The Road

By Clive West
Published by Any Subject Books
$2.99 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Oct. 06, 2012
Words: 155,293 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781909392083

Short description

The interlocking elements of this powerful story are bound together by the building of a ring road round the fictitious English town of Stockton. From the cynical statistic which provides its impetus, through the farcical Council meetings at which objections are ignored, to the planners and builders who seek to profit from it, a whole microcosm of greed and corruption is exposed and examined.

Extended description

Prepare to be shocked!

This book has been written by one who has seen the cumulative effects of those in power lining their own pockets at the expense of the public. Humorous, hard-hitting, emotive and always thought-provoking, The Road tells it as it is.

The interlocking elements of this powerful story are bound together by the building of a ring road round the fictitious English town of Stockton. (Read more) Prepare to be shocked!

This book has been written by one who has seen the cumulative effects of those in power lining their own pockets at the expense of the public. Humorous, hard-hitting, emotive and always thought-provoking, The Road tells it as it is.

The interlocking elements of this powerful story are bound together by the building of a ring road round the fictitious English town of Stockton.

From the cynical statistic which provides its impetus, through the farcical Council meetings at which residents’ objections are swept under the carpet, to the planners and builders who seek to profit from it, a whole microcosm of greed and corruption is exposed and examined.

Every character in the book has his or her own story: an unhappy marriage; loss of control over children; frustrated ambition; personal tragedy. The threads weave in and out like a tapestry, showing us both the ‘fair’ side and the seamy side, always with humour and unstated compassion.

Not everyone is self-seeking: there are genuine victims as well, like the people who innocently bought houses which criminal negligence has rendered unsafe. Above all there is the woman who only wanted some peace in the countryside and whose life is taken away from her a piece at a time.

This is a book to make you laugh, cry and pound your fist on the nearest inanimate object in roughly equal proportions. But one thing is absolutely certain: you will never look at a new road or adjacent housing estate with the same eyes again.

Approximate length - 450 pages.

Sample text:

Some of the ladies had chained themselves to trees while others just clung to the trunks. All we need to do now is to place some apples on their heads and send for William Tell, he thought. He could hear the policemen approaching each protester and advising them that they could and would be arrested under this Section 68 law. Henry wasn’t familiar with it so he asked John if he knew what it meant.

“Basically it means that if someone protests peacefully in an open space but in doing so stops someone like me from working, they can be arrested and fined or imprisoned,” John told him matter-of-factly.

“I thought this was supposed to be a free country and we could say what we wanted.” Henry had taken a few things back to shops in his time but had never had cause to make a public statement like these women were doing. He was genuinely surprised by John’s answer.

“Not any more,” he shrugged. “If you interfere with someone who is just doing their job, you can be moved on or nicked. Not like the bad old days when you could be stopped for weeks while someone got court orders and injunctions against protesters.”

Henry was taken aback, “I didn’t know that. So what was the point of them doing this if they’re just going to get moved on or arrested?”
(Less)

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages. For more information, see the Support FAQ.

Tags

family drama, suicide, humor, theft, crime novel, criminal, crime story, bribery, corruption crime, crime fiction satire, crime thriller crime drama, selfesteem selfserving

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