Nothing Regular About This King Offering
The Regulators by Stephen King
The concept of The Regulators and Desperation is rather unusual. There are similarities between the stories (characters in both share names, but most roles are reversed), the general story line pits good against Evil (and we are talking serious Evil here), and there's a bad being Tak that shows up in both books. Allegedly, the books are written by different authors (Bachman being the definite weirder of the two, and SOME people think King is weird), and it just so happens that these books were published at the same time, in a package deal. What a marketing concept.
However.
The stories are quite different, and unless you read them concurrently, you won't be confused by the similarities. Like me, you may find yourself chuckling inadvertently instead during the initial chapters as players are introduced. Soon the chuckles will disappear, and you'll find yourself on that famous Steve King merry-go-round where you stay up until 3 a.m. to finish "just one more chapter" so you can get to a safe place and be able to sleep peacefully. Forget it.
Depending on which order you read the books in, you may find one book is a favorite over the other. Here's how you resolve that little dilemma; just wait a couple of years and re-read them again, in the opposite order. That's what I did, and it worked just fine. Now, maybe if I re-read them both at the same time, I'll like them both equally as well. On with the show.
Compared to Desperation, The Regulators is a walk in the park. That is, if the park is dark, scary, and full of bogeymen driving cartoon-character panel vans and sporting big, ugly guns.
The first sign that anything's gone wrong occurs when middle class suburbia is suddenly turned into an avenue of horror when the MotoKops (I always picture them as demented Power Rangers) come to call in their vans. Slinging guns and wreaking havoc on Poplar Street, they are conjured up through the imagination of a small boy named Seth, who happens to be autistic, and is possessed by the spirit of Tak (heeeee's baaaack). Tak and Seth adore the old Rory Calhoun film The Regulators, watch it incessantly (in addition to MotoKops cartoons) and it plays a critical part in the book.
(I have a friend who is a huge King fan, and her son is autistic. She has told me that the portrayal of Seth is very accurate and for that reason, really likes The Regulators better than Desperation.)
As in Desperation, The Regulators is wrought with rather graphic violence; a little less swearing. It's the old Good v. Evil again, but different from Desperation. It's hard to explain, but The Regulators is a little softer; there is a touch of sweetness in Seth's story that doesn't occur with any of the characters in Desperation.
King has a touch for intertwining characters and plots in many of his books. (Ever notice the proliferation of villains with the initials "R. F." in other books?) Desperation and The Regulators take this talent to the max, and there are interesting correlations that may not be readily apparent the first time you read them. Oh yeah, check out the cover art (front and back covers) if you really want to see a cool "window on King's world".
Closing up shop, I'll just share that I am a very big King fan (me and Annie Wilkes). I have worn out duplicate copies of his books in reading and re-reading my favorites. While I will not say that Desperation/The Regulators are at the top of my King list; they are in the top 10. I DO strongly recommend both books, although there are other King books (Insomnia and The Stand) that I would recommend reading over these (if you have a choice). I do recommend buying the books over getting from the library. As with most King books, I've enjoyed them as much the second time around as the first, and like having them at my disposal when I need that "horror" fix.
