Bad Roads - A big Stone Gap Novel

by John M Vermillion

It began innocently. A suspended manager of a Minor League baseball team, Jock Holden, uses his time away from the team as a hireling, his job to tear down three four-decades old mountainside hunting cabins. Hidden under support posts he discovers leather bags buried 40 years ago. The bounty has present-day value of one to several million dollars. Bags in hand, Holden thinks he’s pulled off a successful heist…but someone has watched him from the start. When this person threatens to spill the beans, Holden brutalizes her. Now he’s guilty of both grand theft and murder. A former player, working with police, connects with Holden to build the case against Holden. Instead, the player falls in league with Holden. The two criminals dig in on Felix Fox’s 20,000-acre ranch. The manhunt reaches a violent climax as the escapees fight with the forces of nature as much as with the law.

300 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 10, 2023

Reviews

[Karyn H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Story with Some Twists

I may not know so much about the author John M. Vermillion but one thing I am certain about is that he is one author with great potentials. His ingenious use of suspense to successfully steer us in the direction he wants to remarkably set him apart as one of the authors I will honestly be watching out for in the future.
Bad Roads: A Big Stone Gap comes across like one of your favorite Hollywood blockbusters where the bad guy perpetrates his evil believing he is alone, but then, there are always two secret eyes peering from the dark, ready to spill the beans.
In this case, it’s a suspended Minor League baseball manager, Jock Holden that is the evil genius. After his suspension, Holden decides to get busy at something less demanding that baseball rules—working as a hireling to tear down three mountainside hunting cabins that are four-decades old.
But there was something more to this place. It held some secrets that can translate to several millions of dollars in recent times. However, Holden has to deal with the threat first—he goes ahead to brutalize the lady who has been watching his whole escapades all these times. Now he is guilty of two crimes, theft and murder. Bad Roads will keep you gripped till the end. Great story.

[Guy Wheatley · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a 5 star story here, unfortunately it’s buried under repetition, overly flowery speech, way too much personal exposition, and finally the author’s political viewpoint.
Author Vermillion is unapologetic for his contempt of progressives, and frequently takes them to task. He strongly supports the coal industry, and propounds extensively on the fallacies of leftist positions. As a conservative myself, I wasn’t offended and even agreed with most of his observations. However, somebody leaning much more to the left might find the book offensive.
Characters were well developed, but the story moved slowly. Unfortunately, characters justify answers and opinions with long winded history and assurances of respect. When the proper response is “yes,” we get a paragraph with historical justifications.
Even with its flaws, this is an enjoyable read.

[ZebraDebra · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, “Bad Roads: A Big Stone Gap Novel” by author John M. Vermilion has promise. The story begins with two ambitious men who both play basketball and are similar in many ways. However, soon it becomes evident that the writing style is brusque and choppy throughout the book. Not only that, but the earlier events that are described are dry and boring and the further one gets into the novel the worse the brutal actions that are discussed. Severe violence, brutalising a woman, theft, murder and other crimes are the order of the day. I cannot recommend this book if you are a sensitive reader who gets upset by such subjects.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say about this book? First of all, it surprised me on several levels, but in a good way. For instance, it’s a very long piece of work; however, it’s so well done that this did not at all detract from my reading pleasure and it’s very easy to feel in love with the plot development. In fact, it seemed to add immediacy to the action.
Secondly, technically speaking, the writing is first-rate, I didn’t find errors and the dialogues are absolutely realistic. The narrative is full of surprises, breathless twists and turns, well-rounded characters, and sometimes, quite intense drama.
To conclude, I would recommend this novel to anyone who likes a fast-paced mystery.

[Almiria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel honestly was not my taste. While some violence is to be expected in most thrillers, I just found the situations in this book to be particularly gruesome and sometimes gratuitous. I would have preferred more focus on the characterization and back-story of the criminals than on shock-value. I think that a more thorough exploration of what leads someone to become engaged in so much criminal activity and violence would have boosted the novel. I guess readers who enjoy being shocked may like the book, which does have plenty of twists and turns in the plot. The writing style is pretty easy to follow with relatively short sentences and short chapters. It’s three stars for me.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, John M. Vermillion does what he does best: tells a delightful story; in this case showing how power and ambition could be an addiction and how often people become swept in.
This clever author has a unique ‘hypnotic’ writing style that kept me glued to the couch wanting to know more about Jock Holden, the main character. He also somehow managed to navigate me to ‘smoothly’ transition through dangerous and dark events.
I absolutely appreciated the details on the protagonist’s life, which helped me visualize him in the action-packed parts of the story.
“Bad Roads” is an enthralling fiction that I totally recommend to any kind of reader who enjoys a good mystery.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bad Roads: A Big Stone Gap Novel" is a novel written by John M. Vermillion. In this book, we meet Jock Holden, a suspended manager of a baseball team, who starts tearing down 3 cabins in his spare time, but is shocked when he makes a discovery. Leather bags buried 40 years ago, their estimated value? Several million dollars.

To begin, I would like to say that I found it to be a super original plot. These days it's hard to read new, creative and particularly entertaining stuff. This novel surprised me, I found it super engaging with a fresh and original plot. I highly recommend it.

[Chico's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly thrilling novel. Jack Holden, a former manager of a minor league baseball team falls into the life of crime after losing his job. Looking at the cover of the book I thought it would be a children’s book or a funny novel but it turns out to be about murders, stealing money and running away. To be honest with you the plot is really intense and so fast paced that I didn't realize I finished the book. It has a lot of notable characters both good and bad, in the end good trumps evil. I commend the author for great character building and indirectly teaching that doing bad deeds will only give you bad outcomes. Great, easy and fast read, an enjoyment in every page.