""Will you report him?" "YESSS!!!" they screamed." "The Running Man" by Stephen King was set in the year 2025. Ben Richards lives on the east coast with his wife and 18 month old child. They live in a society divided by the rich and the poor. Richards, in the second group, can hardly pay for food and rent, much less medicine for his sick child. In order to provide for his family, Richards decides to enter The Games, a series of televised games that could threaten your life. Richards is chosen for the Running Man, a competition where you run for 30 days. If you are caught by the hunters, they are ordered to kill you. No one has ever survived. Your family receives money for every hour that you remain alive. Richards is given a head start, and the wild chase begins. I would recommend this book to anyone up for a suspenseful read. Although short, this novel is filled to the brink with action. Every page contained an unexpected twist in the plot, and the ending was completely unpredictable.

     "The Running Man" was written for both an adult and a young adult audience. The novel was really meant for anyone to read and enjoy. Although most of the characters were adults, some of the characters were young adults or children. No matter what character was being displayed, King used real life problems to set up the scenarios. Richards was struggling with financial problems, which related to the less fortunate audience. He also would do anything to save his child, which related to the family oriented audience. Overall, King did a fantastic job including people of all backgrounds and ages, and the writing wasn't too difficult or too easy.

     Stephen King's voice was full of emotion in "The Running Man". This emotion made the book more interesting and made the events that Richards experienced more realistic. The language in this book supported King's emotional voice as it was very descriptive and made readers feel Richard's pain and suffering. King brought feeling and emotion into an average dystopian novel and turned it into a masterpiece. "The Running Man" was written to be a novel that expresses emotions while keeping characters realistic.

     "The Running Man" is an extremely organized novel and is exceptionally easy to follow. The story takes place in the future and includes major cities like Boston. This book contains twists in every chapter, and they are always completely unexpected. All of the characters are realistic, especially Richards. He brings all of the struggles of living in poverty and trying to raise a family into the plot of the book. I can relate to some of the characters, but not all of them. I can especially relate to the citizens that are torn between telling about spotting Richards or letting him go unnoticed. "The Running Man" comes to a satisfying conclusion, but still leaves some questions unanswered. There are definitely lessons to learn from the book, including that we should treat everyone equally, and that we shouldn't judge people based on their backgrounds.

     "The Running Man" was an exemplary novel that I think everyone should get a chance to read. I recommend this novel to anyone who likes a fast paced storyline. Set in the future, King demonstrates how our society could become if we don't make changes to our lifestyles. One of the most unique dystopian novels that I have read, "The Running Man" brings out the good and bad in our society. The suspense is almost unbearable, because as the producer of The Games said, "We've been on for six years. To date, we have no survivors. To be brutally honest, we expect to have none." This novel will certainly be worth your time.