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The Regulators

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 · rating details · 26,067 ratings · 423 reviews

Richard Bachman is really Stephen King, and The Regulators is a kind of companion novel to Desperation, which was published simultaneously. These books mark the return of the Stephen King of old; the Stephen King of The Stand and Pet Sematary, where good and evil were at war and blood and gore flowed through the pages. The companion novels center around a new personificati...more

Hardcover, 475 pages

Published October 1st 1996 by Dutton Books (first published January 1st 1996)

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May 07, 2009 Jimmy rated it 2 of 5 stars

It feels unusual to give this thing such a high rating. I remember the beginnings of almost all of his novels surpassing the endings as far as my interest in King's writing goes. Maybe I just prefer open-ended scenarios a lot more, whether it be with film or literature, and he tends to try to wrap the plot up at seemingly arbitrary points in the story. His endings are hyperbolically ridiculous too. Anyway, what I remember so vividly about this story was the insane suburban slaughter at the begin...more It feels unusual to give this thing such a high rating. I remember the beginnings of almost all of his novels surpassing the endings as far as my interest in King's writing goes. Maybe I just prefer open-ended scenarios a lot more, whether it be with film or literature, and he tends to try to wrap the plot up at seemingly arbitrary points in the story. His endings are hyperbolically ridiculous too. Anyway, what I remember so vividly about this story was the insane suburban slaughter at the beginning. One second two children are in a convenient store, and the little kid is looking a magazine with Ethan Hawke on the cover, thinking about sex, then him and his sister return to their neighborhood. Lazy summer day, etc. Suddenly a barrage of several brightly covered cars rip through unleashing a storm of bullets on the houses, killing most of the neighborhood. I know, most of the appeal of it lies in the cheap shock value inherent in the juxtaposition of the tranquil American suburb with the violent tumult of an inner city shootout.

Naturally, there are the handful of survivors (so typical of the whole King oeuvre) that join together, find strength in numbers, and attempt to battle the sudden mysterious evil that is terrorizing them. I'd have to read it again, which probably will not happen for some time. If I had to admit it, I'd say that everything that King had written under the Bachman pseudonym was by far more interesting than his more popular books. Especially, the earlier stories which, from what I recall, he wrote in his drug addled college days. Out of all of his books (and there are just fucking way too many), this is the material that comes closest to experimental fiction. Of course, many of his rambling epics could be seen in the same light. Or it could also be because he has a tendency to especially not omit anything inessential.

I don't know why I'm writing about this right now.

Unfortunately, I spent a majority of my grade school days reading only Stephen King. I'm thankful to my mother in many ways because when I would see her with one of this things in her hand, my curiosity usually got the best of me. I wasn't exactly precocious as far as literary, or even book related taste was concerned, but reading King was the germination of my relationship with books. More importantly, watching my mother read was. I would like to thank both of them for that. I suddenly feel nostalgic for those days in the suburbs of northern Illinois, and the sweltering, humid heat. Going to the library in the summer when I was younger was the closest was the closest thing to a religious experience for me.

I sometimes wish that I would never have become distracted by all of the sex, drugs, and rollerblading that I loved in my youth. Sooner or later I knew that these things would take me out of my sleepy, sun-filled bedroom. That the peacefulness of reading alone in my room would be interrupted by all of that fun-sounding adolescent life to be had. Not everyone does this. If I had to, then I might blame it on a hyperactive short attention span. (What's with the fucking double adjectives, Cline?) And what was that parenthetical thing you just did? Maybe I'm just trying to say that distraction is very ephemeral company in life. (less)

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Sep 11, 2007 Lisalit rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: horror fans

I don't know how I missed this book over the years. I've read most of the Stephen King library. The Regulators is good, solid King--not, perhaps, one of my favorites, but a captivating (and chilling) read. As is common in his novels, the characters are strong, and the constant "Where does he come UP with this stuff?" question runs through the reader's mind. It starts off strong--action happens almost immediately--and feeds the reader enough information in the beginning to hook them but not enoug...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Matthew Behling rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king

Only Stephen King can write a novel about Power Rangers-esque action figures come to life, autism, an old west shootout, and an evil entity named Tak, all set in Ohio suburbia. Not his finest work, but action packed and a fast read!

