Review: The Running Man by Richard Bachman aka Stephen King (Spoiler-Free)

Really great premise. Lackluster execution. Endless potential for a movie (again).

I'll sprint my way through almost any game-centered dystopian story, but that doesn't mean all of them end up being winners. The Running Man had all the bones to get there, but a few of its vital organs were missing.

The concept here is simple: a man has 30 days to be hunted by the nation or win $1 billion if he can survive that long. There's so much room for cool action sequences, clever escapes, charades, etc. Except in this book that only lasts the first third. Then Stephen King kind of forgot what he was doing.

At some point this devolves into a series of deus ex machina and failed hitchhikes that are almost made up for by an explosive ending but... there is just so much more room for epicness that I'm hoping the upcoming film adaptation will achieve instead. Fewer tedious logistics and more clever antics.

Of course there's also the elephant in the room of the excessive racism, ableism, homophobia, misogyny, etc. in this book. Some of this can be chocked up to the disillusioned protagonist, but a lot of it can't be. So that was definitely also not an aspect I enjoyed.

All that being said, King always keeps the pages turning, even writing as Bachman, so I flew through this thing. The concept is exciting, and I'm excited to see it adapted without all the problematic elements. The Long Walk is still my favorite of what I've read from King (also just watched that movie! In that case, the book was better), but this is another solid idea for a dystopian story.