Blaze - Richard Bachman

I rated this 8/10

He's got a plan.
But he hasn't a clue...

Clayton Blaisdell's capers are strictly small time until he meets George Rackley. With Blaze's brawn and George's brains, they pull off a hundred successful cons. Then George plans the one big score every small timer dreams of: kidnapping the infant heir to a family fortune.

A fabulously tense account of a big 'dummy' who finds himself in the wrong situations with the wrong people.

I love the way that Stephen King weaves Blaze's past with his present to give an all round view of his life and his quite soft natured personality. There wasn't a character in the book that fell flat, they were all so well written and three dimensional.

I really found myself connecting with Blaze despite his wrongdoings, and rooting for him to be happy though I knew this could never happen. I wasn't quite sure about the voice of George in Blaze's head however, I feel that Blaze seemed to be magically aware of things that he wouldn't have otherwise known.

King is the master of building tension and character, and Blaze is no exception. Definitely worth a read, and I will be reading more and more by him.