Drafted thirty-five years ago on the same Olivetti typewriter he next used to write Carrie, BLAZE was dismissed by King as too sweet when he first decided to publish “the Bachman books,” and then lost among boxes of papers that wound up at the University of Maine’s Fogler Library. Fortunately, it was recovered this past fall.

When he began reading it, King realized he’d written a Bachman novel of surprising strength—a crime story not just sweet but sad, suspenseful, and sustained by classic lineaments of fate and character. King has refined the story to give listeners his best Bachman novel.

The life of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr.—the crimes committed against him and the crimes he himself commits, including the kidnapping he is doomed to attempt is a gripping and unforgettable experience. King’s last Bachman novel was The Regulators, published simultaneously with Desperation in 1996. The others are Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork, The Running Man, and Thinner.