BLAZE By Stephen King

Published : 2007
Pages : 309
Overall Mark : 9/10

Clayton Blaisdell Jr, aka Blaze, is a simple man who turned to crime as something of a last resort because he wasn’t clever enough to do anything else. His best friend and partner in crime, George, had died whilst they were coming up with a plan to make one final big wad of cash, so Blaze decides to try out the plan on his own: the plan being to kidnap the child of a rich family and hold it to ransom. Unfortunately Blaze finds himself forming a bond with the baby and decided he doesn’t really want to give the child back.

This is a nice novel because it actually has the reader sympathising with someone who, in the best sense of the word, is the villain of the piece, and turns them into something of a hero. Blaze is a likeable character, and the reasons for his criminal behaviour are explained in the many flashback sequences which pepper this novel. Stephen King is back on form here, and it’s surprising that this novel got turned down for publication over thirty years ago.