Rage

by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman)

This is the one Stephen King book that is no longer in print. It was taken off the market by Mr. King himself after it was found in the locker of a high school shooter. It is also the first novel published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

Everything plays out during one morning in May. Charlie Decker, who recently had gotten in trouble for hitting a teacher over the head with a pipe wrench. This is the day he decided to 'get it on', a phrase used multiple times in the book and back in the 1970's it probably did not quite have the now universally agreed sexual meaning.

Charlie sets his locker on fire, then walks into a class room, shoots the teacher and walks in. When another teacher looks in to make sure that everyone clears out because of the fire, he is shot as well. Collateral damage. Those will be the only two deaths.

The rest of the morning - up until 1pm - Charlie holds an entire class room hostage, but none of them appear to be all too worried about it. The don't believe that Charlie poses a threat to them - and he doesn't. They start to talk about some of their issues - with each other, with family, with sex. Two girls get to physically fight it out and clear the air and end their beef then and there. In fact, only one of the students wants to have Charlie taken down, Ted Jones. The dynamics in the class, however, shift against Ted pretty quickly.

Outside, all hell breaks lose. Charlie is repeatedly contacted via the intercom, making it clear to whoever is trying to talk him down that he is in control. Even when he gets shot through the window by a sharp shooter, he keeps it together without killing anyone else. The bullet would have killed him it it weren't for the heavy lock he took from his school locker and kept in his breast pocket. During his last talk via the intercom he says that after clearing up one last issue everyone will be allowed to walk out at 1pm.

He explains himself to his class mates by talking about the troubles he has with his abusive father. With a half hour to go he asks who knows what is left to do. Eventually, everyone raises their hand - except for Ted. They all agree that the only thing left to do is make Ted realize that he is in the wrong. The way they do this is by ganging up on him and hitting, kicking, stuffing paper in his mouth. When they leave, Ted stays behind sitting against the wall, staring into space. The experience leaves him in a semi-catatonic state.

The local police chief is the one walking into the classroom, gun drawn. Charlie, who is unarmed by now, having unloaded the gun and put it in a drawer, moves as if to retrieve something (a weapon, in the police man's mind, which is the point) and gets shot three times, but survives. In the last chapter, Charlie gives a brief statement about his state of mind and daily routine.

I am glad I have a copy because I rather like this one. But I get why it has been pulled.

7/10