Roadrage

by M.J. Johnson

Gil Harper is travelling home in severe weather conditions when he encounters another car on a deserted motorway. The other driver provokes him into a dangerous race at high speed. Although deeply shaken by the experience, Gil eventually gets away and completes his journey safely.

A short time afterwards there begins a series of apparently unrelated events. What seems at first to be a vindictive game escalates into a terrifying ordeal with lethal consequences, not only for Gil, but for all those he loves and cares about.

Trouble isn't always personal

Genres: Thriller, Mystery

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 21, 2013

About the author

Martin was born in South Wales. He trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has worked extensively in all areas of the theatrical profession. He is married and has one son. 'Niedermayer & Hart', a supernatural thriller, is his first book and is the first part of a trilogy which continues with 'Wilhelm & Laszlo'. He has also written a psychological thriller 'Roadrage', He is currently at work on the final part of his trilogy.

Reviews

[Aditi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nenia Campbell, an American author, has been quoted while saying:

“It takes many sheep to satisfy one wolf.”

M.J. Johnson, an English author, has spun a spectacular psychological thriller in his new book, Roadrage . And honestly, if you ask me how the book was, I'd rather say that I never ever read anything so dark, vulnerable and so sick!! M.J. Johnson has not only written it from the view point of creating a sick trauma and fear in the minds of his readers but he has delivered the whole book with a hell lot of compassion, thus it made me completely hooked to the story till the very end, and after reading this book, I'm now an official fan of Martin and will be looking forward in reading his next book.

Synopsis:
Gil Harper is travelling home in severe weather conditions when he encounters another car on a deserted motorway. The other driver provokes him into a dangerous race at high speed. Although deeply shaken by the experience, Gil eventually gets away and completes his journey safely. A short time afterwards there begins a series of apparently unrelated events. What seems at first to be a vindictive game escalates into a terrifying ordeal with lethal consequences, not only for Gil, but for all those he loves and cares about. Trouble isn't always personal.

Well, we can't get a clear picture from what's written at the back of the book. In a nutshell, Gil has been a widowed man for the last 10years, but recently he found his lady luck in a theater costume designer, Sally whose nature will strike you as very secretive and someone who holds a grudge to her past. So you can imagine what happens when someone like Sally crosses her path with such a gentle man like Gil- the inevitable sparks fly with lots of fireworks. And within a fortnight, Gil's life takes an ugly turn, when Sally's insane ex-boyfriend, damages Gil's car and poisons Gil's dog. But when Sally's ex-boyfriend is found murdered- a classic hit-and-run case, in the middle of a road, fingers point to both Sally and Gil but all through the back-ground, a suspicious person is stalking Gil day-and-night under the nose of Gil. Who is this man? What is he want from Gil?

Gil and Sally both will strike you as the most interesting characters that you ever read in any thriller. Gil- the gentle guy, who always gets the blame when something goes wrong- the perfect fall-guy, who loves his dog like crazy and Sally- will sound like very vindictive and secretive, always holding back something especially when she's around her strange friends. And the rest of the other characters are too quite powerful, which impacted the story a lot. Moreover, it sound like whenever anything happened from dog-poisoning to car art-attack to car chasing on the highway, I simply couldn't put a finger to the real villain, because everyone sounded like a suspect to me!

The writing was plain and simple, something which you can relate to. The descriptions were striking enough to see things quite clearly. And the twists were kept well hidden till the very end and the mystery kept building higher and higher. The climax was marvelous which completely threw me off the edge. I mean I didn't see that coming. Totally unexpected and utterly brilliant! Yeah the climax matters a lot to the thrillers, I mean how the story will finally unfold from its last fold, that matters a lot, and Martin and skillfully delivered the climax. With such a flawless narration, you can only imagine yourself blending into the whole drama of sick murders. And mind it, while reading those sick notes (diary entries) of that psycho-stalker, will only make you look over your shoulder!

Verdict: This is a must-read and you certainly can't piss this sick, bloody and deadly page turner mystery.

Courtesy: Many, many thanks to the author, M.J.Johnson, for giving me the opportunity to read and review his incredibly compelling novel!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Gil Harper is the victim of a road rage incident on the motorway one night, he puts it down to bad luck but during the weeks that follow, strange and sinister things start happening. Could they all be connected? These events escalate, in line with the gear stick motifs that start each section of the book.

