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Burning Roads: Dead Man's Run: Book 1
Atlanta cabbie by day, amateur autoduellist by night, Ricky Turner is living the dream.
That is, until he wakes up in a Gold Cross facility to discover his last match was more than a failure, it was a fatality.
Indebted for the cost of the clone body and reboot, Ricky heads back to the arena to do the one thing he’s good drive offensively! But at the rate amateur matches pay out, it’ll take several lifetimes to clear his debt.
Luckily the AADA has announced a new nationwide road rally, designed to challenge even the heartiest of autoduelling teams and with prizes fit for a king. Its name?
Dead Man’s Run!
Can Ricky and his clandestine crew traverse the wasteland from Atlanta to Sturgis and survive against packs of cannibals, roving biker gangs, and wannabe autoduellists out to make a name for themselves?
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Welcome to the world of the Car Autoduel Chronicles — Tales from the freeways of the future, where the right of way goes to the biggest guns and death sports rule the airwaves. From clandestine highway battles to prime-time arena combat, jump behind the wheel, follow the fast-paced action, and never forget to Drive Offensively!
Car Warriors Autoduel fiction is licensed by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated and set in the Car Wars universe.
That is, until he wakes up in a Gold Cross facility to discover his last match was more than a failure, it was a fatality.
Indebted for the cost of the clone body and reboot, Ricky heads back to the arena to do the one thing he’s good drive offensively! But at the rate amateur matches pay out, it’ll take several lifetimes to clear his debt.
Luckily the AADA has announced a new nationwide road rally, designed to challenge even the heartiest of autoduelling teams and with prizes fit for a king. Its name?
Dead Man’s Run!
Can Ricky and his clandestine crew traverse the wasteland from Atlanta to Sturgis and survive against packs of cannibals, roving biker gangs, and wannabe autoduellists out to make a name for themselves?
---
Welcome to the world of the Car Autoduel Chronicles — Tales from the freeways of the future, where the right of way goes to the biggest guns and death sports rule the airwaves. From clandestine highway battles to prime-time arena combat, jump behind the wheel, follow the fast-paced action, and never forget to Drive Offensively!
Car Warriors Autoduel fiction is licensed by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated and set in the Car Wars universe.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 16, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 22, 2023
Exciting CarWars Action
Roberts has written what I hope to be only the first of a long line of Car Wars ovens in support of the new 6th edition of the classic game. Not only does he perfectly capture the feel of the Car Wars environment he has put together a genuinely compelling novel as well. I recommend this for not just gamers familiar with the game but also for anyone who wants a well written, fast paced action adventure.
Roberts has written what I hope to be only the first of a long line of Car Wars ovens in support of the new 6th edition of the classic game. Not only does he perfectly capture the feel of the Car Wars environment he has put together a genuinely compelling novel as well. I recommend this for not just gamers familiar with the game but also for anyone who wants a well written, fast paced action adventure.
July 6, 2023
What a fun read!
Hillbilly knocked one out of the park with this! So many memories of playing CarWars back in the 80's came flooding into my mind as I read this. Can't wait for the next installment.
Hillbilly knocked one out of the park with this! So many memories of playing CarWars back in the 80's came flooding into my mind as I read this. Can't wait for the next installment.
July 4, 2023
awesome
Great story and a gem to all classic & new Car Wars players. Can’t wait for book 2 to come out!
Great story and a gem to all classic & new Car Wars players. Can’t wait for book 2 to come out!
July 8, 2023
When I was a kid growing up in the Michiana area, I loved demolition derby races on tv! And as a young adult, I watched all the Road Warrior movies. I was a late-comer to watching NASCAR, but enjoyed them for 10 years. This book was right up my alley! I highly recommend it!
September 6, 2023
Hey, Booktock/tube/stragram or whatever digital alleyway you congregate in theseadays, this is my gift to you, if you want to do one of them hit pieces that get all the views. The humor is puerile, the action is tepid, and the characters make some choices. It is legitimate so bad it's good territory, buy it and let the author cry all the way to the bank.
The author has given thought into how the rules of modern game shows and reality TV would influence autodueling, and the part of the Car Wars world. It is what kept me reading, because even when boring story was boring, from a sort of structural sense, it was interesting to see threading over what and what not to modify or update. I think that, maybe, the book doesn't really have a great sense of what it is trying to be, and that feels agonizing. But yes, this is a book.