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Oct 08, 2007 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My first S. King book. For a while there, I was a bit bored, but all in all, esp given the ending (which I thought was quite heartwarming for a 'horror' novel), I'm giving it three stars. Don't think I'll read anymore of his work, as I realize that I like to watch horror a heck of a lot more than reading it.

Maybe, too, I'm a bit snooty because recently I read "Dracula" and wow, now THAT was amazing.

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Feb 13, 2009 Lucas rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stopped-in-middle

This is another very good book from Stephan King, or Richard Bachman, and I'm glad i picked it. The Regulators is what I expected from one of King's books and i wasn't disappointed by the suspence and plot of this book. This is a good sequal to Desperation, and it is good because it brings a brand new setting to the monster Tak. This way nothing from the last book can try to be recycled like most sequals.

The only problems I have with this book are that the characters take so long to come up with...more

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Oct 19, 2011 chucklesthescot rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy-scifi

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 24, 2012 Mia Rome rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*** means spoiler. Basically the whole thing is a spoiler.
I really liked this book. At first, I had a hard time getting into it, but i was invested by the end. ***In the very beginning, after introducing the neighborhood, the van kills some of the people. Okay, but I wasn't invested in the characters. I honestly had little to no sympathy for their deaths, because I hardly knew them. Also, it was still a complete mystery as to the circumstances surrounding their deaths. I feel like if we had kno...more

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Sep 06, 2010 Benjamin Thomas rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I read more than 100 novels each year and have read most of King's stuff. Obviously, with so much output from one writer, there are bound to be hits and misses. This one was a miss, in my opinion but there is still enough here to make it worth the read.

I had already read Desperation, the companion book to this volume, and came away with the feeling that I had just experienced a pretty good King novel. It also was far from his best but I enjoyed it none-the-less. So, naturally, I turned to this b...more I read more than 100 novels each year and have read most of King's stuff. Obviously, with so much output from one writer, there are bound to be hits and misses. This one was a miss, in my opinion but there is still enough here to make it worth the read.

I had already read Desperation, the companion book to this volume, and came away with the feeling that I had just experienced a pretty good King novel. It also was far from his best but I enjoyed it none-the-less. So, naturally, I turned to this book, The Regulators, hoping for a similar experience. Stephen King is well known for marketing gimicry, pushing the envelope in the publishing business. At first it was through using brand names without permission. Then it was the alternate ego, Richard Bachman, followed by the serial novel (Green Mile) and now it is a "dual novel." Frankly, I don't think it worked this time. I just couldn't get the parallel between the two books/settings. Same names but different people and places. What was the point? Really, they are two seperate books.

In this novel, King definitely displays his famous talent for scene setting. The opening chapter is one of the best I've read, setting the stage for the coming horror. The plot was also pretty good, although the evil 'Tak' seemed somewhat ordinary. King uses a great mechanism to deliver the horror this time. The manifestation of the mind of a small autistic boy. The horrors come in the form of all of those things that frighten young children and, consequently, frighten us. The text is sprinkled throughout with other tidbits as well that help to tell the story: letters, postcards, diary entries, even a script. Another King tool to attack from all directions.

But somehow, it didn't all flow well together. There were so many characters that I lost track of who was who and as they started to die off, I found myself not caring too much who was left. Perhaps I was a victim of having read Desperation first. I guess I was expecting the same characters to survive.

Overall, a middle-of the road King entry. King purists will want to read this one but King samplers should pass.
(less)

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Jun 06, 2010 LKM rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I would have liked to give this book 2 1/2 stars, but I'll settle with the 3 rating.
It wasn't a -bad- book, but I really can't say I loved it.

I both loved and hated the fact that everything seemed to be described with excruciating detail- it made for a very interesting (if long) introduction to everything, but by the very end of the book, it became most annoying. "I get it, already, can we move along with the story?" kinda feeling.

As for the story itself, I think I will have to read the compani...more

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Mar 21, 2010 Kandice rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the companion book to Desperation, and although it's listed here as being written by Stephen King, it was actually Richard Bachman. Ha ha, for those of you that know they are one and the same. King/Bachman uses the same character names in both books which makes for an exercise in memory if they are read close together. For the first 100 or so pages I would think of the character from Desperation as the name was recycled in The Regulators. As a testament to his skill, after that point, I...more This is the companion book to Desperation, and although it's listed here as being written by Stephen King, it was actually Richard Bachman. Ha ha, for those of you that know they are one and the same. King/Bachman uses the same character names in both books which makes for an exercise in memory if they are read close together. For the first 100 or so pages I would think of the character from Desperation as the name was recycled in The Regulators. As a testament to his skill, after that point, I was able to keep them straight, and even their faces slowly changed from what I had pictured to who they were in this book.

