Clay (Blaze) Blaisdell Jnr and George Rackley are partners in crime, even in death.
Blaze doesn’t have the smarts when it comes to planning ‘the big score’ but he does have the braun. George wants to kidnap a baby (because they can’t ID you) and ransom him for a cool million to set them up for life, the only thing is, George is dead.
Blaze kidnaps Joe Gerard III, but leaves a trail of clues for the cops and it’s only a matter of time before they catch him. With George’s help he tries to stay one step ahead.
Blaze begins to care for Joe and dreams of keeping him as his own son against George’s advice.
Really a novella, Blaze explores the events that turns a young big hearted downtrodden Clay Blaisdell into the slow witted adult and criminal that he becomes.
I didn’t expect much as the last Bachman book I read was quite violent and dark. It has the usual supernatural themes, but you do warm to Blaze and empathise with what life has dealt him. I especially enjoyed the memories of his childhood which were like short stories in themselves.
Also included in this edition is a short story by Stephen King titled ‘Memory’ which has inspired a longer piece of work which will be published as ‘Duma Key’ in 2008.
About The Author
Richard Bachman is of course Stephen King. His alter ego wrote several novels during 1966 and 1973 some of which have been made into movies. Rage, The Long Walk (my favourite), Roadwork, The Running Man (starred Arnold Swarzenegger, but unfortunately was nothing like the novel), Thinner (also a movie) and The Regulators (which in my opinion was a dreadful and disturbing piece of work).
Blaze was written in 1972 and pays homage to ‘Of Mice and Men’
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