Stephen King: The Running Man (Paperback, 1987, New American Library)
Paperback
Published July 7, 1987 by New American Library.
It is 2025 and reality TV has progressed to the point where people are willing to wager their lives in exchange for a chance at enormous wealth. Ben Richards is desperate - he needs money to treat his daughter's illness. His last chance is entering a game show called The Running Man where the objective is to elude police and specially trained trackers for a month. The reward is a cool billion dollars. The catch is that everyone else on the planet is watching and willing to turn him in for a reward. (source)
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This reads very much the way I assume it was written. Fueled, shall we say? It's full of misogyny (pudenda, anyone?) and racism. You can probably skip it, but don't think watching the movie is a substitute as they are nothing alike in plot or characters, imo.
