Blaze

Blaze, by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman)

The literary world abounds with stories of those who are born into a life of desperate misfortune but manage to overcome horrible odds with a little luck, a little help from their friends, and perhaps even the sensibility of some long-wobbling cosmic karmic wheel finally straightening itself out and doing right by our beleaguered hero.
This isn't one of those stories.
Blaze is the story of a man who falls through the cracks; his family fails him, the "system" fails him, and any connections he makes in life to anyone who might have any kind of positive influence on the course of his tragic existence are severed, repeatedly, by cruel twists of fate. What makes the story most tragic is that, at heart, slow-witted giant Clayton "Blaze" Blaisdell, Jr. is a decent person--even admirable in some ways--who could have led a much different life if lady luck hadn't been quite such a witch. But when Blaze is befriended by George Rackley, a small-time con-man with a dangerously large ambition who eventually ends up dying in Blaze's arms, Blaze's fate is all but decided. Even so, maybe things could have turned out differently if George had simply stayed dead...
Blaze is the last novel attributed to Stephen King's alter-ego, Richard Bachman, and in its sensitivity and genuine portrayal of the human condition, easily stands alongside the best of the author's works.
-Will