The story is about Seth Garin, an 8 year old autistic who has been spiritually invaded by "Tak". Tak has spent centuries trapped in the Earth before he is unwittingly set free by a mining company. Seth's very specialness is what allows Tak to call him, and then reside in Seth. I hesitate to call it a haunting or a possession because as the story progresses, you realize that neither of these is really the case. Seth is a conduit, yes, but he is still there, not subverted, so much as muzzled, when Tak is in charge. What must be more frustrating is that Seth was barely able to communicate before Tak, and now that he has something he really needs to convey, it's made impossible by an outside force, in addition to his brains inability to do so.

Through Seth, Tak becomes obsessed with Motokops 2200 (a futuristic cartoon) and the old west. Seth loves old western television series like Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and his favorite, Bonanza. As he grows more powerful in Seth's body, he begins to bring these things to life and terrorize a suburban block. Mayhem, fire and death insue.

The book is very fast paced and grabs you right from page one. We as the reader are shown what's taking place, but aren't really given clues as to why until well into the story. It doesn't matter. I didn't much care why, until it was actually revealed. I just wanted to see what was going to happen next. As with most of King's books, it wasn't the actual events I found most interesting, although they were rather interesting, but the people's reactions to them. The emotions behind their actions. Their responses to yet another unbelievable, and unexplainable onslaught of tragedy.

The hardest thing to read was the fact that, even though he was autistic, Seth was in there! Under his blank stares, inability to convey his thoughts, needs and desires verbally, he was intelligent and articulate. But, only in his mind. I know this is fiction, and only King's idea of what could be behind an autistic face, it was just so sad. Seth does his best to save those he loves. To put a stop to the sufferring of those around him. He was able to hide thoughts, scheme and make plans. He figured out strategy that the adults in charge of his care never thougt of themselves. To imagine all that going on in an autistic child's mind with no conceivable outlet is just...well hard to imagine.(less)

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Aug 27, 2009 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the most frightening and horrible books I've ever read. Oh God, this story unfolds with a kind of unnatural speed and a huge amount of horror. As I was reading, I almost wished i could stop because it was just too scary. I'm really scared of being in a situation where it doesn't seem like there's a way out.

What Stephen King/ Richard Bachman does in this book is explore the unnatural beings in the Dark Tower universe and the imagination of a child. He brings together two polar opposites: T...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Todd Russell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, evil-spirits

It seems funny writing that this is my least favorite Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman book because it doesn't feel like it was written by Richard Bachman. How can this story be by the same Bachman responsible for The Running Man, The Long Walk, Thinner, etc? Now the only other Bachman I haven't read is Blaze, but with that one at least it was written right after Carrie. This book has shaken my confidence in King being able to channel his inner Bachman any longer, but I'll hold out hope.

T...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Christine Ward rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Like I said in my review of the companion novel, King's "Desperation", I'm not quite sure how to rate this book or "Desperation". This novel by King's nom de plume, Richard Bachman, is about a group of random neighbors in a suburban Ohio neighborhood thrown together when malignant otherworldly forces invade their street. (Readers of both will immediately see that the characters' names are the same as in "Desperation", albeit with some circumstantial changes.)

In the past, I've liked "Desperation"...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Exanimis rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Stephen King fans

I have never been able to get through a single King novel, I can't really say why. This book has been on my shelf for years and I have managed to read the first four chapters on two previous false starts. Yesterday I picked it up again and am about halfway through, I am determined to read at least one Stephen King book, maybe this will be it.

Finished it but I have no idea why I bothered.

