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The Regulators

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The Regulators

Written by: Stephen King
Narrated by: Frank Muller
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About this listen

The battle against evil has begun in this "devishly entertaining" (Publishers Weekly) story of a suburban neighborhood in the grip of surreal terror - a number-one national best seller from Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman.

Peaceful suburbia on Poplar Street in Wentworth, Ohio, takes a turn for the ugly when four vans containing armed "regulators" terrorize the street's residents, cold-bloodedly killing anyone foolish enough to step outside their homes. Houses mysteriously transform into log cabins, and the street now ends in what looks like a child's hand-drawn Western landscape. Masterminding this sudden onslaught is the evil creature Tak, who has taken over the body of an autistic eight-year-old boy, Seth Garin.

"A rip-roaringly violent thriller whose main action takes place in little more than an hour and a half" (Booklist), The Regulators features an introduction by Stephen King on "The Importance of Being Bachman".

©1996 Richard Bachman. All rights reserved. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc. Fantasy Horror Supernatural Thriller & Suspense Scary Fiction Paranormal
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Personally I like mystery and suspense the most but I don't mind the shooting however I find this story is more focused in blowing people heads off.
Nevertheless if you are a big Stephen King fan I think you will find this book entertaining.

No to good for me

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if you have read Dr Sleep, Desperation, and The Dream Catcher you will recognize some of the themes in this book. Not one of his best. The performance was good but the book was fair. Especially if you read Desperation as there are some continuity issues between the two books

Heard it all before

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The Regulators is a thematic follow up to Stephen King's book Desperation. It exists in an alternate universe to that book. Many of the same characters appear in both stories, some of which are similar wheras others are completely different.

This is a core element to both books appeal. Both books tell similar but different stories. And it's recommended to read both back to back inorder to get the full picture. It is a lot of fun to spot these similarities which all make up a cohesive whole when read this way.

The story and premise to The Regulators is equal parts H.P. Lovecraft and The Twilight Zone. It very much reads like a horror themed version of the latter. The book covers a single series of events that last a very short period of time. However in-between events there are miniature pieces of exposition that give you greater context to how the story reached that point. It always feels like you're uncovering more of a multi-layered mystery as it goes on. The book also ends in a more satisfying way than it's sister book Desperation.

Overall I greatly recommend this book to fans of Stephen King. However only if you read it after completing Desperation while the events and characters are fresh in your memory. It greatly enriched my understanding of the story and characters in a way comparable to reading The Silmarillion prior to The Lord of the Rings. As a result it remains a unique book in King's catalogue. There's nothing else quite like it.

Very underrated

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King is up to his old tricks again. Weird, horrific and wild! Had a lot of fun with this one

Big time fun

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interesting story, it's fun, however definitely one of kings worst, but, only because he sets the bar so high.👍

Worst Bachman, Stephen King is way better.

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Damn I miss Frank, that man had so much range and brought so much to every project. I will always remember his tone and inflection when voicing Eddie Dean. A true master of the craft.

Awesome story, top tier narration

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A little below average for King, but still very enjoyable. I found it a little confusing at points, and a few of the minor characters were a little difficult to keep track of who was who, but still pretty fun.

Pretty good

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I absolutely loved this story, especially listening immediately after finishing Desperation. Many characters are reused in different ways, and I really enjoyed the parallels and tie ins to Desperation. I honestly can't decide which I enjoyed more between the two!

Listen to this right after Desperation!!

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I love all the places where Stephen King’s worlds intersect, a kind of harmonious collision. The King rules.

Read right after Desperation

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