Blaze by Richard Bachman

I stumbled across this book in the new section and found out it was one that Richard Bachman (Stephen King) wrote in the '70s and found again in his papers. So it was published recently. It was a great story about Clayton Blaisdell Jr. (aka Blaze) a gentle mountain of a man who was thrown down the stairs by his father, leaving him brain damaged. The novel goes back and forth between Blaze's present situation and his Oliver Twistian childhood. As an adult Blaze has become a petty criminal who works with George, the brains of their operation. Now George is dead, just before he and Blaze were to pull of their last big score- a kidnapping. Although deceased George continues talking to Blaze as he decides to carry out the plan on his own. This is not a horror story, but a suspense novel with one of the most sympathetic, heartbreaking main characters I've come across. Definitely an engrossing read.