My review:

"Jesus Christ!" exclaimed Paul "Is that your Harley George?"
"Christ, it sure is." Beamed George.
"Chr...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Nicholas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In a word: chilling. Maybe it's the fact that I started this at the start of summer with all of its potential, exactly the way this macabre, surreal carnival does. The Regulators takes place on an average American street, one so familiar to small towns that it could literally be anywhere. Baseball is in the air, neighbors are friendly and lawns are neatly manicured. Dogs are playing off-leash in the street and kids are off to go get ice cream or to just hang out - and in a flash like the onset o...more In a word: chilling. Maybe it's the fact that I started this at the start of summer with all of its potential, exactly the way this macabre, surreal carnival does. The Regulators takes place on an average American street, one so familiar to small towns that it could literally be anywhere. Baseball is in the air, neighbors are friendly and lawns are neatly manicured. Dogs are playing off-leash in the street and kids are off to go get ice cream or to just hang out - and in a flash like the onset of a freak summer thunderstorm, it all changes. The transition from lazy summer day to horror funhouse is jarringly sudden and from that point out King acts as your happy tour guide (how does he manage to still be funny in the midst of chaos?) taking you on an expedition through the twisted mind and fantasies of a demon named Tak level by level, taking the time to fully explore the emotional and physical landscape at each stop - allowing you to get used to it almost, to catch your breath, before plunging you down to another level of insanity.

I'm partial to King's books, his method of character development and even the archetypes he uses, so this review should be read with that bias. I think anything that even tangentially adds to the mythology of the Dark Tower multiverse automatically gets a thumbs up in my opinion. There are several recurring King motifs in this one, the most prominent of which is the centrality of a disabled child as the key to the unravelling mystery. The imagery is ripe with potential as disabled children certainly present a duality of a kind, metaphorically at least. Children represent the hopes we have of the future, and for the most part, or at least I believe, they are born good, full of love and trust and willingness to help. What makes them effective vehicles in King stories is that they also represent the fears we have. What parent or potential parent doesn't worry first and foremost about the health of their child? To make sure that they're going to live a full, happy life? It's probably the single greatest fear in the paternal/maternal world and King exploits that fear by letting his imagination show us a contorted version of reality constructed by an autistic child being parasitically fed off of by an ancient and malicious evil. The setup is great because what shines most in this novel is just how absolutely good Seth Garin is in contrast to Tak - a mirror for the love and patience and kindness of his family, particularly his aunt Audrey and uncle Herb, who sacrifice everything and endure months of torment that would break a normal person in a week for a child not their own. This motif is powerful and again, really ripe, but reading as much King as I do, I'm wondering if he's not overusing it (my single complaint, and probably one I wouldn't have if I had read this before Dreamcatcher, for example. This book reads far better than that one too.)

King has a talent for picking out obvious observations amid psychotic chaos and some of the most enduring images are the off-color observations that normal people the world over have at the most unlikely of times. It's rather hard to explain I think, but when Brad Josephson, of the town's single resident African-American couple, kneels on the ground to allow a white liberal hippy to step on his back and make it over a fence to escape from demonic imaginary coyotes, there's time, even with their lives in imminent danger, to reflect on the social irony, the awkwardness felt by both men, and the strangest (yet most normal thing of all), the comedy of it that they both realize and laugh at. They laugh at! Complete with tongue-in-cheek jokes laden with the history of slavery, subservience and the social-cultural identity of whites (liberal ones at least) in the post-Civil Rights era. The whole scene is perfectly surreal, but one expects, perfectly normal and real at the same time that you can't help but buy in to the tale as completely and vividly plausible. It's truly amazing. King also has a knack for revealing the ugly interior underneath the surface veneer of nicety in people when all hell breaks loose. I think the scariest thing sometimes about his stories is not what supernatural forces lurk in the dark waiting to get you, but what your neighbors are capable of when their lives, or their little constructed view of the world, is threatened. Then again, these characters are always balanced by the natural and selfless and unassuming goodness of others - wandering hippies, authors of children's books and wayward cops.

Really fun to read. Enjoy during the summer!(less)

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Aug 22, 2007 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king, 2007, fiction

And so it began.

I embarked on my latest Stephen King obsession (the first one having occured about 10 years ago). This time, the bulk of it was the Dark Tower series and this related book. I'm a life-long fan of King, it just takes me a little longer to get through them, as they tend to scare the living daylights out of me. Go ahead, try to read The Regulators and sleep with the lights off...Tak will visit you in your dreams, i promise you that. tak tak tak

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Nov 08, 2010 Larry Zieminski rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Stephen King fans

As a huge Stephen King fan, I'm a little biased when it comes to rating his work. It would take a really awful book for me to dislike it. Luckily, this book was not awful, it was great. It takes place on a small suburban street over a period of just 2 hours or so. A monster with reality altering powers basically uses that street as his own personal playground. This is classic King, with detailed descriptions of everything we see (this bugs some readers, but I like that style).

