"The Regulators" by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

Interesting premise; mediocre execution. -- 3 Stars.

I am not generally a fan of Stephen King, but from time to time a concept of his intrigues me enough to give him a try. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised (liked “Cell”), and other times I am let down (hated “Dreamcatcher”).

However, I have been fascinated for some time with his whole Richard Bachman persona. For years, I have been meaning to pick up a copy of “Thinner,” and just never got around to it. My son’s best friend suggested that I try “The Regulators,” one of the most recent Bachman books. I agreed to give it a try. Having finished it, my verdict is mixed.

“The Regulators” is an intriguing idea that never feels like it lives to its full potential. A small, Midwestern town becomes isolated by an alien or demonic force known as Tak. Within this sphere of reality, the characters find themselves facing an evil that has been overwhelmingly influenced by the imagination of young autistic child.

Anything can happen, and does for the first half of the story. But it began to feel as though Bachman (King) was just making this up as he went along and then ran out of steam. It felt as though the story had some larger, more breath taking climax out there, somewhere, and the author just could not find it. Just as the characters cannot leave their lone street, the story becomes trapped as well.

Still, to give credit where credit is due, I have to admit that the writing was very compelling when the plot was working, without as much of the over laden details that I dislike about Stephen King. The deaths of various characters are visceral and disturbing, the latter of which shows that I was invested in the story more than it felt at other times. For that reason alone, I give the book an extra half star from 2-1/2 to 3 stars.

My son’s friend reports that this book has a “companion” novel, which King wrote under his own name, called “Desperation.” I have never read that book, but I caught the first half of a two evening TV mini series a few years ago. The fact that I did not feel compelled to tune in the for the second half suggests that I wouldn’t care for that book either.