Blaze

I just finished reading Blaze by Richard Bachman, Stephen King's now-abandoned pseudonym. This is an interesting, non-horror novel about a not very bright man who attempts the "crime of the century," and has it all go awry. He's either hallucinating or hearing the spirit of his dead partner in crime, and follows his instructions for the most part in order to carry out the kidnapping, which he realizes (or believes) he is not smart enough to plan and execute on his own.

Blaze is pathetic as criminals go, and he has been sinned against pretty often, which makes his crimes somewhat understandable. Just about everyone's hand has been against him all of his life. When he kidnaps a rich couple's baby in order to hold it for ransom, he finds himself caring for the baby and wanting very much to protect it at the same time that he wants his ransom money. In fact, it seems that he has come to love Joe and see him as the one person who could really be his. Of course, that dream too is shattered.

Stephen King wrote a preface in which he spoke about his ambivalence regarding this novel and his doubts as to whether he should publish it. It might not be his best novel, but it was well worth reading and I'm glad he went ahead with sharing it with his readers.