This is a very readable psychological thriller told from two different viewpoints. The first is that of Gil as he tries to make sense of what is going on, the timing of which couldn’t be worse as he has just embarked on his first relationship since the death of his wife Jules. We also see things from the side of his “stalker” (for want of a better word). These sections are particularly chilling and we really get the feeling that Gil is up against someone totally evil and unhinged. What I did like was that every time I thought I had sussed the identity of this unnamed protagonist, a few pages later I realised I was wrong.

There is a lot going on in this book, plenty of twists and turns as the story unfolds into a chilling read, one in which it seems that nobody connected with Gil is safe from his stalker – and is his stalker known to him?

At times I did think the dialogue was a little unnatural and forced and sometimes the author did tend to “over explain” things. Although there is a lot of story here, it moves at a good pace towards a climax that is gripping and quite scary, although I did feel a little let down right at the end. I would have liked a bit more to have been revealed motive-wise. That having been said, on the whole this is a really intriguing story, one which kept me interested right to the end. Thanks to the author for the review copy.

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I love a good psychological thriller and this was great. With a great opening and a terrific build up of tension over the course of the novel, it kept me hooked until the final pages.

Gil was an interesting character – a gentle soul and a widower who is just beginning a new life with a new love, he finds himself caught up in a series of incidents, ever more dreadful and can’t understand who would be doing these things and why. With many twists and turns along the way, the tension builds then abates..builds then lessens..until finally there is a breathtaking rush to the final, very satisfying resolution. This book is sure to keep you up into the night..I’ve had a lot of that lately…I’m not sure my sleeping patterns will ever settle again..

The mystery element is cleverly achieved. From the secretive Sally to her possibly insane ex boyfriend, everyone is suspect. The characters are nicely imagined…and there is a touch of realism within the pages of this novel when you can see just how easy it is to find out the private details of someones life. The “Villain” is one scary person and it will make you look over your shoulder…

All in all a very good book especially when it comes to building up expectation and then not letting you down with some plot hole filled denouement..this story promises…and then delivers!



Happy Reading Folks.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping from start to finish

[M00plays · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastically gripping book!
The characters are so well crafted and diverse from all walks of life, with a strong network binding them.
The second voice is both creepy and unnerving, along with really interesting to hear from the mad man's point of view. Also, how he finds enjoyment from malice and talks about it freely, noting every detail of Gil's life and planning everything down to the last detail to ensure there are no leads.
Talking of leads, good old Spike knows whats going on! He is the faithful canine companion that has kept Gil sane all of these years without Jules, his wife who died in a car crash.
As for Sally, I found her quite frustrating sometimes with her vulnerable and emotional personality crying and crying and crying. However, Megan (midget woman) I found was a redeeming strong female character along with Kate to a certain extent. Such a wide host of characters that I found I could visualise as soon as their names where mentioned!
I enjoyed this book so much, however I found some parts to be quite monotonous and I thought why is this included? But honestly, get through those points because they all add up when you get to the second voice's chapters. I found that I was anticipating these chapters and wanting to know what was actually going on behind the scenes. The second voice's chapters made me want to SCREAM at Gil and tell him what was going on. A greatly sadistic character who is crafted so well when you hear his point of view.
The setting of this book was wonderful, when you learnt how to pronounce the welsh place names it really helped and made visualising the setting easy and not a chore!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, even if you do not particularly like the Thriller genre. I am not usually a fan of this genre but Roadrage really excited me and enabled me to enjoy this genre!
I applaud M. J. Johnson for this fantastic book!

[WiLoveBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastically well-told story that grabbed me from the first chapter. Gil is just trying to drive home when another car on the highway starts messing with him. Parts of the story are from the point of view of the bad guy and gives you a glimpse into his head. This did a great job of ratcheting up the suspense and made me want to keep reading. It showed just how crazy he was and still kept you wondering. Definitely creepy. There is a bit of a romance, which was a nice plus, but didn't overpower the thriller aspect of the story. I enjoyed the characters as well. I highly recommend this one.

