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This was my last unread Bachman book, and it's got an interesting history: Written in 1973, it was rejected by the publisher in favor of 'Salem's Lot as King's second novel, so it ended up becoming a "trunk novel" he wasn't very fond of and more or less forgot about for decades. In the intervening years, Bachman was discovered and died of "cancer of the pseudonym"; this was the second (and likely last) "posthumously" released Bachman book, following The Regulators in the mid-90s, the mirror-novel to Desperation.

King rewrote the manuscript to edit out what he considered "over-sentimentality" and some references that dated it, and the book begins with an author's note that's essentially an apology and warning of sorts, which I don't understand. This novel was perfectly enjoyable, and I don't understand where King's need to justify himself comes from when he's published books like Roadwork, the aforementioned The Regulators, or even novels in his own name like Dreamcatcher or The Tommyknockers that were... pretty lacking. My point being: He's written and willingly released far worse things, under cover of the pseudonym or without it.

Blaze is the nickname of Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., a mentally disabled (thanks to repeatedly being thrown down the stairs by his father in a drunken rage) behemoth and small-time con artist who is alone in the world after the death of his partner in crime, George—the brains of their operation. Before dying, George had worked out a plan for one last big con to set them up for the rest of their lives (lives that would then preferably be lived out somewhere with sandy beaches and lots of sun): Kidnapping an extremely wealthy couple's only baby son for ransom... and Blaze now decides to go through with it on his own.

I've seen it likened to Of Mice And Men, which I still haven't read, shame on me, but from what I know of the premise, I'd agree—it's essentially a story about two men, a clever and a mentally challenged one, who are both down on their luck and trying to make ends meet. In Blaze, the smart one just so happens to be dead, but Blaze imagines him by his side providing helpful advice on how to pull off the kidnapping anyway (the story seemed free of any supernatural element until one tiny instance in a flashback towards the very end that made me wonder). What the novel does extremely well is take its time to wrap the reader around its finger, but without turning into one of King's signature door-stoppers; it's a quick read, but the kidnapping doesn't even happen until almost halfway through. Instead, the chapters alternate between Blaze starting to put George's plan into action, and flashbacks to his childhood in a state home which explain how he slid into a life of crime despite his sweet nature... I'll come right out and say it, in a heart-tugging way, he manages to kinda-sorta-maybe make you root for the kidnapper. Blaze is a victim of circumstance who does reprehensible things, but it's incredibly easy to feel sympathetic towards this dim-witted gentle giant—all the cards he's been dealt in life are stacked against him, and the reader knows from the onset that this can't possibly end well, but King draws you into the story despite the obvious futility of hoping for a happy ending.

"It was a dirty world, and the longer you lived, the dirtier you got."

The story I got wasn't at all what I'd expected when I started reading this book. I didn't read the blurb, and the nondescript cover of my paperback edition didn't offer any clues—from the title, and based on past experience with the darkness of Bachman's stories, I'd assumed it would be about an arsonist or something in that vein. Instead, Blaze is a short and fast-paced crime novel with some great characterization, and despite what Mr. King seems to think, it's undoubtedly one of the better Bachman books—possibly second best behind The Long Walk, the undisputed crown jewel of the works released under the pseudonym.