Blaze

Blaze is an early novel written by Stephen King that predates even Carrie. Finding it to be overtly sentimental, King shelved it. He later rediscovered it in the attic and, with much revision, published it in 2007 under the pseudonym of Richard Bachman.

Clayton Blaisdell, Jr., also known as "Blaze", is a mentally challenged con artist. Under the guidance of the 'ghost' of his dead partner, kidnaps the infant son of a wealthy millionaire for ransom. The plan begins to crumble as Blaze begins to bond with the baby.

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Tropes used in Blaze include:

• Abusive Parents - When he was a child, Blaze's father threw him down the stairs three times for interrupting his television, giving him permanent brain damage in the process.
• Badass and Baby - Blaze and Joey.
• Brains and Brawn - George and Blaze.
• Boarding School of Horrors - Blaze went to one.
• Dead Person Conversation/Spirit Advisor - Blaze is guided by his dead partner in crime, George.
• Downer Ending - You weren't expecting a happy ending with a Bachman novel, were you?
• Gentle Giant - Blaze.
• In Medias Res - Throughout the novel there are flashbacks from Blaze's childhood all the way to his current situation.
• Lighter and Softer - By King's standards, especially when compared to the rest of the Bachman canon. It's a heartbreaking novel, but it's not as nihilistic as Rage or The Long Walk.
• Lima Syndrome - Blaze eventually falls in love with the baby and doesn't want to let it go.
• Man Child - Blaze.
• One Last Job - What Blaze is on.
• Stockholm Syndrome - A strange case. At the end, after Joey is returned to his parents, he begins to cry because it's the "wrong face".
• Unintentional Period Piece - Averted when King rewrote the original manuscript and removed all the dated references to make the novel of a more ambigious time period.
• Villain Protagonist - Well, he does kidnap a child.