- Hardcover: 1 pages
- Publisher: Viking Canada (Oct 1 1996)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0718141938
- ISBN-13: 978-0718141936
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (134 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,277,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
An evil creature called Tak uses the imagination of an autistic boy to shift a residential street in small-town Ohio into a world so bizarre and brutal that only a child could think it up. It's as two-dimensional and gaudy as a kid's comic book, but for this reviewer, The Regulators is a gripping adventure tale about what happens when a mind fixated on TV (especially old Westerns and a cartoon called MotoKops 2200) runs amok. As Michael Collins writes in Necrofile, "[Stephen] King offers his readers a glimpse of the true evil of popular culture ... which has no design or intent, only an empty need to sustain itself. King is, I think, about the canniest observer of what America is, and that he generally writes horror ought to give us pause from time to time."
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Why revive the Bachman byline more than a decade after Stephen King was found lurking behind it? Not for thematic reasons. This devilishly entertaining yarn of occult mayhem married to mordant social commentary is pure King and resembles little the four nonsupernatural (if science-fictional) pre-Thinner Bachmans. The theme is the horror of TV, played out through the terrors visited upon quiet Poplar Street in the postcard-perfect suburban town of Wentworth, Ohio, when a discorporeal psychic vampire settles inside an autistic boy obsessed with TV westerns and kiddie action shows and brings screen images to demented, lethal life. The long opening scene, in which characters and vehicles from the TV show Motokops 2200 (think Power Rangers) sweep down the street, spewing death by firearm, is a paragon of action-horror. The story rarely flags after that, evoking powerful tension and, at times, emotion. The premise owes a big unacknowledged debt to the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life"; echoes of earlier Kings resound often as well?the psychic boy (The Shining), a writer-hero (Misery, The Dark Half), etc. But King makes hay in this story in which anything can happen, and does, including the warping of space-time and the savage deaths of much of his large cast. The narrative itself warps fantastically, from prose set in classic typeface to handwritten journals to drawings to typewritten playscript and so on. So why the Bachman byline? Probably for fear that yet another new King in 1996 in addition to six volumes of The Green Mile and Viking's forthcoming Desperation might glut the market. Maybe, maybe not. But one thing is certain: call him Bachman or call him King, the bard of Bangor is going to hit the charts hard and vast with this white-knuckler knockout. Main selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Mystery Guild and Science Fiction Book Club.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Being in a wrong place and a wrong time,
By Stan Go (Manila, Philippines) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Regulators (Mass Market Paperback)
Bachman writes better than king. This book is not typical at any rate. Its suppossed to be gory, but the morbid description of it for me was written in sophistication. The element of suspense was well rendered, multiple characterization were very much developed and i can say that his words bring forth a very vivid visual imagery in my head which a well experienced writer can only do. Behind the plot, I can say that the message in this book pertains well to the extent of the human psyche. this brings us to a funny realization that a human's mind has the ability to detach and if one chooses to have its own escape in a crisis situation. However silly some appears- Behind his words a persona made of undriven intentions are created. In short, we came to see of people living in security stripped of their defenses and see how they will react when pushed to extremes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Bestselling Companion of Desperation,
By jonathan ferreira (Castle Rock(where the Bad Things happen)) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Regulators (Mass Market Paperback)
The Regulators is plain great. This is just one of those stories where you get sucked in and cant get out. I know one reviewer gave this a one star, but don't pay attention. The one star reviewer did mention that this novel had its somewhat perverted parts and it does. I will admit that. This is a Bachman book and is very graphic. Not recommended for younger children.Now, why do I think The Regulators is great? Because of the same reason as Desperation. It is very exciting in the first few pages. I will give away little as possible, but I will say in the first few pages there is a drive by shooting. From there on the book is a roller coaster ride. The reader wants to know more and more. You just can't stop until you know the next twist of plot. For those of you who hunger for a good overview before reading a book I shall provide your wish. Seth is autistic. Something has taken him over. He is starting to manifest vans which are eerily like Power Wagons. Poplar Street turns into hell instead of peacefulness. The people on Poplar Street must try to solve and defeat "Seth". To sum it all up, this is a graphic and gory book that is great. The writing is maybe not as good as other novels he has written, but the plot is great. Obviously, I won't even think to compare it with It or The Shining but still it is King at the top of his game. I encourage you to read Desperation first(I did), because the book will make much more sense. Desperation gives you good information about Tak. One other thing to mention too is the various journal entries and documents King puts in The Regulators. I enjoyed the entries and documents which took up a pretty big portion of the book(maybe 100 pages worth of entries). This was awesome because we were able to see Seth's descent into madness from Audrey's perspective.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome back, your Highness,
By "jd230" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Regulators (Mass Market Paperback)
I think this is one of the best pieces of real pulp horror that Stephen King has ever written. While ohter reviewers cut inot the supposed lack of character development, they are missing the big picture. This book was written to keep you on the edge of your seat, afaraid to turn out the lights when you can finally put the book down. The idea of a virtually indestructible, omnipotent villian has probably been kicked around by most writers of horror fiction, but only King had the balls to try it. And he did a great job, in my opinion.One reviewer even went so far as to say that King didn't know anything about guns when one of his characters claimed that the projectile found in the house didn't have a mark form the firing pin. That was the whole point! The bullet was created by Seth/Tak. They didn't know how a gun worked, just that it killed. That was also why the bullet was shaped like a big cone, as if a child had drawn it. Please, don't nitpick on the book if you don't understand the premise in the first place. Some say that this was far from King's best work, but after such stinkers as Rose Madder and Gerald's Game, it was a great relief that he came back to doing what he does best, scaring the hell out of his audience.
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