Stephen King Book #4: Rage

Book #4.  Rage.  First published September 13, 1977 as Richard Bachman.

Like most people I didn't happen upon the Richard Bachman titles until after it was revealed that it was indeed Stephen King writing under a pseudonym. I still have my copy of The Bachman Books that I purchased in the late 1980's which is when I first read the four novels within (it does not contain Thinner which I bought separately) which is extremely dog-eared and falling apart from being read and re-read over and over.

I wasn't sure, in the confines of this task I have set myself, whether I should be reading the Bachman titles at the time they were originally published within the framework of the King titles, or whether I should have done them at the chronological point of The Bachman Books when those first four Bachman books were parceled together. I finally decided to go with the chronological release date of each book individually, and thus it is Rage I will be reading before I get to the first collection of short stories that was bundled together to form the book Night Shift.

I have always loved Rage, though I have never really been able to decipher to why's and wherefore's and resulting carnage that occurs to its conclusion. No doubt others out there have it all sussed out, but for me what eventually comes to pass with Ted Jones and Charlie Decker seems a tad bit convenient to the plot, rather than what would have occurred in a real situation. But again, isn't that just the authors licence? Yes Bill, it is. Stop trying to read too much into it!