I like what I've read of Bachman, but you're right. With King, the good guys have a chance of winning, little kids and old people have better odds of survival, and you always know that there's somebody looking out for us.

I will compare two books that are really different- Rage (Bachman) and Tommyknockers (King.)
Spoiler:

A lot more people die in Tommyknockers, and there is a kind of horrific soul-and-entire-world danger in it, but the good guys win and the bad guys lose and the danger goes away.

In Rage, a handful of people die, in a sadly ordinary way. The killer isn't some hostile alien- isn't even really a bad guy- just a really messed up, completely sympathetic character who's lost his mind at a horribly young age.

After reading Rage, it takes Tommyknockers to cheer you up. That's awful.


I liked Rage a LOT more than Tommyknockers, though.