This was part of the three Richard Bachman books in one that I read together including The Long Walk and Road Works. Like The Long Walk, it is set in a dystopian future where the general population are oppressed and impoverished and, in this book, given the opportunity to enter cruel and gruelling game shows to win the money they are desperate for, or die trying.
Ben Richards is a labourer who has frequently got himself into trouble for standing up for worker’s rights and has once again lost his job. His wife has to work long hours as a waitress and exotic dancer and their daughter is sick. They can’t afford medicine for their daughter and Ben turns to the game shows. He is selected to enter ‘the running man’ show – where contestants try to avoid ‘the hunters’ in the real world. If they are caught they are killed. Their family gets money for each day they survive as well as extra money if they kill some hunters.
After reading the book I watched the recent movie. The movie was fun, but the book is much better, especially the ending, which in the book was poignant and satisfying, but in the movie was predictable and too ‘Hollywood’.
Sarah Wray Writer 