A few weeks earlier I finished Stephen King's Desperation, which has been one of his most addicting book I came across in a while. As I did a little research before, I found out Richard Bachman's The Regulators was published the exact same day, September 24th 1996. Both books are connected and so it was clear that I would do a complete reading of both. The Regulators, however, is not what I was expecting as it fundamentally differed from Desperation, in a way lacking all the epicness I was hoping for.
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| So this is what happens when you own hardcover editions of both books. |
The stage of the play
Desperation played in Desperation, Nevada, a small mining town in the middle of nowhere. The Regulators is set in Wentworth, Ohio, in a more sub-urban environment. But Desperation, the town, is part of the story. Under mysterious circumstances Wentworth's Poplar Street becomes the desert of Desperation! Also Desperation hints already at The Regulators as there is written:
"But I'll tell you one thing, young man: it doesn't surprise me at all that the Land of the Dead should turn out to be located in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio." (Desperation, pp. 497)
Characters: Old and new faces
It's a different book, but most interestingly it features the same characters in a different role. Our beloved heroes from Desperation like David, the former ten year old pray boy, is now a family man with his children named Ellen and Peter (in Desperation his parents - you see what King did there). Peter Carver dies in both books, however. Entragian, the big bad cop Tak inhabited in Desperation is now a different person: He's just a fat old unemployed ex-cop neighbor from down the street and not the sadistic killing machine anymore we met first in Desperation. A special role is given to Audrey Wyler this time, who in Desperation was just one of Tak's puppets. In The Regulators she is the aunt of autistic Seth, who serves as Tak's place to hide and grow. Seth did not appear in Desperation.
The villain: Tak
Tak is King's spook of the desert,
a demon, thousands of years old. In both books Tak was set free through mining works when the open air pit 'Rattle Snake II' hits on the old and forgotten shaft of Rattle Snake I, where 50 Chinese workers were burried in the 19th century. The nature of Tak, or his conditions, differ in the two books. While Tak in Desperation wastes his host body in a few days at most - turning them into little more than bloody piles in the process - is he capable of living into Seth's body for well over two years. But only in Seth's body as we learn. In Desperation it is said that Tak is not 'god like' but a kind of demon. This leaves us to the conclusion that
Tak is not one of The Great Ones like
IT, the one that reigns from the Thinnies and from between the levels of the Dark Tower. It is arguable whether Tak is part of our world or sent from someplace else as both books do not answer this question - it's just been lurking to set free for a damn long time. Tak's character is memorable because it is an extremely sadistic being that enjoys brutally killing its victims. In The Regulators it actually shifts whole Poplar Street to another dimension and re-creates cartoon cars and old western stars that kill those unfortunate enough to be captured there.
The heroes: David the Prayboy vs. Seth the autist
I made it clear in my last review that even while I greatly enjoyed Desperation it was a little too much on the Christian side for my taste. I would've preferred the concept of
purpose and random King introduced in Insomnia. Well, Desperation's David was nonetheless an acceptable hero, especially as he had a pragmatic approach to religion. Seth is of a different kind. I'm not exactly sure whether to call him a hero is to put it right, but he is the one that eventually battles Tak, in his mind, his consciousness, which both of them share:
Then he turned away, found one of the secret passages he had made for himself during Tak's reign, and disappeared quietly into it. Deeper into his own mind he went, the passage taking him ever downward. He walked at first, then began to jog. He didn't understand much more of this world than he did the one outside, but now it was the only world he had. (The Regulators, page 260)
It's actually Harakiri he does to stop Tak in The Regulators, in my opinion. While this part is described by Bachman/King as a poker match I honestly found it a little lame, especially as the last letter (letters and diary entries are a constant narrative element in The Regulators) was written by an unkown, not previously appeared person, and was also set ten years earlier. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't get it. Seth, who possesses
The Shining, as he is able to telepathically communicate with his aunt from time to time, is overall an interesting character and the sadder it is that he ends up with a bullet shot through his skull. I would've loved to see him 'win' and be alive, but it's Bachman after all.
Reading The Regulators after Desperation
I found that reading The Regulators after Desperation was a kind of let down. While both feature to great parts the same characters (that was a surprise to me) Desperation, which also is easily 300 pages longer, naturally evolves them, more believably also. In Desperation they just serve as cannon fodder. Entragian stays one dimensional as Bachmann hints at his troubled past only to put a bullet through his brain. There was tension and thrill to Desperation that I just could not rediscover in The Regulators. I hate to say it, but I had to force myself through The Regulators. While Tak is a memorable villain I just enjoyed him way more in Desperation when he yodellingly drives over fleeing townsfolk or wastes a body to bloody rags while pursuing fleeing victims. My advise would be to read Desperation (first) and probably try The Regulators if you feel that you can't get enough of Tak. Otherwise skip it.
