A Plot for Pridemore

by Stephen Roth

For five heart-churning days, the world turns its attention to tiny Pridemore, Missouri, where rescue teams work around the clock to free a mentally challenged man from a collapsed cave. Thats how Mayor Roe Tolliver envisions it, anyway. Weary of watching the town hes led for more than forty years slide into economic oblivion, the mayor hatches a devious and dangerous plan. Over the course of a year, the mayor and his cronies carry out the convoluted scheme, which involves everything from bilking state money for a bogus tourist attraction to hiring a militia ballistics consultant to detonate the limestone cavern. Their success hinges on unassuming pawn Digby Willard, whose simple-minded likeability provides human interest in the made-for-television crisis. Get ready for a fast-paced romp filled with quirky characters, hilarious twists and turns, and a small town that just might get its fifteen minutes of fame.

Genres: Fiction

277 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2014

About the author

Before starting his writing career, Stephen Roth worked 12 years as a reporter covering politicians, business figures and local eccentrics for newspapers in Missouri and Florida. Originally from LaGrange, Ga., he currently lives in Kansas City with his wife, son and dog. A Plot for Pridemore is his first novel.

Reviews

[Zoeytron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The small town of Pridemore, Missouri is dying on the vine, a casualty of the rerouting of Highway 54. Bypassed for some years now, Pridemore's business establishments have closed down one by one. The Reading Lamp bookstore and Ernie's 66 Filling Station are boarded up. The Lizard Lounge and Westbrook Feed & Seed are closed and abandoned. Sagging clapboard houses line the streets. Longtime Mayor Roe Tolliver may be 88 years old, but he has a notion of how to put Pridemore back on the map and return it to a bustling enterprise.

Crystal clear characterizations and attention to detail are right on the money. You will meet Edna Bright, 'plump and cheery as a Christmas ham' and who is apt to flash a Jimmy Carter grin. Larry Truesdale, a local businessman, has carefully coiffed hair and teeth that are alarmingly white. The older farmers in the area have necks and faces like brown paper sacks from too many years in the sun. Fishing is favored here, and might explain the hat of one of the locals, 'Here, fishy, fishy'. And there is Digby Willers, 6'3" and 280 pounds, who has the mind of a child. He figures prominently in the story.

Extra points for a very different plot. Small town politics, fraud, corruption, and kickbacks are laid bare. The attending and frenzied media attention may or may not be just what the doctor ordered. This was a first-reads giveaway, signed by the author and coming with a nifty bookmark.

[Kenneth Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Roth is a storyteller. He has the ability to create characters that are so quirky and personable that you could picture them sitting beside you in the coffee shop on Saturday. In A Plot For Pridemore Mr. Roth brings to life the struggles and triumphs of small town life. The story is a fast paced romp through the politics of Pridemore, Missouri and through the lives of its citizens. The story moves quickly and weaves humor, nostalgia and just enough drama throughout the highly engaging prose to give the reader a complete emotional experience. Mayor Roe Tolliver is searching for a way to save his town after the highway that had been its lifeline is rezoned. What he comes up with, how he enlists the aid of his cronies and the way the plan goes right and wrong will leave you laughing and, for those of you from small towns similar to Pridemore, just a little bit homesick. Mr. Roth masterfully tugs on the heart strings of his readers. The characters are multidimensional, each possessing qualities both good and bad. Give yourself time to read this one because once you start you won’t want to stop until your visit to Pridemore is finished.

[Will White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I’ve been looking for. The story, the characters, and the humor were refreshing. It’s a story like none other with characters introduced by the author that feel like they are walking around the house. I couldn’t put the book down, and I never wanted it to end. Roth is definitely an author that I will recommend to all readers that I come across. Thank you!
Read Goodreads’ description for a summary.

[Alarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Get ready for a madcap romp, not at all what you’d expect from a trip to Pridemore, Missouri. Roth has the Southern storyteller’s knack for creating quirky but believable characters who will charm and alarm you and keep you glued to your chair. The action is so quickly paced, risky, and hilarious that it is easy to picture A Plot for Pridemore on the movie screen.

Ever since Highway 54 was redirected in 1991, eighty-eight-year-old Mayor Roe Tolliver has been watching his town’s “long, slow crawl to oblivion.” Shops on Main Street are boarded up. Only one decent restaurant remains. The Cub Scouts’ annual pinewood derby is the biggest action in town, but that’s all about to change.

The mayor has most of the city council in his back pocket, which is a good thing. He needs a lot of help pulling off his ambitious and dangerous scheme to focus world attention on his tiny town. Even his fifty years in power might not be enough to sway his four partners in crime. When he unveils the plot, they “stared at him as if he’d announced that Horton Hears a Who held the key to the cosmos.” What could possibly go wrong, except EVERYTHING? Let us count the ways…

Roth reminds me of Clyde Edgerton, so it was wonderful to see that Edgerton endorsed this book.

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with sinister twists and excellent dialogue. The town becomes a character in itself. Great read!

[Newt Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

One star just for the fact that I finished this. Another for the premise.
And the third one only because the author and I are from the same hometown(LaGrange, GA!).

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting tale of corruption in a small town. This story was written by an author living in my home town of KC - Mr. Stephen Roth - and he is really good at getting the tone of the small town life just perfect! In this story an elderly mayor of Pridemore Missouri decides to get his town publicity by staging a terrible accident and then the rescue. He got the idea from watching the story of Baby Jessica which I remember very well myself! To him his actions are justified because it's all for teh greater good of his home town. He has complete control over the town counsel so they cannot go against him in this secret plan. But then it's just like any plot - something goes wrong - and then its out of his control! On the other side of this is a young newspaper reporter who is frustrated about being stuck at a small town newspaper and looking for a big scoop. If he can find out what the mayor is up to, what a story! I would have given it 3.5 stars if I could have - not quite a four for me because it was hard to like the characters very much - but interesting overall and reminded me of home.

[Mandi Ballinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book by a Missouri author with a unique plot. Unfortunately, it’s about 100 pages too long and full of annoying stereotypes. There’s not a redeeming character in the book - the men are all misogynists and the few women are either fat and lazy or relying on their sexuality for ambition.

[Minerva King · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has an interesting plot: the mayor of a dying midwestern town wants to revive the town by staging the rescue of a mentally challenged man in order to have international media exposure. I liked the way the author describes the characters and sets the stage for the story. It is a fast read because you want to keep going to find out what happens.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to finish, but so glad I did! It was a good story with a lot of twists. Many characters also. Good story for a first publication!