Road of Bones

A Novel

By: Christopher Golden

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

A stunning supernatural thriller set in Siberia, where a film crew is covering an elusive ghost story about the Kolyma Highway, a road built on top of the bones of prisoners of Stalin's gulag.

Surrounded by barren trees in a snow-covered wilderness with a dim, dusky sky forever overhead, Siberia’s Kolyma Highway is 1200 miles of gravel packed permafrost within driving distance of the Arctic Circle. A narrow path where drivers face such challenging conditions as icy surfaces, limited visibility, and an average temperature of 60 degrees below zero, fatal car accidents are common.

But motorists are not the only victims of the highway. Known as the Road of Bones, it is a massive graveyard for the former Soviet Union’s gulag prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of people worked to death and left where their bodies fell, consumed by the frozen elements and plowed beneath the permafrost road.

Fascinated by the history, documentary producer Felix “Teig” Teigland is in Russia to drive the highway, envisioning a new series capturing Life and Death on the Road of Bones with a ride to the town of Akhust, “the coldest place on Earth,” collecting ghost stories and local legends along the way. Only, when Teig and his team reach their destination, they find an abandoned town, save one catatonic nine-year-old girl - and a pack of predatory wolves, faster and smarter than any wild animals should be.

Pursued by the otherworldly beasts, Teig’s companions confront even more uncanny and inexplicable phenomena along the Road of Bones, as if the ghosts of Stalin’s victims were haunting them. It is a harrowing journey that will push Teig beyond endurance and force him to confront the sins of his past.

©2021 by Christopher Golden (P)2022 by Blackstone Publishing

Hauntingly wonderful

I listened to this book because it was recommended by Stephen King. So glad I did! Gripping from beginning to end. Highly recommend it.

It was ok

I was disappointed with the ending. Also, there was so much more that could have been done with the subject the book was named. The writing itself was very good as far as form and vocabulary. That’s something.

Amazing narration, decent book.

I liked it. Not as “scary” as I was led to believe but a decent story and terrific narration. Quick book, I’d recommend it but wouldn’t rave about it.

Well Written but overall disappointing

This was not the scare-fest I was anticipating, and that the ads sold it as. Ultimately it is sad and leaves both characters and readers unfulfilled.
While there are ghosts here, it's mostly more of a "Shaman" tale reminiscent of (the Movie of) "The Ritual" (I haven't yet read the book). In both people go against an ancient evil or two in the wilderness, but unlike in that story, no one really survives the ordeal to have the opportunity to change / improve their life based on the experience/ lessons they learned, or failing that manages to redeem some great mistake of their life. Here there is only futility and sorrow in the end. And while a greater threat might be halted as a result of the events of the tale, we are never really told what that threat is. Just that it was "an older, darker, more evil" force. The stakes are not properly fleshed out and thus the sacrifices seem useless.
The reader did a good job and keeps the listener engaged.

Absolutely terrifying!

I purchased the Audible version of this book to listen to at bedtime. The narration was very good, but its not conducive to a good night's sleep. If you want to hear the ultimate ghost story, here it is. thanks for the recommendation Stephen King.

A Fantastic Read!!

I love thriller/horror and read alot of it, but unfortunately have trouble finding books really deliver the scares....but this one did! Great creeping, building fear, characters you come to care about and beauty in the scary a** ending. I def found a new great author!

Left Wanting in the Feozen Russian Tundra

I love a good horror story. The more supernatural, the better. I had high hopes for this book and its outcome. The story in and of itself was good, but I felt that there could have been more to it. The characters could have been fleshed out a little more. I would have liked some reason for why the wildlife required human lives. It just seemed to be missing something.

Good, Creepy, Repetitive

The performance by the narrator was excellent. There were a few instances where he used the wrong voice for a character but that's to be expected. His accents were pretty on point and each character had a unique voice and personality.

The story was definitely original and pretty goddamn creepy at times. The pacing was a little frustrating,. especially in the high adrenaline action scenes. The author takes a little TOO long describing the events going on around them to the point where the character is essentially just standing there and watching all of the action unfold and isn't doing anything at all. It's a bit of a disconnect between the character and the story. There are also lots of repetitive themes to the point that it got really annoying. Characters spend pages thinking back on one moment or theme over and over and over again. Also, we get it, it's cold. The author really came up with 27 different ways to tell us it was cold and reminds you CONSTANTLY. Regarding the ending, I wish they hadn't dropped the main character from the ending completely, you get absolutely no closure on them whatsoever and instead we go into detail on a secondary character. Still important, but why not both?

Even with an average story, the performance made this a pretty good experience overall.

Russia's Roadd of Bones

Story 4.5/5
Narration 5/5

The <b>Road of Bones</b> is the Kolyma Highway in eastern Russia. It was built upon the bones of hundreds of thousands of criminals and political prisoners. They were literally worked to death and plowed under the road.
Yes, <i>that</i> Russia.
Read the blurb for more on the story.

Mysterious, very creepy, and weird.

Recommended

Prepare for the Chill

Christopher Golden has crafted a haunting tale about a treacherous stretch of Siberian roadway haunted by a gruesome and tragic past and perhaps haunted by altogether too present entities as well. It's precisely this history of cruelty and careless disregard for human life, and the potential for something more, that inspired documentary filmmaker, Felix Teigland to drag his reluctant cameraman, John Prentiss, to this desolate arctic wasteland in the middle of winter.
Ostensibly hoping to tell the story of the people who live along the titular Road of Bones, Teig and Prentiss intend to follow the Kolyma Highway to its frigid terminus with the assistance of a local guide. Myth and superstition soon become more than passing curiosities, as the group's survival depends on understanding the strange and terrifying forces that stalk them through the dark Siberian night. With temperatures that would kill them in mere minutes, a treacherous road of unforgiving ice and snow, and inconceivable shadowy beasts hunting them, the odds are high that none of them will make it through this journey alive.
Road of Bones is a chilling title that creeps into the bones of the reader/listener as effectively as the cold Siberian night. Golden challenges the reader to further investigate the Kolyma Highway. He dares the reader to delve into the horrific history of its manufacture with the tantalizing glimpses provided through the proxy of Teig and the other characters. The true story only serves to reinforce the unsettling sense of wrongness already building in the back of the reader's mind.
Robert Fass provides spectacular narration that fully captures the accents and attitudes of the characters he brings to life within the narrative.