[Geoffrey West · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delicious torment of tension

Gil Harper is a nice guy, a talented book illustrator who lives a quiet rather lonely life since the death of his beloved wife Jules. The story starts one rainy night when he has a hellish run-in with another motorist, who nearly kills them both in a seemingly meaningless bout of terrifyingly fast driving and deadly brinkmanship that nearly ends in a terrible accident. Afterwards Gil puts the horrible incident behind him, concentrating on the new romance in his life, Sally, an interesting talented woman who has a busy job connected with the theatre, meaning she travels around the country leaving Gil alone at home for much of the time; he’s not sure things are right with Sally yet, he’s not sure if she really is the one. But he hopes she can help him escape from the loneliness of his past.
Although Gil has put the roadrage incident behind him another, extremely unpleasant thing happens. Then more and more awful incidents follow each other in quick succession, so that Gil is driven frantic with the fear and the tormenting question that he cannot answer: Who is trying to destroy his life? Who hates him enough to do the things that are upsetting him so much that they are driving him to the brink of despair? Is it Sally’s demented and vicious ex boyfriend? Or is it someone else from his past?
The tension builds and builds. There are deaths. You wonder just what the answer can possibly be until the final denouement which comes as a succession of shocks and surprises as the calamities come so thick and fast that you’re falling off the edge of your seat.
Once you start reading, I promise you won’t want to stop until you find out the truth.
This book is a masterpiece of the art of building up tension slowly, letting it drop, then racking it up to fever pitch, until it becomes almost unbearable. If you like a delightful build-up of tension, shocks, lots of surprises and a thrilling climax you’ll love Roadrage.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

ROADRAGE is the first book I have read by this author. It is a real page turner! I loved the psychological thriller and enjoyed the characters in the story also. The book was just fantastic! Looking forward to reading more of M.J. Johnson!

E-copy provided by author in exchange for honest and unscripted review.

[Jennifer Petkus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t like Roadrage by Martin Johnson; couldn’t put it down

Roadrage is really not my cup of tea, a psychological thriller in the vein of Cape Fear or Play Misty for Me or The Talented Mister Ripley or Rear Window. I don’t like the idea of a decent person persecuted for no particular reason because it’s just so upsetting an idea, which makes this a good novel but one I just cannot honestly say I enjoyed, even though I stayed up late several nights reading it.

I think, sadly, that we’re all accustomed to the idea of being the victim of one person’s homicidal rage, as in the numerous school, movie theater, church and shopping center shootings. It has become so common in America that too many just shrug their shoulders and put such horrors in the same category as being struck by lightning or dying in an airplane crash. And we’ve all seen movies where someone sees something they shouldn’t have—the classic wrong place at the wrong time that Alfred Hitchcock did so well—or the district attorney or cop who is targeted by a criminal seeking revenge. Those movies (or the books on which they were based) usually involve the hero in some way being complicit in the horror that will rain down on them.

Gil Harper in Roadrage, however, is in no way liable for the punishment he receives at the hands of author Johnson. He’s a good and decent man (doesn’t cheat on his taxes, gives to charity) who’s finally coming to terms with the death of his wife five years earlier. He’s a book illustrator of some renown, currently writing his own book and he’s even dating again. But a bizarre incident of road rage after coming home from spending Christmas with his in-laws starts a chain of events of which he’s unaware. Yes, it has an element of Hitchcock’s wrong man at the wrong place, but it progresses precisely because Gil Harper is a good and decent man, and that, to me, makes this a truly horrifying novel that I can never really like, but I can heartily recommend.

A good part of this book can simply be read as a romance between Gil and Sally Curtis. It slowly develops despite the threat from Sally’s abusive ex-fiancé and it survives despite the death of Gil’s good friends and another death in which both Sally and Gil are possible suspects. The book has a pretty high body count and throughout the novel you’re worried who will die. Gil’s dog Spike, a Jack Russell terrier, is a particular joy in the book, as is author Johnson’s knowledge of the theatrical world (Johnson is a Royal Academy of Dramatic Art trained actor).

By far the most disturbing aspect of the book is the interstitial comments by Gil’s nemesis, a nemesis of whom Gil is unaware for the majority of the book. At first I found these comments annoying, and then I realized that I really found them horrifying. If this were a movie, we‘d be seeing this nemesis going about his machinations, but as a book, it makes more sense to simply go inside his head, and that’s really much more awful.

