A review by blackenedwhiplash
Blaze by Richard Bachman

3.0

I borrowed this book from my aunt who dropped off a bunch of Stephen King books for me to borrow and I'm finally getting around to reading them. I haven't yet read any other crime novels by Stephen King, and I think this was a good introduction to that side of King's literary skill. Playing off the big strong fool who is too dumb to take care of himself is a tired concept, reused in too many stories to count. But this is the King we're talking about, so he's able to put new fresh spins on this concept to make it entertaining, endearing, and even sympathetic. You grow to care about Blaze as he grows to care about the baby he kidnaps. The story has this satisfying feeling of symmetry because of this and other events between his past vs. the present in the story. I think this novel was pretty unpredictable and imaginative. The concept is great and works well. It's an overlooked novel in King's/Bachman's catalog, but it deserves your attention. King does go pretty extensively into Blaze's backstory, which I took interest in, but it's something to consider if you're someone who just wants to see the rest of the story and not take steps back to build the character and plot.