First edition paperback.
The Regulators is the 38th book published by Stephen King; it was his 33rd novel, and the sixth written under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman. It was the first of Bachman's two "trunk-novels," being described as a manuscript discovered by Bachman's widow following his "death." The book was released by Dutton on 24 September 1996, on the same day as its "twinner-novel", Desperation.
Summary
The novel takes place in Wentworth, Ohio, on Poplar Street. There, Seth Garin, the autistic nephew of Audrey Wyler, has been possessed by Tak, a powerful entity that wants to control his body. Seth calls on characters from a children's television show and a Western that he is obsessed with and they attack Poplar Street. The characters living on that street are forced to work together to survive Tak's insanity.
Twinner to Desperation
The Regulators is the twinner novel to Desperation; as such, it is almost a mirror of the latter novel. The action in The Regulators takes place not in Nevada but in Ohio. John Marinville is a reoccuring character, as are Peter and Mary Jackson, Steve, Cynthia, Tom Billingsley, and Collie Entragian, although Entragian is not the antagonist in this novel. Similarly, while Audrey was an antagonist in Desperation, in this novel she is a sympathetic protagonist and one of Tak's primary victims. The Carver family returns as well, athough the parents and children have been switched, and David Carver is now married to Pie Carver. Tak retains elements of his Western-style, and appears to have originated from the same place as in Desperation.
| The Bachman Books |
| Rage • The Long Walk • Roadwork • The Running Man • Thinner • The Regulators • Blaze |