Hard Roads paperback [Paperback]

Steve Vernon (Author), Norman Partridge (Introduction), Zach McCain (Designer)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2007

There's something about a hard road that calls a body to wander. You want to know what's waiting down there just past the far edge of the horizon. What darkness hides beyond that fish hook of a blind curve scything out to the left. It calls you and all you can do is wander on down. HARD ROADS offers two brand new novellas from Nova Scotia's hardest working horror writer, Steve Vernon. In the first tale, Trolling Lures, you will take a drive down a lonesome Nova Scotia hardtop road and you'll find yourself running into a troll, a suicide, and a hint of divine intervention. Coyote is howling soft and low and the moon is watching the pines trees gossip with the cool Atlantic wind. Come closer to the campfire, the old man is talking. The second story, Hammurabi Road, is a dark tale of retribution, backwoods justice, and getting closer to a black bear than was ever dreamed possible. We start off with the eternal triangle - three men ride out in a pick-up truck; two in front and one duct-taped in the back. It's a clear cut case of Northern Ontario railroad vengeance, served up as cold as a frozen hunting knife. We eat what we kill out here and we apologize to no one who doesn't deserve it. Come on. What are you waiting for? It ain't getting any easier staring at it.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Gray Friar Press (August 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955092280
• ISBN-13: 978-0955092282
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,104,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Vernon has been writing dark fiction for a lot of years. You'll find his work in the pages of Cemetery Dance, Tor's Year's Best Horror, The Horror Show, Flesh & Blood, Hot Blood, Horror Garage and many other tastefully titled markets and magazines. Steve's ghost story collections Wicked Woods, Halifax Haunts, and Haunted Harbours (Nimbus) are available in many Maritime bookstores.

Beginning in 2011 Crossroad Press will be releasing an awful lot of Steve Vernon's horror fiction in e-book format - including his dark superhero collection NOTHING TO LOSE, a never-before published second volume of Captain Nothing tales entitled NOTHING DOWN, his weird west cult novella LONG HORN, BIG SHAGGY and a never-before published novel of historical horror DEVIL TREE.

Steve's first YA novel, Sinking Deeper - a touching tale of sea monsters and caber tossing - will be released in the spring of 2011 from Nimbus Publishing.

yours in storytelling,

Steve Vernon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Want a wild ride?, October 13, 2007

By 

J. Johannessen (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Roads paperback (Paperback)

This is a enjoyable book. It takes you on a wild ride. One that when it is over you are truly disappointed. I enjoyed the first story. I admit after a few paragraphs I was worried that I was going to hate it. But I kept reading and found myself entertained.

However with Hammurabi Road (The second story) I found myself enthralled. What a great story that was. I completely enjoyed the ride of that story. I found myself almost shocked at the ending. It was nice to read something that kept your attention and then gave you a shot between the eyes. (pun intended)

The second story you basicly went on a journey with three bumbling idiots who have no idea what the hell they are doing. You could almost get into their skin. The story made you laugh while at the same time made you uneasy. It made you wonder if maybe they were wrong. Or were they right.

Would you be as big an idiot if you decided to do what they had done. Probably.

The situation they found themselves in with the bear was something you felt could happen to you if you had embarked on this idiots journey. I could see the expressions of surprise and horror on their faces in my mind. And yes, I laughed out loud.