My only real issue...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Donald Kendall (The Goremet) rated it 4 of 5 stars

It is TV (and not God) that is the focus of Stephen King's Desperation twinner novel, The Regulators. This time King's dark half Richard Bachman is credited with writing this suburban, surrealistic horror novel that may appear childish, but is provacatively effective. I was interested in the pace of this story, which is relentless. Thriller writers could take a lesson from King as he gives us deep, resonate characters interweaved with endless terror. I remember as a kid my imagination helped me...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Nickwieme rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've been an avid King reader for two years now and this is my first try at Bachman, I was enormously pleased! Especially after a very disappointing Duma Key read. This book literally had everything I love most about King books; the multi-character universe (a vast amount-like Under the Dome and The Stand) and an extraordinary situation pitted against ordinary characters. The action picks up and never lets go and as the haze of what's really happening becomes clearer I became more invested. The...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Helen Driver rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After a slump in my reading habits, I needed something to help me bust out of it so I turned to my favourite author, that reliable gent Stephen King (writing here as Richard Bachman).

The Regulators is about a small town that is quite literally torn apart one sunny afternoon, when strange things start to happen around the unassuming townspeople. After an innocent paperboy is gunned down on his route, the residents of Poplar Street are in a state of panic, and things go from bad to worse when the...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Sonatajessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pure-horror, read-in-2012, october-country

Reading a Stephen King book always has a huge chunk of nostalgia for me, he was my first favorite writer, as a teen I loved and re-read his books like crazy and therefor it is undeniable that he and his stories will always have a special place in my reader's heart.
So, it was pleasure to pick up one of his stories in honor of Halloween. "The Regulators" was published under King's pseudonym Bachman but it carries many of his typical trademarks nonetheless.
How do I feel about it in the end? I feel...more Reading a Stephen King book always has a huge chunk of nostalgia for me, he was my first favorite writer, as a teen I loved and re-read his books like crazy and therefor it is undeniable that he and his stories will always have a special place in my reader's heart.
So, it was pleasure to pick up one of his stories in honor of Halloween. "The Regulators" was published under King's pseudonym Bachman but it carries many of his typical trademarks nonetheless.
How do I feel about it in the end? I feel like I had a terrific time with it without discovering a long hidden gem. My advice for reader's who want to check out King's work would be to go for a different book but for connoisseurs I would sure give a gentle push towards it. It certainly doesn't rank among his best but neither does it classify as one of the worse ones. It is an engrossing novel and I am glad I read it.
The Horror presented is rather an unusual phenomenon, Wild West and Space Cowboys attack a suburban middle class street, no one can leave and a little autistic boy is the secret key to the events. On the strong side we have the group, the characters who bundle together to survive the terror that breaks upon them. The other highlight is exactly this terror, within a couple of pages you are centered, cornered by the action which takes its toll relentlessly and fast. The ending was not exactly the strongest part of the novel but it didn't fall apart either, actually the conclusion is quite well-fitting but I think I wanted a bit more (who knows, the loose companion "Desperation" might have that for me?). We suffer with a big cast through the mayhem but King navigates us easily through the first 200 pages and by then when the pace slows a bit and we get more background story web we are quite acquainted with everyone who is still alive. Still, by the end I found some of the characters a bit too easy and predictable, I think the book ended a bit too soon on them, like said before I wanted a bit more here. I think in some parts I would have liked a bit more crazy ideas which is a wild complain since I do believe the imaginary mind behind the plot was already quite crazy. But a few more rattlesnakes and tumbleweed? I wanted the survivors to get even more lost in this "dreamland" than they already were, forgive my sick fantasies!
I think this was my first 'Bachman' book among King's book and it was good. Time to get around to the long overdue "The long walk" which I really hope to be not just good but great!(less)

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Aug 06, 2011 Celeste rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good books move you. If you want to be moved, find a different book.

