The Regulators

between 1.5 and 2. so...well, i guess i don't really see the point here. this felt like a strange story with a lot of death and killing, and for no reason or purpose. i feel like he's usually saying something, even when it's all filled with terrible people and blood and guts, but this just seemed to be the blood and guts but was missing the core. and i don't really understand what he was doing, with this book and desperation. i guess that makes sense since i don't really see a main point, but it just leaves me wondering.

i mean, it's this parallel reality where some of the characters are the same (i mean the names of the characters match up with the same characters in the other book) and some are different. (so the carvers in desperation show more were ralph (the dad), ellen (the mom), david (the son) and kirsten (the daughter) and in this book they were david (the dad), kirsten (the mom), ellen (the daughter), and ralph (the son). i'm not sure what that's about or what he was trying to say there. some of the parallels were fun to catch, like some of the same exact lines being spoken or steve "dancing" with a wolf/coyote in both. but i don't get the fundamental point, in the end. and i'm not sure how people with autism would feel about the way he depicted seth. although, he did make him a hero, in a large sense. still not sure it would hold up well today.

it's also weird to say, but (aside from those first 200 or so pages of desperation, that read more like richard bachman (with all his excess gore) and the regulators read, for the most part, more like stephen king (although missing some of his trademark character development). i wonder if he did that on purpose, or just for fun (or if i'm overthinking it entirely). it's weird because i liked this one less than desperation and usually i'd say that i'd like king over bachman.

anyway, this was also a quick and easy read, but not a particularly enjoyable one, and one that i don't feel had a real point. it's a neat and fun idea, though, to have these parallel stories that go together, even in this odd and only partially sensical way.

"Brad and Belinda Josephson are the only black people on the block, and the block is damned proud to have them. They look just the way people in suburban Ohio like their black people to look, and it makes things just right to see them out and about." show less

One of King's early works published under the name of Richard Bachman. While a companion volume, of sorts, to "Desperation", I think this should have become an unpublished manuscript found after "Bachman's" death. It does not deserve the name of Stephen King associated with. Like the companion book, King leaves subtle world of mental horror behind. No drippy faucets slowly driving you crazy here, no premonitions of disaster slowly building to the inevitable showdown between good and evil, rather the reader is held nose first and nostrils up to a gushing fire hydrant of violence.

I have no objection to situational violence in a horror story, but there needs to be a reason for the violence and any type of plot is sorely lacking here. show more Characters are introduced and blown away without giving us a chance to know who they are, to feel something, one way or the other, about them. Good violence: the gunfight between the drug kingpin, his henchmen and the reformed addict in "Drawing of the Three" by King. Very violent, but it follows a lot of character development and you feel sorry for one character and root as the others are gunned down. Here you are a witness to a poorly produced reality show where people are targets for bad guys.

Yeah, I gave it just two stars. As bad as it is, King is still a great story teller and I had to finish it regardless of how badly it offended me. If you have to have a complete collection of King and / or Bachman, you will need this to fill in your collection. Otherwise, pass it by. show less

It's so weird to keep saying, "this is the first time I've read this in almost 30 years"...because with the King books, it really doesn't seem that long ago.

Apparently it really is. I dove into this the same way I did the last time, reading the Bachman novel first, before moving to the mirror novel. The last time, I chose the Bachman book first because, when I lined up the covers, it was the first one, on the left. This time, I did it because I remember liking the King novel more than the Bachman one, so I figured I'd end (hopefully) on the same high.

I've got to say, last time I read this one, I won't say I was underwhelmed, but I didn't love it. I guess you could say I was simply...whelmed.

This time around, I will say that, overall, I show more actually quite enjoyed it. It was a bit overwritten for my taste, which is interesting because, while I know this tends to be a common complaint with King, it's not one I typically voice. I love his writing, and if he digs down into a particular detail or plot point or tangent, I'm usually completely fine to go along with him.

But I found a lot of the descriptive passages and character intros toward the front half of this novel seemed a bit too much. And it was actually surprising how much King inserted mentions of a sexual nature. I'm not used to that with him, and I found it constantly surprising.

Here's the big thing I found this time around: While I usually enjoy a "big cast" King story, this one felt overcrowded. I more enjoyed the side note sections—the diary entries, the letters, etc.—that gave a bit more context to what was happening on Poplar Street, than I did the portions with all the other characters.

I found myself wishing that King had just focused tighter on Seth and especially Audrey, with smaller side trips to that large cast of characters and what they were going through.

Again, overall, the novel was more enjoyable the second time around. And I will say, there's parts of this story that I think hold some of King's best writing. But overall, there's a fair amount of miss for me too. show less

I can just picture Stephen King sitting at his desk, staring at the blinking cursor on his computer screen. The little bar’s flashing on the just-finished side of the “Dâ€? of the words “THE END.â€? King’s just capped off his best book in years, a scalp-prickling, clammy-handed horror extravaganza called Desperation. The only trouble is, his writer’s brain is still sizzling. He’s fried the eggs and spatulaed them onto the plate, but he left the pan on the burner and man, oh man, he’s on fire!

What’s a prolific writer to do? Well, if you’re the tireless King (until the recent traffic accident, that is), you keep your scare-mongering butt right there show more in that chair and churn out another pulse-quickening tale. That’s exactly what he did in 1996, the year that saw the simultaneous release of Desperation and The Regulators (not to mention The Green Mile!). The second novel, written under his Richard Bachman pseudonym (a silly marketing ploy in this case because a King by any other name is still a King), makes a nice companion piece to Desperation. The two novels share many of the same characters and King’s knack for scaring the socks off his readers.

