Blaze – Stephen King (2007)

Blaze by Stephen King, published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman in 2007, is a psychological crime novel about Clayton “Blaze” Blaisdell Jr., a mentally impaired conman who embarks on a desperate plan to kidnap a wealthy baby. Originally written in the early 1970s but left unpublished, the novel explores crime, manipulation, and tragic destiny with a stark and melancholic narrative.

Plot Summary

Clayton Blaisdell Jr. was always a big kid, too big for his own good. At six, he was already the size of a twelve-year-old. At eight, his father threw him down the stairs three times in a row, cracking his skull and turning a bright, sharp boy into something slower, something softer. When his father was locked away, Blaze was sent to Hetton House, a state-run orphanage where survival meant learning how to fight or how to run. He learned to fight. Not because he wanted to, but because the other kids never let him be.

His only real friend at Hetton House was John Cheltzman, a skinny kid who never laughed at him, never treated him like a dummy. They made a pact to leave Hetton House together, to make something of themselves. But John got adopted, and Blaze got left behind. From that moment on, loneliness followed him like a shadow.

Years later, in the back alleys of Boston, Blaze found another friend – George Rackley, a small-time conman with big ideas. George wasn’t kind, not like John, but he was smart. He saw potential in Blaze’s size, in the way people underestimated him. Blaze became George’s muscle, helping him run short cons – fake magazine subscriptions, bogus Red Cross collections, scams that never made them rich but kept them moving.

Then George died. A card game gone wrong, a body left behind in an alley. But George didn’t leave Blaze completely. His voice was still there, whispering in Blaze’s ear, giving orders, making sure he didn’t screw up too badly. Whether it was Blaze’s own mind filling in the gaps or something else, it didn’t matter. George was still with him, and that meant he had a plan.

The plan was a big one. A real score. Kidnapping. Not just anyone, but a baby – Joseph Gerard IV, heir to one of the richest families in New England. The Gerards had old money, the kind that paid fast and quiet. A baby couldn’t identify his kidnapper, couldn’t run, couldn’t fight back. The perfect crime, George had called it. All Blaze had to do was follow the steps.

He stole a car, a dark green Ford, because George always said that was the best kind – invisible, forgettable. Then he drove into town, straight to Hager’s Mammoth Department Store. He told the saleslady he was shopping for his nephew and bought everything a baby could need – diapers, bottles, blankets, formula. She smiled at him, charmed by the thought of a big man doting on a tiny child. If she knew what he was really planning, she might not have smiled.

The Gerard estate was a fortress, a mansion of wealth and privilege standing against the bitter winter night. He waited in the cold, heart pounding, watching the windows for movement. George had warned him to be careful, but George wasn’t the one standing in the snow, breathing steam like an animal waiting to strike.

When the house went dark, he moved. A second-floor window latch was weak, just like George had said. He climbed up, clumsy but determined, and slipped inside. The nursery was warm, filled with the soft hum of a baby’s breathing. Joseph Gerard IV was a perfect, pink-faced thing, sleeping peacefully in his crib, unaware of the giant looming over him.

Blaze hesitated. He wasn’t cruel, never had been. But he had a job to do, and George’s voice was in his ear, telling him to move, telling him to lift the baby, to be gentle, to get out. He wrapped the child in a blanket, held him close to his chest, and climbed back down into the freezing dark.

The next day, the ransom note was written. One million dollars – half of what George had originally planned, because greedy men got caught. The newspapers were already filled with stories of the missing baby, the devastated family. Police were searching, people were watching, but Blaze was smart this time. He kept to the back roads, stayed in the shack he and George had shared, fed the baby, changed him, kept him warm. The kid liked him, gurgled when he saw his face.

Then things started to go wrong.

Blaze wasn’t good at keeping track of time, and he knew less about babies than he thought. The kid cried too much, wouldn’t eat, shivered in his sleep. He needed a doctor, but a doctor meant questions. The police were closing in, the roads filled with flashing lights, and the newspapers were calling him a monster.

The meeting for the ransom exchange was set, a lonely rest stop on a snow-covered highway. Blaze waited, gripping the money bag, listening to George’s voice telling him to stay calm, to follow the plan. The car arrived – an unmarked police vehicle. Not the Gerard family, not a private go-between. A trap.

He ran, the baby still in his arms, crashing through the woods like a wounded animal. Branches tore at his face, snow filled his boots, but he wouldn’t let go of the child. He wouldn’t let the cops take him.

The police followed, their flashlights cutting through the darkness, their voices sharp and commanding. Blaze kept running, holding the baby tighter, trying to find a way out. There was none.

At the edge of the woods, he stopped. The baby was crying, the sound piercing through the cold night air. Blaze looked down at him, his big hands cradling the tiny body, and something broke inside him. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let the kid go down with him.

He set the baby in the snow, wrapped tightly in the blankets. Then he turned to face the lights.

The first bullet took him in the shoulder, spinning him around. The second hit his leg, dropping him to his knees. More shots, more pain, and then the world tilted sideways. He fell, the snow rushing up to meet him.

The last thing he saw was the baby, safe in the blankets, his tiny face scrunched up in a cry. Then the darkness took him, and George’s voice was gone.

Main Characters

• Clayton “Blaze” Blaisdell Jr. – A large, slow-witted man with a troubled past marked by abuse and hardship. Blaze is manipulated into a life of crime and embarks on a doomed kidnapping scheme, haunted by the memory of his dead partner.
• George Rackley – Blaze’s streetwise, cynical partner-in-crime. Though dead, his voice continues to guide Blaze, representing both his past and his own conflicted moral compass.
• Joseph Gerard IV – The infant Blaze kidnaps, belonging to an affluent family. Though unaware of his predicament, he symbolizes innocence amid Blaze’s tragic circumstances.
• Various Criminals and Law Enforcement – A mix of minor characters who shape Blaze’s life, either exploiting his naivety or attempting to bring him to justice.

Theme

• Crime and Consequence – The novel portrays crime as a cycle born from desperation, with Blaze’s actions leading to inevitable tragedy.
• Isolation and Loneliness – Blaze’s life is shaped by abandonment, from his abusive father to his orphaned childhood, leaving him grasping for connection.
• Manipulation and Control – Blaze is used by those around him, particularly George, showcasing how intelligence often dominates over brute strength.
• Fate and Tragedy – Echoing Of Mice and Men, the story suggests Blaze’s path was doomed from the start, making his struggles all the more heartbreaking.

Writing Style and Tone

King’s writing in Blaze is direct and unembellished, reflecting the stark realities of Blaze’s world. He employs a mix of third-person narration and internal monologue, particularly with George’s ghostly presence, which adds a psychological layer to Blaze’s journey. The prose is raw and sometimes grimly humorous, balancing gritty realism with deep emotional resonance.

The tone is melancholic and fatalistic, painting Blaze as a tragic figure whose dreams are forever out of reach. The novel captures the bleakness of his life while evoking sympathy for a man who is more victim than villain. King strips away sentimentality, yet the underlying humanity in Blaze’s character makes the story profoundly moving.