The author has given thought into how the rules of modern game shows and reality TV would influence autodueling, and the part of the Car Wars world. It is what kept me reading, because even when boring story was boring, from a sort of structural sense, it was interesting to see threading over what and what not to modify or update. I think that, maybe, the book doesn't really have a great sense of what it is trying to be, and that feels agonizing. But yes, this is a book.
December 5, 2023
Decades ago, I read "Why Johnny Can't Speed," the short story that was the inspiration for Steve Jackson's Car Wars game. I played the game as well and loved every dice roll and failed maneuver and crash.
Dead Man's Run is an excellent addition to the decades long game/world of Car Wars. Mr. Roberts' strength is describing the battle scenes, putting the reader in the driver's seat AND the gunner's seat. There's a few plot twists, like the dueling tracks and highways they battle on, and even a few touching moments in the story, which are just as surprising as a dropped oil slick from the car you're gunning down.
I can't wait for the next leg of this race to hit the pavement.
Let's Shake the Ground!
Dead Man's Run is an excellent addition to the decades long game/world of Car Wars. Mr. Roberts' strength is describing the battle scenes, putting the reader in the driver's seat AND the gunner's seat. There's a few plot twists, like the dueling tracks and highways they battle on, and even a few touching moments in the story, which are just as surprising as a dropped oil slick from the car you're gunning down.
I can't wait for the next leg of this race to hit the pavement.
Let's Shake the Ground!
July 26, 2024
Dead Man's Run
This is a very entertaining read that really gets to the nub of what made the fiction in the old ADQs so enjoyable. The feel for the world of Car Wars is spot on. The pages flow by and whilst you know that the heroes will win out, the how they do so isn't always obvious and that helps to keep you hooked.
For those who aren't familiar with the game that this novel is spun off from, it would have been nice for them if there had been an introduction with a potted history and a glossary of terminology, but this is a small quibble. There are a couple of typos, wretch instead of retch and you're instead of yours, but other than that, this is well written.
This is a very entertaining read that really gets to the nub of what made the fiction in the old ADQs so enjoyable. The feel for the world of Car Wars is spot on. The pages flow by and whilst you know that the heroes will win out, the how they do so isn't always obvious and that helps to keep you hooked.
For those who aren't familiar with the game that this novel is spun off from, it would have been nice for them if there had been an introduction with a potted history and a glossary of terminology, but this is a small quibble. There are a couple of typos, wretch instead of retch and you're instead of yours, but other than that, this is well written.
January 3, 2026
Old school mayhem
This was an enjoyable flashback to the early days of Car Wars. OG smashing and crashing, bore sight line ‘em up and blaze action. There is a hint of something more going on behind the scenes, and since I bought the whole set of stories in one swoop, I’ll shortly be finding out if that is true. I did really enjoy the “grab it up and bolt it on” interludes between the highway and arena action sequences. Nothing really deep here, just good old fashioned shooting up the place.
This was an enjoyable flashback to the early days of Car Wars. OG smashing and crashing, bore sight line ‘em up and blaze action. There is a hint of something more going on behind the scenes, and since I bought the whole set of stories in one swoop, I’ll shortly be finding out if that is true. I did really enjoy the “grab it up and bolt it on” interludes between the highway and arena action sequences. Nothing really deep here, just good old fashioned shooting up the place.
August 24, 2023
Excellent Tale
Good story with character development. It builds me world so if you haven't played the game you can still enjoy the book. Like any good story, the characters grow and develop. They aren't fully formed awesome perfection straight away. There's an arc, this is just good story telling. I look forward to seeing where this goes.
Good story with character development. It builds me world so if you haven't played the game you can still enjoy the book. Like any good story, the characters grow and develop. They aren't fully formed awesome perfection straight away. There's an arc, this is just good story telling. I look forward to seeing where this goes.
February 26, 2026
i don’t have words to do britney’s story justice, but i do have a bit to say. what an insightful, shocking, heavy yet inspiring read.
you really have to go into this with no one else’s opinion in your head and that’s what i did.
you really have to go into this with no one else’s opinion in your head and that’s what i did.
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July 3, 2023About time for carwars novels!
Exciting story with great action. I finished in two hours. Hurry up and get the next book out! No... get the rest of the series out!
Exciting story with great action. I finished in two hours. Hurry up and get the next book out! No... get the rest of the series out!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews