Customer Reviews

The Regulators

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(35)
2 star:		(34)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

I read more than 75 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.

'The Regulators' is not quite on the literary level of 'Desperation,' but that makes it more fun in a way, especially as it's less preachy. I liked that 'The Regulators' adds a little more information about the mysterious Tak. Here we see a more terribly playful, oddly fastidious, and possibly younger Tak who loves spaghetti, chocolate milk, westerns, and Cassie Stiles. And while most of the characters of 'The Regulators' are flatter than those of 'Desperation,' 'The Regulators' gives us a glimpse of what some inhabitants of Desperation might have been like before Tak possessed them, particularly Audrey and Collie who were never shown "pre-Tak" in 'Desperation.'

A good book, but Desperation was better. I read Desperation first, and expected it to be similar, but the two books are completely different. The force of evil in both novels is the same, and the characters have the same names but different personalities, and different people survive at the end. The ending is also different, Desperation's is far better. The story involves an autistic boy named Seth who seems to have some special powers. Soon, it becomes apparent that he is infested by a being/power called Tak, which feeds on peoples' "life-force". Tak is using its limited but growing powers to turn a pleasant summer afternoon in this pleasant Ohio suburb into a living nightmare for all its residents. I think the biggest problem with this book is the characters. There are so many of them that it becomes confusing, and that the author doesn't spend much time on character development for any of them. As a result, we really don't get to "know" any of them (except maybe one), which for me is one of the things that makes a Stephen King (but apparently not Bachman) novel good. Still, it's a very amusing (and gory) story. The ending, while not quite the "epic" finish of Desperation, is still good.

Our resident master of horror, Stephen King, chalked up another first with the simultaneous 1996 publication of two huge grisly page turners, "Desperation", and under the pseudonym of "the late" Richard Bachman, "The Regulators."

A juxtaposition of the two covers reveals one picture - a menacing suburban landscape overlapping a western ghost town overrun with critters. But the two novels (almost 1200 pages of late nights and disturbing dreams) are each complete in themselves.

"Desperation" is set in a tiny Nevada mining town of the same name and "The Regulators" takes place on one block of an Ohio suburb. What the two novels share is their characters and the same elemental evil force, Tak, which has escaped from a deep mine shaft.

Although King has saved himself some work here - the characters have essentially the same personalities and backgrounds in both books - neither book provides a clue to anyone's fate in the other. The books are not sequential but alternate versions, alternate lives.

In "Desperation" the characters are assembled by Collie Entragian, an outsize cop whose initially strange mix of friendliness and menace is eerily chilling. Apparently at random, he stops passing motorists and carries them off to jail. Some, however, don't make it all the way to jail, and it gradually becomes clear that Entragian has murdered everyone in town. But something weird is happening to the cop, too. He is literally and gorily falling apart.

In "The Regulators" the characters are already assembled as neighbors on Poplar Street. Their glorious summer day is shattered by the arrival of a crayon red van and its armed driver.

Collie Entragian, a former cop drummed off the force on trumped-up charges, attempts to protect his neighbors and preserve the crime scene but the violence quickly escalates out of control. As the street begins a nightmarish metamorphosis into something out of the worst of children's television and old westerns, the strengths and weaknesses of the inhabitants begin to work on all of them - Johnny Marinville, the successful author of children's books, haunted by a dissipated past and a too-vivid vision; Cynthia, the new clerk at the convenience store, whose two-toned hair and irreverent wit obscure a core of decency; Tom Billingsley, the retired veterinarian; Steve Ames, a young man drifting through life, picking up skills.

And then there's Audrey Wyler, the young widow with the autistic nephew, Seth. No one's seen her in a while and at first they scarcely notice her continuing absence amidst all the mayhem. But Audrey's particular hell has been a long time coming. There's a thing in Seth that can bend people to its will and the world to its malevolent vision and it's growing stronger.

In "Desperation," aging Johnny Marinville is only inches away from his former dissipation and still trying to reform his life without giving up his roue image; Steve Ames is the general dogsbody following Marinville on his cross-country tour; Cynthia is the plucky hitchhiker Steve picks up; Tom Billingsley is an old alcoholic veterinarian from Desperation (and why didn't Collie kill him? we wonder) and Audrey is a mining engineer who has managed to hide out from Collie.

The Carvers, also present in "The Regulators" are reversed in "Desperation" - the parents are the children and vice versa. Thus, David, the child touched by God whose role is pivotal in "Desperation," is just an early adult corpse in "The Regulators."

The child - his individual strength as well as innocence and purity of vision - are key in both books. And in "The Regulators," King adds a twist - good and evil battling it out within the same small body.

As always, King's writing zips along and no one can beat him for sheer terror - the opening chapters of "Desperation" are scarier than any of the gore which follows. But the sheer volume of horrors numbs the reader's imagination eventually. In a lesser writer's hands both books could fizzle but King's characters are human beings and we care what happens to them. With King, you never know if the good guys are going to make it until the last page is turned.

First off, Desperation and The Regulators are not the same story. Yes certain characters are used, (some in name only) but that's all apart of the pun involved. The Regulators is supposedly the discovered manuscript of Richard Bachman, about an evil entity named Tak, who telepathically terrorizes a small suburban Ohio town through the use of a child's television heroes. Desperation, on the other hand, is about a mistakenly discovered tommyknocker, (not to be confused with the SK novel by the same name) who can manipulate and posses other living beings in the fictitious town of Desperation, NV. (Tak is also the antagonist in this prose.)
Without rehashing the synopsis of either book, this Stephen King fan enjoyed Desperation to a higher degree than The Regulators. In my opinion, the latter seems more of an extended short story and at no time did I find myself even remotely attached to any character presented in the material. Desperation however, was a more enjoyable read with a deeper plot line and thoroughly developed characters. If you happen to read The Regulators before Desperation don't fret. Neither book is in any kind of sequential order. Read one and think of the other as some sort of parallel universe.

I like Stephen King. And I'm the kind of fan who usually enjoys even discards and potboilers. But I felt cheated. This is the first King book where I didn't feel I got value for my money. This isn't just Homer nodding, this is floor sweepings.

All of King's faults stand out in this book. He never convinces me for an instant that his isn't just making this one up as he goes along. For example, long about the end of the book, it finally occurs to King that he has a problem: if Seth _does_ manage to evict the evil alien presence that has possessed him, what's to stop it from instantly invading one of the other score or so of humans within its ever-increasing zone of power? King's clever solution: he suddenly invents a law of his universe that says that if the alien invades anyone else but Seth, their heads explode.

It may seem odd to complain of gratuitous violence and grossness in King; it's always seemed to me that he has difficulty resolving his plots tends to end his books with a meaningless burst of ichor. But this book is _entirely_ like a King last chapter. Didn't care about _any_ characters in it.

This book is _exactly_ like what people who have never read Stephen King think Stephen King is like.

I came in to reading The Regulators having no idea what to expect. I come away amazed, thrilled, and glad to have made a good purchase. The plot twists, great character developments, surprises, and the odd format kept me reading, and hanging on every word. The details come pouring in, and the story unfolds. It takes place in Wentworth, Ohio, as a massacre occurs in the middle of a beautiful summer day. Poplar Street begins to look like Main Street, Desperation, Nevada, circa 100 years ago...but one house, that of one Audrey Wyler, remains untouched, her autistic nephew within. The story is interspliced with news clippings, journal entries, and teleplays that give a hint of what comes in the next chapters...none of it expected. How "Bachman" manages to keep the dozen or so essential characters fully developed is really amazing, and the story is a great one. This was the first Steven King book I've read, although I didn't realize it until I had finished. A couple days later, I found King's (really him this time) book "Desperation", with similar characters in a familiar setting. I bought it then and there. Needless to say, I must insist you purchase Richard Bachman's "THE REGULATORS"--You won't be disappointed, I guarantee it!

I read Desperation and enjoyed it immensely much like i did with The Regulators also. This book is filled with suspense from page one. The book never drags in my opinion. This book though is not for the faint of heart. If you don't enjoy high body counts and gore then you will not like this book and will most likely put it down by the second chapter. But if you don't mind it at all like me you will enjoy the suspense he gives you and the twists and turns this book takes. The ending is by far the most suspenseful part. I also recommend reading Desperation first because you will probably understand it better and get a better look on what Tak is all about. The journal entries and newspaper articles are a very nice touch to the story and it lets you understand what is going on alot better also. I wish there was a part three to this but sadly there isn't. I can't choose between Desperation and Regulators because their both great but The Regulators does have the more suspenseful end to it. Although it is alot bloodier and may you even get a brief lump in your throat like i did when a tragic thing happens in the end. Keep up the good work King.

The Regulators is plain great. This is just one of those stories where you get sucked in and cant get out. I know one reviewer gave this a one star, but don't pay attention. The one star reviewer did mention that this novel had its somewhat perverted parts and it does. I will admit that. This is a Bachman book and is very graphic. Not recommended for younger children.
Now, why do I think The Regulators is great? Because of the same reason as Desperation. It is very exciting in the first few pages. I will give away little as possible, but I will say in the first few pages there is a drive by shooting. From there on the book is a roller coaster ride. The reader wants to know more and more. You just can't stop until you know the next twist of plot.
For those of you who hunger for a good overview before reading a book I shall provide your wish. Seth is autistic. Something has taken him over. He is starting to manifest vans which are eerily like Power Wagons. Poplar Street turns into hell instead of peacefulness. The people on Poplar Street must try to solve and defeat "Seth".
To sum it all up, this is a graphic and gory book that is great. The writing is maybe not as good as other novels he has written, but the plot is great. Obviously, I won't even think to compare it with It or The Shining but still it is King at the top of his game. I encourage you to read Desperation first(I did), because the book will make much more sense. Desperation gives you good information about Tak. One other thing to mention too is the various journal entries and documents King puts in The Regulators. I enjoyed the entries and documents which took up a pretty big portion of the book(maybe 100 pages worth of entries). This was awesome because we were able to see Seth's descent into madness from Audrey's perspective.

Once again, evil befalls a select group of innocent people. In this case, it takes place in the suburbs of Wentworth, Ohio. The entity, Tak, who was granted new life from an old abandoned mine in Desperation Nevada, is back.

And, when Tak is back, there is hell on earth. So is the reality, displaced and altered to accommodate the visuals of an autistic boy named Seth. In the course of a few hours, Tak strives to act out a western movie and "wipe this town off the map." As Tak plans and begins to act out his strategy, the neighbors on the block of Poplar Street watch in horror as everything around them turns into an old desert mining town, complete with the chinese laundry, log cabins and hitching posts. Then the life size toy vans drive through and unleash their barrage at the stricken neighborhood. Remarkably, oddly constructed animals and signs sprout up and it reminds everyone of a first grader's attempt at drawings come alive.

How to stop it, how to confine Tak? Tak literally feeds off the souls of dead, sucking their life energy and making him stronger. Yet he is trapped in the body of a 7 year old, and can only physically accomplish what the 7 year old can do. In his frustration, he attempts to move on, but finds that Seth, the 7 year old autistic child has reached deep inside his own malfunctioning brain to change Tak's course forever.