Apart from that, the books take different roads. While Desperation was a big book (in many ways), The Regulators is a little thinner (pardon the Bachman pun) in scope and impact. Think of it this way: Desperation is the epic, cast-of-thousands, Cecil B. DeMille blockbuster feature movie; The Regulators is the made-for-TV movie with a cast of has-been Fantasy Island guest star rejects. Which is not to say The Regulators isn’t scary—boy, oh boy, is it ever scary (we’re talking dry mouths and all-the-lights-on-in-the-house scary)—but when stacked up against Desperation, it falls short.

And I think King is completely comfortable with that. I don’t think he intended The Regulators to outdistance Desperation. In fact, the Bachman book reads almost like a long epilogue to the other story, which was all about unspeakable evil at the bottom of a mine shaft. (I always wondered when I’d get to use that phrase—“unspeakable evil.â€?)

While Desperation was set in a deserted Nevada ghost town (literally), in The Regulators, King brings the unspeakable horror to Wentworth, Ohio, a small town straight out of a Frank Capra movie. As the novel opens, it’s a postcard-perfect summer day—barbecue grills are getting fired up, kids are hanging out at the corner convenience store, a Little League game is in full swing and life is just about darned near perfect.

Except for that red van parked down the street, motor idling and sun glaring off its chrome bumper. Something about that van just doesn’t feel right.

You’re only ten pages into the book and already the hairs on the nape of your neck are starting to rustle. A few pages more and the story explodes in violence—shocking and shattering. Another couple of pages and you know you better call in sick to work and tell the rest of the family to order pizza for dinner that night because you’re deep in King territory.

The arrival of the van on Poplar Street is the start of a fantastic set of events so mind-altering it would be too convoluted for me to describe them here. Besides, I wouldn’t want to spoil any of the lip-smacking pleasures this story has to offer. Expect an over-the-top episode of The Twilight Zone and you won’t be disappointed. Suffice to say, King is up to his usual bag of tricks here—a gifted child, a flawed-but-heroic central character (who just happens to be a writer) and plotting that depends heavily on fate and circumstance. Along the way, there’s a sneaky commentary on the sins of watching too much TV (and hurrah for King! I say, get them off the tube and back between the covers of great literature).

On the other hand, The Regulators is plenty sinful, too. King’s never been one to faint at the sight of blood and here he really lavishes (wallows?) in gore and profanity. There are deaths and plenty of ’em. The squeamish definitely need not apply.

Another quibble I had with The Regulators is that some of the characters seemed a little too shallowly drawn, serving mainly as cogs in the plot machine. But then, when you’ve got such a lightning-paced story—one that practically screams “Turn the page! Turn the page!â€?—the argument for fleshed-out characters seems like such a weak one. I mean, hey, I knew this wasn’t D.H. Lawrence when I picked it up, right?

I read The Regulators soon after I finished Desperation and I think that’s the best order to take these books. When you turn the last page of Desperation, you’ll be, ahem, desperate for more of that unspeakable evil. It’s like coming down off a horror high and you’ll need the quick fix that The Regulators has to offer. It’s not as deep or broad as Desperation, but it’s still the most mind-bending, heart-jolting five hours you’ll spend between the covers. show less

Book 61 of Stephen King. Enjoyed reading the novel, having read Desperation a little while ago this book was recommended by LibraryThing for me. Not his best work but worth the read none-the-less. For me being a constant reader I enjoyed my fix of plugging back into the matrix of Kings world. Enjoyed the similarities, overlap and differences between Desperation and there was also some references to the Overlook Hotel from the Shining and Doctor Sleep Easter eggs to enjoy.

This book was classic Stephen King: supernatural evil possession and deaths galore.

The characters here were an enjoyable, though at times aggravating, mishmash of level-headed thinkers and those who lose their mind at the first instant something goes wrong and everything in between.

The story itself didn't really have much substance to it other than mindless slaughter by an incorporeal monster thing. The Seth character was a pretty big cliché as well: autistic kid who has a genius inner being is the host for the demon/monster thing and ends up being the key to defeating the monster.

Though I love Stephen King, the ending left me feeling slightly disappointed, like there should have been something else.

The master of horror, Stephen King, chalked up another page turner under the pseudonym of "the late" Richard Bachman, "The Regulators.". In "The Regulators" the characters are already assembled as neighbors on Poplar Street. Their glorious summer day is shattered by the arrival of a crayon red van and its armed driver. Collie Entragian, a former cop drummed off the force on trumped-up charges, attempts to protect his neighbors and preserve the crime scene but the violence quickly escalates out of control. As the street begins a nightmarish metamorphosis into something out of the worst of children's television and old westerns, the strengths and weaknesses of the inhabitants begin to work on all of them - Johnny Marinville, the show more successful author of children's books, haunted by a dissipated past and a too-vivid vision; Cynthia, the new clerk at the convenience store, whose two-toned hair and irreverent wit obscure a core of decency; Tom Billingsley, the retired veterinarian; Steve Ames, a young man drifting through life, picking up skills.
Then there's Audrey Wyler, the young widow with the autistic nephew, Seth. No one's seen her in a while and at first they scarcely notice her continuing absence amidst all the mayhem. But Audrey's particular hell has been a long time coming. There's a thing in Seth (he calls it "Tak") that can bend people to its will and the world to its malevolent vision and it's growing stronger.

While there is violence and blood, it is driven by the story and I have read alot worse. The biggest complaint I would make is that like 90% of King's books its a bit too long. show less