Roadkill

by Joseph D'Lacey

Two vehicles, stripped to the bare essentials, accelerate to 180 miles per hour on a deserted highway. Their journey along this dead straight stretch, known as the Final Five, will decide the fate of the drivers – forever. Only one hundred seconds separate them from the finish line as they hurtle towards their destiny, dreaming of glory.
But this is one highway they’ve never travelled before and neither of them knows what they’ll find out there. One thing is certain: every road has its obstacles.

“A breathless race to the finish line of oblivion.”
STARBURST MAGAZINE

“Like nothing you’ve read before. A frenetic, blistering bullet train of white-knuckle reflex.”
DREAD CENTRAL

“A rip-roaring adrenaline ride that will leave you breathless. You can practically taste the gasoline. D’Lacey is a man on a mission; I’d get out of the way. ”
ADAM MILLARD

Genres: Horror

28 pages, Paperback

First published June 8, 2013

About the author

Became vegetarian after writing MEAT. Fond of meditation, unfathomable questions and cats.

Repped by Robert Dinsdale.

"Joseph D'Lacey rocks!" Stephen King.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Roadkill" by Joseph D'Lacey is quite a thrill ride down a highway of an unknown land.

The complete story takes place in exactly 93 seconds, from start to finish, and covers five miles of alien territory.

I have never read a story like this one and I'd like to give congratulations to Mr. D'Lacey for creating such a unique story.

We are told little of the society with in the story other than the flash back glimpses we are given by this nameless narrator. The story itself takes place inside a vehicle and the narrator is strapped into a machine called a Vindicator (or V), which is a bio-mechanical fusion of machine and blood, as he takes part in the only race in his life that will ever matter. And he is not alone, racing against him is a sixteen year old girl called "Dubb" who matches him in skill and determination, as they both speed along a stretch of road known as the Final Five.

The story is good not only for it's uniqueness but also for ability to sustain itself along with your involvement as we speed along toward an unknown conclusion.

This is copy number 95 of 125 signed and numbered chapbooks signed by Joseph D'Lacey.

[Fi Mcmillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joseph D'Lacey is a lovely man who writes absolutely horrible things. Garbage Man? Vile! Kill Crew? Beautifully grim! Meat? Oh, fucking horrendous! With his new short story, Roadkill, D'Lacey keeps his foot firmly to the floor. Available on the Kindle store or as one of This Is Horror's rather gorgeous chapbooks, Roadkill is a highly recommended slice of high octane horror. Gentlemen, start your engines...

This frenetic tale of two racers driving to destruction plays out over a mere 98 seconds, but D'Lacey crowbars a truly astonishing amount into this breathless minute and a half. Roadkill tells of world built around racing, and as our young narrator states, it is the sole thing he was born to do. The cult of the car reigns supreme, and the racing vehicles - Vindicators - are fetishized to the point of worship. This is a brutal race, and the sacrifices required begin long before the ignition is turned.

If his other works are like being bludgeoned with a spiky mace, Roadkill is an attack with a stiletto - short, sharp, and deadly effective.

[Roland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The short story introduces a post-apocaliptic, car-fetishizing, Mad Max-ish future with all of its twisted, distorted worldbuilding only to capture 93 seconds of a reinterpreted, distopized version of a knight's tournament.
I liked every second of it.
(Gentleboys and Gentlegirls competing to reach the Edge, to be able to Conjugate - basically not to swerve away from a full frontal collision this deadly game of playing chicken with muscle cars.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an un-named world, the narrator (also un-named) is engaged in a race with the Dubb, a fellow sixteen year old who is seeking the Convergence as they drive, at high speeds, along the Final Five. The third chapbook from This Is Horror, this benefits greatly from the assured skill of Joseph D’Lacey who manages to make a car race a visceral thing without once tipping his hat to Mad Max. There are several clever touches - a suicidal fox, which appears to speak to our hero - and the ‘Sublime’, the high keening note of an engine at full capacity, which appears to almost be like drug - but (and this seems like an odd complaint) unless this is as an adjunct to a larger piece of work, there’s literally too much invention for these 23 pages of story to contain. Even beyond getting used to the world and the ceremony we’re observing, too many names and terms - Mashers, Steamers, Useful Boys and Useful Girls, Gentleborn, the Boymen, the Seekers, Wanderers, the Cannix - went by without taking a proper hold, meaning I had to keep going back to check who was who, which ruined the flow of the story. Having said all that, it was an enjoyable story - tense, full of nicely realised action and adrenaline even though it’s perhaps a little too complicated for its slender frame - and well worth a read.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thrilling 98 second blast along a deserted highway. You can almost taste the engine oil!