You may also enjoy Johnson’s previous book, Niedermayer & Hart, which is a supernatural horror story that I very much enjoyed.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

After enjoying some very positive reviews for his first novel Niedermayer & Hart (my favourite ‘Indie’ read of last year) Martin has presented us with his psychological thriller Roadrage.

Forget the why’s and wherefore’s of the plot and just accept the fact that there are potentially some dangerously crazy people out there and, if they had hold of your personal information, how much damage could they do to your life? One such person sets his sights on destroying the life of Gil Harper, an unassuming illustrator, who is learning to live again after the tragic death of his wife. What starts out as a brief incident on the motorway one rainy Christmas night sends Gil’s life spiraling out of control.

There are some nice touches here and there; I liked the gear shift chapter headings, and dear old Spike…… what a lovely brave little character he is. Some of the other characters I suspect are based on people Martin has known from his acting days (Sally, Gil’s love interest, is involved with the theatre). I was suspicious of Sally from the start, and I was trying to work out how she would fit into the scheme of things, but you will need to read the novel to find out why she is so secretive.

This novel will get you thinking about the danger of being a creature of habit, and the security of your own personal information. After all, we all live in the age of the internet where everything is accessed by passwords – and you can’t possibly remember them all, you have to write them down……….. somewhere……. don’t you?

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you start into a book, you generally know the basic premise of the storyline. Only when you have let yourself fall into the world created by the author by settling into a few chapters do you begin to understand the depths of the storyline. If you are lucky and have chosen a fabulous work by a talented author, you are soon wholly enveloped by the world within the book. This description fits Roadrage like a tailor-made suit.

Without creating spoils, I spent the majority of the time reading Roadrage filled with (the best kind of) anxiety anticipating the next event. It was so easy to become consumed by the vulnerability, emotions and terror which so quickly overtook Gil Harper's life. Throughout the entire book, my eyes and brain could not coordinate fast enough to let me read through the pages at the pace I wanted!

M.J. Johnson has quickly become one of my favorite suspense/thriller authors. I will admit that I did not expect Roadrage to leave me with such a magnificent impression after how much I loved his first book Niedermayer & Hart, so I was quite impressed. Johnson has a magnificent ability to descriptively and perfectly tell stories. He also is a master at creating suspenseful situations which snowball into unexpected twists and turns throughout his books. I cannot wait to see what he has in store for the next book!

[Katherine Walmsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

How easy for it is it for anyone to break into our lives and steal our privacy from us? Very!

Gil becomes the subject of a creepy stalker. It starts with a car chase and Gil being frightened out of his wits on the motorway. The terror starts to escalate and soon everyone who knows Gil is a potential victim. This book made me laugh and was thoroughly enjoyable. It felt very realistic and the characters came alive.

[John Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. A very scary premise, which is all too plausible sees Gil, a perfectly nice, normal guy targeted by a complete psycho. the book nicely balances the 'story' element with the dark thoughts or the villain. pulled together to finish very well, you don't feel that it's been either rushed or over done. would definitely recommend!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good book. A thriller that can be read as a PG 13. Keeps you wondering what will happen next, but doesn't keep you awake at night!!
I also appreciated that there was very little profanity, no descriptive sex scenes and the violence is not graphically portrayed.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant storyline. a must read.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I had to really force myself to get through this book. It was very slow and I wanted to put it down quite a few times and start something new. I felt no investment in the characters and there really wasn't that great development over them. Spike, the dog, was probably the only character in the book that I was cheering for. The ending was intense and the most enjoyable part of the story. A lot of people seemed to like this book and sadly it just wasn't for me. When it comes to psychological thrillers I think it definitely fits the genre.

[Donny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnson can tell a fanciful story.

[Sarah Freeman-langford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too sure on this book. I thought the storyline was a little weak and for some reason took a total and utter dislike to the main characters girlfriend - I found her insipid and self centred. It's just my opinion. Overall worth a try but not a classic by any stretch.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve given this book 5 stars, but as with my review for Martin’s book Niedermayer and Hart, just FYI I am married to the author. Having said that, I think it’s a great read!

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit of fun. Totally implausible and the writing was not very sophisticated but, as I said, entertaining.