Roadwork

from No. 1 bestseller Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman

By: Stephen King, Richard Bachman

Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas

A lone man takes on the wheels of progress in a showdown of cataclysmic proportions. When a highway project puts him out of work and threatens to destroy his home, he has more than enough time on his hands to plot his revenge.

Driving his wife and friends away with his growing obsession, he pushes the powers-that-be to the limit, taking a stand against what he sees as a criminal act in progress. Building to a shattering climax, this is a suspenseful tale you won't soon forget.

(P)2010 Penguin Audio©1981 Stephen King

Great story but unfortunate recording

What would have made Roadwork better?

I don’t know much about audio recording but standardising the volume level so that it is consistent would make this a completely different experience.

What other book might you compare Roadwork to and why?

Tough question. Reminds me a little of The Stationary Bike, probably because of the construction crew, and for some reason the tone and first person narrative reminded me of The Green mile serial novel.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of G. Valmont Thomas?

I am not certain if my issues were related directly to the narrator or due to technical problems. At some times I really enjoyed the narration, I was just extremely frustrated with the sentences fading out.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I did enjoy the book but listening to it was a frustrating experience.

Any additional comments?

I am a huge King fan ever since first reading The Stand as a kid, so I am a bit hesitant to write any kind of commentary on one of his works, but as my frustration is not with the story itself I feel I can vent a little here, mostly in hope that my concerns could be addressed and provide a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

Great story, typical rainy weather King.

The performance was not all bad and I enjoyed the actors tone and storytelling at times, but here is my frustration: I don’t find as much time as I would like to read so I really enjoy making my time stuck in traffic a positive experience and I listen to audio books while driving almost every day. Unfortunately I found myself continuously trying to adjust the volume and losing out on much of the intricacies of the story as I often just couldn’t make out the words being read. For much of the book the sentences start out loud but the volume decreases as the sentence continues and towards the end of the sentence fades into an unintelligible whisper.

Extremely frustrating. I listen to audio books all the time while driving and this is the first time I have had this problem.

Listening to this one is a little hard work and requires intense focus and some skipping back and forth to try and gather exactly what is being read. Make sure you listen to this one in a conducive environment or with a good set of headphones.