Reviews - The Running Man | The StoryGraph

2.11k reviews for:

The Running Man

David Hájek, Stephen King, Richard Bachman

3.7 AVERAGE

yareach's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sprklzrnbw's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

chloev17's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

daisy1701's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

heyyyitsericm's review against another edition

2.75

It’s crazy to think how strong early King was - and how it seems he intentionally tried to move away from his early strength when he wrote as Bachman.

This book is just highly uneven, with the fact that he chose to introduce a key player so late in the story.

(I’m also fresh off seeing the film adaptations, one which is so off the source the material and one that is more true - and almost tells the story better than the source!)

But - the novel is somewhat prescient and does have elements of a strong dystopian novel. Some of the characters are caricatures…and with the way King wrote Black and fat people - you’re reminded this book was originally written 40+ years ago.