Roadworks by Gerard Readett
You hate traffic. I hate traffic. Think how much it’ll suck in 15 years. Roadworks, by Gerard Readett:
Traffic Jam Buster! Come to Brussels, a congestion-free city in 2022, but avoid the day of ‘Roadworks’, when Akila Kama, an African terrorist takes the city and many foreign heads of state hostage. His demands are simple, either the greatest humanitarian aid package is sent to Africa by the nations of the West, or their leaders die.
In a city where all rail, road and underground traffic is computerised, Hugh Ryan, a Transport Authority controller, realises that while all traffic inside the city is at a standstill, Wellens, a local crimelord who helped the Africans, has embarked on his own traitorous plans which he hatches with a mole in the Transport Authority.
July 30th, 2006 at 2:13 am
Hey, this is a great book! Ive heard the first nine chapters and they are fabulous.
But I think the link is down for the 10th chapter. I cant seem to download it. It gives me an error (Not found). Ive tried through my podcatcher and using the link on the bookpage (http://www.podiobooks.com/chapter/52051/10/47913/PB-Roadworks-10.mp3)
.
Pls rectify this problem.. cant wait
July 31st, 2006 at 1:42 pm
erard Haseeb,
I managed to download Roadworks-10.mp3 without any trouble by clicking on the link. Maybe Evo has sorted it out?
I am glad to hear you’re enjoying Roadworks. Please don’t forget to vote for it over at www.popcurrent.com
Cheers
October 9th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Gerard,
Love the book. Unfortunately the latest episode seems to be stuck in traffic. OK, please forgive the bad pun, but I couldn’t resist. How about it? Is there a conclusion or is this yet another promising podcast book that has to be written off?
Actually I really like this story. The premise is very au courant. I could see an adaptation to a screenplay. Think about that!
Best,
Matt
October 9th, 2006 at 11:11 am
Matt,
Episode 20 was uploaded on October the 6th, just three scant days ago. I’m sure you are excited about getting the rest of the book, but it seems a little premature to start predicting its demise.
Evo
October 9th, 2006 at 12:22 pm
Got it solved. Thanks for telling me that there were additional episodes.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:48 pm
Matt,
You just hit some roadworks. It is with great pleasure that I read comments like yours. That’s what authors strive for: good reader experiences.
There are five more chapters to go and I have no intention of stopping short of my destination although that might mean six episodes (as one chapter is relatively longer).
The final chapter is longer too, but I think it’s best to keep it whole.
Gerard
November 13th, 2006 at 8:02 am
Dear listeners,
The Roads are finally free again! The final podcast of Roadworks is now up. I hope you all enjoyed listening as much as I had fun recording.
Please don’t forget to rate Roadworks here at Podiobooks and vote for it on Popcurrent.com.
Ironically Roadworks started out because I wanted to write a car chase. As you all now know you can hardly even hear a motor running in Roadworks.
I’m off to write the sequel which will certainly contain at least one high speed car chase.
May 29th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
good work n the book. te editing was a bit spotty but allin all i loved the book and finished it in about 4 hours. Sorry about my nitpickiness but i am studying to be an audio ingineer so unfortunitally my ears pick up on these things, great story though and can’t wait to hear more.
May 29th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Sarah, thanks for the feedback! You must have been really caught up in the story to listen to me rambling away for 4 straight hours:) This whole thing was a learn as you go experience and the first thing I had to do was get over the self-consciousness of talking to my computer. It only started working when I put faces on my podcast listeners! And now I can add you to my fan list. Thanks again Sarah.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:23 am
Nice story, really enjoyed it. Good build up
The only thing that annoyed me was when I listen to it in the car (ipod connected to the car stereo), I have to have it cranked up to hear it. Then when certain special effects ring out, eg. a very loud gunshot, I jump out of my skin!
To be honest, the special effects seem somewhat redundant, and spoil the immersion. For instance, I am hanging off your every word, then muted music/ special effects in the background make me think “oh, what’s that noise?” before I realise it’s SFX, and then I’ve missed some of the story. I think you can leave them out and have no real effect on the listener.
Anyway, great stuff, look forward to listening to more of your work.
January 14th, 2008 at 5:09 am
Joe,
Thanks for the suggestion. I will certainly take your comments into account when I get round to the sequel. As I’m still writing the novel, the podiobook version won’t be before next year.
Regards
Gerard
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Somewhat interesting story, but author should get a professional to read it. He reads a sentence at a time, and waits seconds between. Flow is not smooth. Production quality was definitely amateur.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Tom is too harsh. I like the pace. Agree that the production values are low, mostly the tinniness and volume problems. Special effects are a matter of taste, I’m not a fan of special effects in general, but I’ll respect the artist’s preference.
I’m just a few chapters in and admit to being a bit confused with the switches in narrative so far, which is unusual for me. I should go back and check but it seems that there are multiple first person narrators. Is that right?
October 6th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Quandmeme,
Thanks for the comments.
To help ease any confusion I’ll attempt to clear things up.
There is only one first person narrator (Hugh) who is supposedly going back over the past year in his head. Events that he experienced he uses first person (I) narrative, in events he discovered subsequently he uses a third person narrative (he, they).
Regards
Gerard
November 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Gerard, Is this just a re-write of “The Roads Must Roll”? If so. I’ll pass.
December 28th, 2008 at 2:43 am
Wolf,
No this isn’t a rewrite of Heinlein. To start with it’s more action-orientated, more technical and less sociological. And it’s set in the near future of Brussels with a stable democratically elected government. (admittedly, a bit of fiction in Belgium at the time this comment was written.)
Gerard