The Bachman Books

Charlie Decker kills two teachers and takes his class "hostage". I wish there were more to this story, but there really isn't much meat here. Rage by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King) is currently out of print per King's request. I mean, I get how this particular work could be seen as dangerous (I guess?) and upsetting to those of a certain mindset. However, I think King has written way worse in the way of subject matter! To top it off, this story sounds like it came from an amateur. I know there are some stories written by King that were penned when he was younger. Maybe this was one of them and it shows? I don't know. This just didn't sound much like Stephen King to me which I guess may have been the point since it was originally written under a pseudonym! Anyway, I didn't enjoy this one, but I'm hoping that the other stories in The Bachman Books grip me a lot more!

Passages of this read like classic King, but it strains credulity more than once. Like his other early works, there are some silly mistakes, too. But as a psychological look at disaffected teens and their experiences, it works well. If there were another way to do this without the gun, it might have been a longer more interesting work. Out of print because of the school shooting setting. He wrote this his freshman year at college.

I understand no why SK pulled the book. It was a very sad story and to close to home with all the kids out their struggling and feeling there is no one they can turn to for help where they feel the need to hurt others in rage.