This was a large book and it was promising initially (first thirty pages). However, none of the characters developed much except for Audrey and Seth. As none of the other characters were likeable or interesting and were rather two-dimensional, I was not moved at all when they started expiring. In fact, I didn't feel one way or another about any of them.

I read it through to the end and, as with the few other Stephen King books I...more

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Feb 16, 2012 Brendan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, audio, fantasy, fiction, horror

by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman), performed by Kate Nelligan

It's a peaceful day in suburban Ohio when the fleet of futuristic vans rolls into town, bringing hell with them. The residents of the neighborhood are trapped and confused as gunfire opens up, people start dying, and the world around them slowly starts to crumble. A few thoughts:

I've only read a few Stephen King books, but this one feels the most strange, with a bizarre plot plucked from the air like a nightmare. Despite the otherw...more by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman), performed by Kate Nelligan

It's a peaceful day in suburban Ohio when the fleet of futuristic vans rolls into town, bringing hell with them. The residents of the neighborhood are trapped and confused as gunfire opens up, people start dying, and the world around them slowly starts to crumble. A few thoughts:

I've only read a few Stephen King books, but this one feels the most strange, with a bizarre plot plucked from the air like a nightmare. Despite the otherworldly horror King built his career sprinkling through his books, The Regulators takes the chaos to another level, pushing the boundaries of how much a reader can take before it starts to provide context for the madness.
As usual, King does a good job developing believable characters with human motives and emotions. He sprinkles the novel with popular culture references and straight-forward, believable dialogue. The strange mix of people on the street are revealed quickly and slowly, some fully, some hardly at all. And most in keeping with the vicious and capricious nature of the attackers, it's nearly impossible to tell who will and will not survive any given scene.
King uses a strange mix of perspectives to tell the story, drawing on journals, letters, diaries, and an omniscient narrator with little or no sense of order to the choice. I felt like this was the biggest weakness of the novel, as its method of storytelling doesn't move the story forward, but instead breaks the suspension of disbelief by asking the reader to switch perspectives and modes with little or no warning.
King takes his title, and many of the plot elements, from a Western movie that, as far as I can tell, doesn't exist. It's a little disappointing, actually, as I wanted to go back and understand the book better by watching the film. In looking for it, though, I've learned that King wrote a mirror novel at the same time as The Regulators called Desperation, which apparently features many of the same characters. I've requested it from the library.
Kate Nelligan does an excellent job with the reading, bringing strong emotions and characterization to her voice acting. The production also includes some downright creepy sound effects and discordant music to throw the reader off their complacent game. The terrible voice she provides to the supernatural power toward the end of the book is marvelous.
I'm certainly not one to insist that all stories have a purpose or a meaning, nor that a big lesson must appear or apply at the end of the tale, but The Regulators feels particularly purposeless in this regard. Perhaps that itself is the point -- the horrible unreality these suburbanites find invading their neighborhood feels as old as time, not unlike the villainous demonic force at the heart of IT or the malevolent spirit haunting the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Such stories become allegories for both the random acts of violence and terror that individual humans perpetrate to one another, but they also represent the terror the unknown holds over us. At any time the Earth could open up and swallow our city, or bring a flood or a tornado, or a stray asteroid could trigger another ice age. King's supernatural menaces spring from the same ancient fear, the instinctual horror we recognize lurking in the dark places just beyond the reach of our feeble torches.

It's a good, entertaining horror story, but runs a little long for my taste. When I was about a third of the way through, I found myself wondering how it could possibly go the full length, though I didn't feel the book stretched out too much.

Update: As I went to the library website to request Desperation, I learned that the edition of The Regulators I listened to was abridged. DAMMIT. No wonder the pacing seemed weird. I HATE discovering that I've read an abridged version of the book. Now I don't know what I missed. ARRGGHGHGHHH! (less)

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May 29, 2012 Meganm922 rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was warned by two of Stephen King loving family members that this is probably a book best skipped. Maybe they were right. I don’t know. I’m not a huge fan of King, though I enjoy a few of his books. If I didn’t already know that The Regulators is written by Stephen King under a pen name, I would have said that Bachman wrote in a Stephen King-ish way, but didn’t really deliver and possibly tried to hard to be Stephen King-ish.

