About the Author

Under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman, world bestseller Stephen King published five books, including THE RUNNING MAN, THINNER and THE BACHMAN BOOKS. THE REGULATORS was published 'posthumously' after Bachman's real identity was discovered. Stephen King was awarded the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, and was voted Grand Master at the 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Awards. He is the author of more than forty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent stand-alone novels include DREAMCATCHER, CELL and LISEY'S STORY. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

Reviews

'A writer of excellence...King is one of the most fertile storytellers of the modern novel' -- Guardian 'Popular fiction's most prolific terror-monger' -- The Times 'Slides slickly down an eager gullet' -- Telegraph

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. (Sept.)