The Running Man
Published in 1982, The Running Man is a horror and adventure fiction novel by Stephen King. The story is set in United States and New York City, in 2025. Characters include Rolf, Dickie and Frank. Readers will find themes of game shows, television game shows, Dystopia and Bluffing.
Open Library readers give it an average of 3.6 out of 5 from 41 ratings, and 241 more have it on their want-to-read list. It has been published in 40 editions across 7 languages.
It runs to roughly 256 pages — 4–5 hours of reading at an average pace.
About The Running Man
The Running Man is a dystopian thriller novel by American writer Stephen King, first published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982 as a paperback original. It was collected in 1985 in the omnibus The Bachman Books. The novel is set in a dystopian United States during the year 2025, in which the nation's economy is in ruins and world violence is rising. The story follows protagonist Ben Richards as he participates in the reality show The Running Man in which contestants, allowed to go anywhere in the world, are chased by the general public, who get a huge bounty if they kill him. The book has a total of 101 chapters, laid out in a "countdown" format. The first is titled "Minus 100 and Counting ..." with the numbers decreasing, ending with the last chapter called "Minus 000 and Counting" (or, in some versions, simply "000").
Quick answers
Who wrote The Running Man?
The Running Man was written by Stephen King and first published in 1982.
What genre is The Running Man?
It is usually shelved as Horror and Adventure.
How long is The Running Man?
The median edition has 256 pages, about 4–5 hours of reading at 250 words per minute.
What books are similar to The Running Man?
Readers who like it often enjoy Fallen Hearts, Heaven and Three Complete Novels (Dawn / Heaven / Ruby).
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