcover £14.44   -- --
Paperback £4.89   -- --
Audio, CD, Audiobook £29.99   -- --
Audio Download, Unabridged £18.75 or Free with Audible.co.uk 30-day free trial

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk

There was a time when admirers of Stephen King would seek out every scrap from the Master’s work bench, and it was a cause for celebration when it was discovered that the writer Richard Bachman was, in fact, a pseudonym for King. There were more King novels available than we had all thought! And it was even more an occasion for celebration when it was discovered just how good these Bachman books were.

With Blaze (issued here with a new foreword by Stephen King), we have one of the most adroit entries in the series. King had written the book in 1973 and it had subsequently vanished from his personal radar as he busied himself writing Carrie and Salem's Lot, two of the books that were to both make his fortune and establish him as the greatest modern master of horror fiction. When Blaze turned up among his papers in the library of the University of Maine, he looked at it again, and (fortunately for King aficionados) sanctioned its publication.

Clay Blaisdell is a hulking 6' 7'' petty criminal who encounters another lowlife with large ambitions: George Rackley has a fund of criminal schemes, but his Big Idea is to kidnap the children of rich parents and hold them to ransom. What ensues is shot through with the masterly orchestration of tension that is Stephen King's métier. If there are some undigested influences here (the two protagonists -- one massive and powerful, the other the brains of the duo -- owe more than a little to George and Lenny in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men), the personality that comes through (leaving aside the Richard Bachman nom-de-plume) is Stephen King, and followers of his work will need no persuasion to pick up this one. --Barry Forshaw

Review

'BLAZE feels like an essential missing piece in King's oeuvre...compelling'

(Independent on Sunday )

'King's brilliance is in making his readers root for the kidnapper rather than the authorities'

(Daily Telegraph )

'Tightly written and compelling'

(Daily Express )

'Storytelling - the ability to make the listener or the reader need to know, demand to know, what happens next - is a gift. Stephen King, like Charles Dickens before him, has this gift in spades' (The Times on CELL )

'Thrilling, genuinely terrifying, beautifully textured and full of wonderful invention'

(Daily Mail on LISEY'S STORY )

'A consummate and compassionate novel - one of King's very best'

(Guardian on LISEY'S STORY )
See all Product Description

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 369 KB
  • Print Length: 386 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1416555048
  • Publisher: Hodder (22 Mar 2010)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B003BVFZ5A
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #9,898 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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More About the Authors

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Stephen King
Stephen King
Richard Bachman
Richard Bachman

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Classic King 16 July 2007
By KM TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
Stephen King's latest novel, 'Blaze' is a book that was apparently lost within King's files. It was published under the name of Richard Bachman and written in 1973 (before all of his other main works).

The story goes through the life of the gentle giant, Clayton Blaisdell (aka Blaze) who, because of being beaten and thrown down the stairs by his father at a young age, is mentally challenged (called a dummy throughout) and is easily led on, which brings him to a life of crime with various petty criminals. One of which named George, who is dead but is also the one who leads Blaze to the kidnapping of a baby in return for the ransom of $1million.

At first this book was pretty hard to get into, but once I had gotten used to it flicking backwards and forwards between Blaze's youth and the present day and the fact that he is talking to and listening to a dead person, I couldn't put the book down and finished it in just three short sittings. Having not read a King book for about 3 or 4 years, it was brilliant to experience King's unique style of writing again and has prompted me to purchase his two latest novels that I missed (Cell & Lisey's Story) which I'm really looking forward to reading now.

This is a tense and exciting book which fans of Stephen King/Richard Bachman should love. It is not a horror story, more of an adventure through Blaze's troubled, unfair and gullable life, mixed with a crime thriller. The heartwarming relationships between Blaze and Johnny (his friend from HH) and Blaze and the kidnapped baby, Joe, will make it impossible for you not to like Blaze's character, despite him being a thief, a kidnapper and a murderer. This is a classic (maybe over-looked) King novel that should be up there with likes of The Green Mile, The Body (Stand by Me) and The Shawshank Redemption, although it does sometimes feel a little like an over-run short story.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A great read! 22 Sep 2007
By Sue Lewendon VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
I managed to read this in 2 sittings. It was quite unputdownable and really easy too. It was also a real page turner.

It tells the story of 6ft 7in Clayton Blaisdell. (The kidnapping story is almost 2nd to his childhood story.) King has once again perfectly captured what it is to be a young, downtrodden youth from nowhere special. You get a real feel for this gentle, (okay so he clobbers a few people and strangles another), giant of a man who just wants to please his dead friend George. Yes that's correct...his DEAD friend George.

His friend has been gone for the last 3 months but Blaze isn't 100% sure he's really gone. If he were, he wouldn't be able to hold whole conversations with him now would he? No, Blaze is convinced that George is still hanging around to take care of things for him.

The whole story is quite a touching one, despite it being about a man kidnapping a poor defenseless baby. It had me wanting him to get away with it and to run away with said baby, but this is a King story...ho hum.

It's definitely worth a read if you're a fan of King but you don't need to be. It's not a horror by any means, more of a film noir book. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will probably re-read it at some point. I say give it a go, it's only 291 pages long after all.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Blaze 2 July 2007
Format:Hardcover
I absolutely loved this book - read it in two days, could hardly keep my nose out of it! If you are a "constant reader" you will recognise this book as King's earlier work but personally, with an exception or two, I find them the best of all his stuff. Even if you are not a Stephen King fan, you will love this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Perfect!
As usual, another Stephen King I couldn't put down! A very well written book, great theme, and good reading for anyone, whether you enjoy this author or not.
Published 4 months ago by Abbey
its alright
This book works quite well. Its not brillaint but certainly not a stodge of a book as his more recent items have become.
Published 4 months ago by gerry latawiec
A good thing doesn't have to be complicated
I don't know how I feel about this book. I read it through once and thought gee whiz, a bit lame and the end wasn't what I would have wanted. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jackiesmackie
An unusual story
I've been a fan of King's books for a long, long time. I like his style of writing and the flow of his books. Read more
Published 11 months ago by CoolJules
Vintage King
I didn't know what to expect from Blaze as I know King originally wrote it in 1973, but I found myself happily transported to the era of early King writing, to a lean, tight piece... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Smurfin
Absolutely...brilliant!
My partner bought this book for me for christmas after asking me to create a wish list on Amazon. I had read it by boxing day night, just couldn't put it down! Read more
Published on 28 Dec 2009 by Gav.76
Another Superb Story, with a Great Character
Blaze is a small time crook faced with a dilemma, he's not so bright but has been inspired (and is regularly advised) by his partner in crime to take on one big crime to set him... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by Hagrid's Umbrella
touching
In spite of the predictable end... its amazing how trhoug the one can relate to someone so strange
Published on 29 Sep 2009 by Bruno H. M. Agostinho
Blazed in a then spluttered out!
As normal with King`s/Bachmans work the story is well written and involves you,the only thing is with this novel is once again it has the authors fascination in a man who hears... Read more
Published on 28 April 2009 by S. Williamson
A little gem from the King
I am a big fan of Stephen King and have enjoyed nearly all of his books. This is quite a short story (only about 300 pages) but i really did enjoy it. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2009 by James Pearson
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