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Blaze (Hardcover)

by Richard Bachman (Author), Stephen King (Introduction)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
RRP: £16.99
Price: £14.44 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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  • This item: Blaze by Richard Bachman

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (12 Jun 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340952229
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340952221
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 184,388 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.



Review

'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 )
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Customer Reviews

30 Reviews
5 star:
 (14)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (9)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic King, 16 Jul 2007
By KM (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)      
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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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, 22 Sep 2007
By Sue Lewendon "Film fanatic" (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
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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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Blaze, 2 Jul 2007
By L. A. MARTIN "Lesley136" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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

3.0 out of 5 stars touching
In spite of the predictable end... its amazing how trhoug the one can relate to someone so strange
Published 1 month ago by Bruno H. M. Agostinho

3.0 out of 5 stars 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 6 months ago by S. Williamson

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 9 months ago by James Pearson

5.0 out of 5 stars Trunk Novel!
This is Stephen King at his best. I can't believe it was one of his trunk novels. I'm so please he re-worked it and had it published. Read more
Published 14 months ago by kehs

5.0 out of 5 stars Trunk Novel!
This is Stephen King at his best. I can't believe it was one of his trunk novels. I'm so please he re-worked it and had it published. Read more
Published 14 months ago by kehs

3.0 out of 5 stars taut, short thriller
Dear Constant Reader,

I hope you don't mind, but it's hard enough cranking out one multi-million selling novel every year, let alone two, so in the certain knowledge... Read more
Published 15 months ago by time I had some time alone

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book!
This was an interesting book that spiralled from a friendly giant who was abused as a child.

Lots of good twists, I'd recommend it to anyone!
Published 15 months ago by M. Packer

2.0 out of 5 stars I'm not sure what to think about this book
I really don't know what to make of this book, which is about a slightly mentally retarded guy (called Blaze) who has been working "short cons" for years with a friend called... Read more
Published 15 months ago by J. Bowen

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple
Blaze, for a short book, holds a very graphic detail of one man's inability to follow a path within the law. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. G. Battle

4.0 out of 5 stars A powerful tale in a little book
Clayton Blaisdell is "...soft in the head..." due to being thrown down the stairs three times by his father, and although they were partners in crime, Blaze has had George to look... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Helen Simpson

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