Roadwork

By: Stephen King

Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Only Stephen King, writing as Richard Bachman, can imagine the horror of a good and angry man who fights back against bureaucracy when it threatens to destroy his vitality, home, and memories.

Barton Dawes' unremarkable but comfortable existence suddenly takes a turn for the worst. A new highway extension is being built right over the laundry plant where he works - and right over his home. Dawes isn't the sort of man who will take an insult of this magnitude lying down. His steadfast determination to fight the inevitable course of progress drives his wife and friends away while he tries to face down the uncaring bureaucracy that has destroyed his life.

This number-one national best seller includes an introduction by Stephen King on "The Importance of Being Bachman".

©1981 Richard Bachman (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Under any name King mesmerizes the reader." ( Chicago Sun-Times)

Good book, not so great narration

I enjoyed the story, but the narrator was difficult to listen to when he did female voices. Other than that, it was fine.

Slow Burning Suspense

First, I thought I wasn't going to like this story very much. it was a bit slow to start but once it got rolling from about the middle on to the conclusion, you learned to care for the characters and the story always kept you wondering until the end how things would work out.This ended up being another fine story by Stephen King as Richard Bachman.

Richard Bachmann was the best.

The narrator fit this book very well. The story was a great narrative on the descent into madness.

Roadwork👍🏼

A very, very good novel. Stephen King foes it agin.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Looking forward to his next novel. The hard part is which one to chose next. :-)

Phenomenal Voice Acting

You listen to book after book and become used to the little inflections the reader has or sounds the producers adds to enhance the story, but not one until this book has triumphed over the story. Fantastic performance that allows you to feel, not just hear, the character slip further and further into insanity.

White male rage

The story is that of a man who loses everything mostly because of his own doing but blames everyone else- it interesting to get into the mind of a radicalized person.

poor narration - dated story

Both the narration and story did not work for me. The characters are predictable and dated and the story lacks plausibility. Also, the performance of the narrator was over dramatic and dry.

Either you will love this or hate it

This book along with The Running Man have become my all time favorite King books. Or is it Bachman? Whatever the case, I would have most likely never made it through either book if it was fifteen or twenty years ago due to relatability whereas being in your thirties or forties really makes the difference for me, and why the Bachman books are so damn good.

They are dark. They are sad. They are manic and sardonic. You can tell King was going through a rough patch in life. Skipping the supernatural to focus on something even more frightening, THE IMPOTENCE OF LIFE WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE AN OUTSIDER, A STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

One of Bachman's Best

Roadwork isn't universally loved in the Stephen King circles but in my opinion it's one of the best Bachman books. It's definitely a slow burn but pays off

ROAD WORK

Have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I love the way King weaves his stories and move you to think about life and how it moves people to do the things they do.