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“It's only a little secret, but having a secret makes me feel better. Like a human being again.��

King’s worst? For me, yes. I hated this book from start to finish.

Rage tells the story of Charlie Decker. One day Charlie goes into his school, shoots his algebra teacher and holds the rest of his classmates hostage. This book was released back in 1977 under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman. However following a number of school shootings where the perpetrators had Rage in their possession, King made the decision to cease publication. Thank heavens - I still don’t understand why King would ever want this published in the first place.

There were many reasons why I didn’t like this book, but first and foremost, it was boring as hell - not at all what I expected. Essentially it’s a bunch of teenagers sitting around talking. And although that does sound pretty frickin�� dull, look at what King was able to achieve with books like Gerald’s Game... The characters are flat and interchangeable, particularly the females who are assessed on their virginity, or lack thereof, and sexual activities. Oh, apart from “ugly Irma��, who is somewhat an anomaly due to the fact she is too ugly for anyone to want her...

Charlie is a despicable character, an utter arsehole. His use of the phrase “getting it on�� made me roll my eyes so hard I almost went blind (this was actually a working title for Rage, I’m forever thankful it didn’t stick). The way the teenagers converse with each other just didn’t feel natural or realistic to me. Oh, and how Bachman was not outted as King right away is shocking given the multiple mentions of Maine and chambray workshirts!

All in all, I found very little to enjoy when reading Rage. Writing this review was a cathartic experience that I enjoyed more than the book itself.

(I still love you, King, but this was trash.) 1 star.