This novel was good. I can’t say a novel isn’t when I’m constantly t...more I was warned by two of Stephen King loving family members that this is probably a book best skipped. Maybe they were right. I don’t know. I’m not a huge fan of King, though I enjoy a few of his books. If I didn’t already know that The Regulators is written by Stephen King under a pen name, I would have said that Bachman wrote in a Stephen King-ish way, but didn’t really deliver and possibly tried to hard to be Stephen King-ish.

This novel was good. I can’t say a novel isn’t when I’m constantly turning the page trying to figure out what happens next. I kept asking, “What on earth is happening and WHY?”

But now that I’m done, I am kind of blah about it. It wasn’t outright stupid, but the plot was kind of dumb now that I think about it. And it was predictable, once you get about 3/4 of the way and realize what is happening. At that point, my urge to keep turning the pages died down because I got my answer to what was happening.

The writing was weird, too. It wasn’t hard to follow, but the point of view kept jumping from character to character, which was almost too much when I’m just trying to figure out what is happening. None of the characters really stayed with me, either, which is strange for a Stephen King novel. Usually, the characters are amazing and at least one jumps out at you. For example, I cared about each and every character in It, The Stand, and even the short stories in The Skeleton Crew. The characters in this novel weren’t as in depth and I realized I didn’t even care how many of them died.

The parts I enjoyed the most were the firsthand accounts throughout the book, such as Audrey’s journal entries, Allen’s letter, Audrey’s letter to Jan, and the few newspaper clippings. Those really tied everything together and were a lot more personal for the characters.

I think 3 stars is about as fair as I can be with the book. Not the greatest, especially in Stephen King standards, but it was interesting, definitely a page turner, and certainly imaginative.

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's a summer afternoon in Wentworth, Ohio, and on Poplar Street everything's normal. The paper boy is making his rounds; the Carver kids are bickering at the corner convenience store; a Frisbee is flying on the Reeds' lawn; Gary Soderson is firing up the backyard barbecue. The only thing that doesn't quite fit is the red van idling just up the hill. Soon it will begin to roll, and the killing will begin. A quiet slice of American suburbia is about to turn to toast. The mayhem rages around a see

...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Alouette Fantastico rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When there weren't any more R.L. Stine books available, and Christopher Pike had done all he could for me, I sneaked into the adult fiction section of the library and snagged this one when no one was looking. I'm pretty sure this is the first King book I ever read, and I'm pretty sure I was waaaay too young for it. I got about halfway before I started having nightmares about monsters and shotguns and dumped it back at the library as soon as physically possible, having thought I'd learned a lesso...more

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Feb 12, 2011 Marianne rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Stephen King fans

Shelves: stephen-king, reviewed

I gave this three stars because I'm not really quite sure how I felt about this book. There were several points throughout that I simply had to put it down because it was just too much.

What I liked: I thought the characters were great; they felt real. The story was good. I kept wondering what on earth could possibly happen next.

What I didn't like: My only real complaint is the...intermissions (for lack of a better word.) While they made interesting reading, I would have rather read them all tog...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Barbie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

type of book: horror

I received this book from/at: Brandy Bee at Gadsden Regional where I took her for an epidural for her bad back

ideas expressed/message/plot: A young, autistic boy, Seth, becomes the vessel of an old evil (spirit? demon?) known as Tak, who has an odd fascination with Westerns (esp. The Regulators) & a cartoon called MotoKops. Tak thrives by talking lives & is able to make manifest his favorite TV characters & terrorize the 'burbs where Seth lives.

favorite characters...more

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Jun 25, 2010 Chase rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was interesting. I love the concept of aliens, ghosts, and western all mixed into one. It was not king's best, but I guess it is not really King; it is his alternate ego Richard Bachman.
The only problem with this book was that there were so many characters that I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. One of King's many gifts is that I am able to build personal attachments with each character, but because this book had such a long list of characters I had a tough time being dra...more

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May 30, 2012 Garrett Nicolai rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this shortly after reading its "twinner", "Desperation", and at first it was a bit of a jolt seeing the same characters in new situations, and I kept trying to relate it back to "Desperation". I would suggest not to do that.

While the characters have the same names, and there are similar plot points, the two books are different, and can each stand on their own. Where "Desperation" is a ghost town story, where danger could be lurking behind every corner, "The Regulators" plays out more like...more

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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