Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Running Man

Quick read 3.5⭐

This concept again plays on (as many of Kings works do) the age old "humans are the real monsters" trope. In a totalitarian future, society is kept in check with entertainment of human suffering (not much of a difference from what the 2020's of our current lives have to offer.) I think there's lots of good concepts in this one, and considering it was written over 40 years ago it can be eerie what elements have been prophesied in a way.

In terms of writing, it's not as waffle-ly as some of King's other works, this one definitely made a good go at an "action" genre, while still having the in-depth complex character thought that I enjoy about King's books.

Content Warnings

angelroomba's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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readingiscool96's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

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voxlunae's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I've nearly read all of King's books, and I committed this year to finishing the ones I haven't gotten to yet. The problem is, the ones I haven't gotten to are pretty much all of the ones that are supposed bad to middling, including the Bachmann books and some of the bad '80s years. The Running Man wasn't terrible, but it's a rough hang, to be sure. The premise is interesting, and the world-building is effective, but it paints a picture of such a dreary and dismal world, where pretty much everyone is deplorable and vile. The casual racism, sexism, classism, fatphobia, murder, etc. just make this a really unpleasant journey, despite the propulsive plot and the messaging at its core.

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dibiz116's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Overall I enjoyed this book, but I feel like there are just so much better dystopian reality tv books out there (including King/Bachman's other book The Long Walk). I imagine this was fairly original in its year of publication (1999) but even aside from that I don't feel like this had the depth of character that Stephen King is known for and that I have grown to love so much. I know the Bachman books tend to be much faster paced and less suspenseful, but this didn't accomplish the balance the other Bachman books do (the adrenaline packed character study that is Roadwork will forever be one of my favorite books so it's not an issue with King's style when writing as Bachman). It honestly feels like he tried to make something too fast paced for his own writing style and ended up with a story that fell flat. It didn't help that the attempted social commentary didn't make sense.

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timmeh's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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nadia's review against another edition

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tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I spent a lot of this book bored and not caring about the main character at all...I still didn't really care about him come the end but I was more intrigued and curious to see how it all unfolded!

Also, obviously not a fan of the racial slurs used at all!

Content Warnings

ro_lux's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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