Krishna
Unlike many of the novels we have reviewed by the same author (See Under the Dome or Christine for two samples) this one seems to be a short story. I subsequently learnt that this is a novella that has been compiled into the author’s Nightmare and Dreamscapes collection. It seems oddly shorter than his other novellas and closer to a short story length and format.
But since it exist as a standalone ebook, I will review it here and if I get to read the collection, perhaps skip commenting on this one story within that collection.
The narrator Robinson waits for revenge on Dolan. We learn that Dolan is a rich criminal and when the narrator’s wife Elizabeth managed to witness and reported to the police and agreed with the FBI to testify against Dolan, she was removed. Dynamite connected to her car’s ignition saw to it.
He watches, follows, and waits. For months. He does not know how he can get to Dolan, heavily guarded at all times and traveling only in an armored vehicle. An idea occurs to him at last.
It occurs to him when he goes to explore a side road and finds Dolan’s car on the side waiting for some repairs. He goes on a life altering exercise and loses weight and builds muscle patiently.
He also joins roadwork to get the magazine about road closures. One long weekend, he gets what he is looking for : Roadwork on the main highway and he ensures that Dolan will be coming to that city again that time. All his plan requirements are ready.
He goes to the road on Saturday and nearly kills himself digging a hole. Before all that he goes to an engineer friend of his with a science fiction story he is writing, where an alien tank-like vehicle is buried in the ground by a clever hole dug in the ground. The engineer gives him the angle and the dimensions to make the story realistic, upon his explicit request.
Armed with the knowledge, and the knowledge of the road repair engines gleaned when he had worked for real, he sets a trap and nearly kills himself spending two full days digging behind the detour sign. He also jerry rigs the ignition of a huge ground digging vehicle left on the side of the road by the city.
Finally he manages an adequate camouflage on top of the hole and, surveying Dolan’s car with binoculars from afar, just removes the detour sign and the cones, so that the car would come straight where he had dug the disguided hole.
What happens after is the rest of the story. Stephen King does, as he does most things, revenge stories well. This is a fun story to read and keeps you entertained. It is short enough to read in one sitting, which is so unlike this author who, with the exception of very few books, has never written short books!
Nice story, lot of fun.
8/10
— Krishna