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Pandemonium Road
Jimmy is a 17-year-old car thief. Given one last chance by a magistrate, he intends to go straight. But a black Mercedes is to tempting. So Jimmy and his mate Ralph steal it. But the owner wants it back. Because stored in the boot are thirteen leather briefcases. Stowed in the cases are thirteen human souls bound for Hell. And their rightful owner wants them back.The Devil's coming for Jimmy, so Jimmy drives like hell . . .
144 pages, Paperback
First published December 24, 2010
3 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Emson
26 books71 followersThomas Emson is a British horror author. He has written eight novels, all published by Snowbooks in the UK. They include Maneater, Skarlet, and Zombie Brittanica. His Jack The Ripper novel Pariah was published by Tantor Media in the U.S.
His collection of stories The Trees And Other Stories was published on Kindle and CreateSpace. He has also written How To Write A Novel In 6 Months, a how-to guide for would-be novelists, which is available on Amazon.
He is represented by Mariam Keen at the Whispering Buffalo Literary Agency.
His collection of stories The Trees And Other Stories was published on Kindle and CreateSpace. He has also written How To Write A Novel In 6 Months, a how-to guide for would-be novelists, which is available on Amazon.
He is represented by Mariam Keen at the Whispering Buffalo Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 11, 2020
Short review for a short book!
> Reads like a train. All events follow one another quickly and since the story is set in.. I think less than 24 hours? There's a lot to happen and get solved.
> I liked the vibe, the fear, the HURRY Emson got across. I felt like I was trying to read as fast as things were happening - which was ridiculously fast at times by the way. But it felt amazing to have that urge to read the book this way.
> The only "lesser" thing is I feel like this book could've done with an extra round of editing. There were some mistakes and lay-out issues in my copy that should've been fixed, really. Or is that my text correcting course getting the better of me? Idk.
4 / 5!
> Reads like a train. All events follow one another quickly and since the story is set in.. I think less than 24 hours? There's a lot to happen and get solved.
> I liked the vibe, the fear, the HURRY Emson got across. I felt like I was trying to read as fast as things were happening - which was ridiculously fast at times by the way. But it felt amazing to have that urge to read the book this way.
> The only "lesser" thing is I feel like this book could've done with an extra round of editing. There were some mistakes and lay-out issues in my copy that should've been fixed, really. Or is that my text correcting course getting the better of me? Idk.
4 / 5!
February 26, 2018
My first short story and I really liked it. It was basically just two high speed chases but it got my adrenaline up and made me devour this book!
April 23, 2017
Great short novel including a stupendous car chase!
August 21, 2025
This is a good short story, I enjoyed it. It does lack some depth and feels a bit rushed in places. This would work better as a young adult story I think. Great tale of learning to have faith in God.
June 17, 2022
Jimmy is a teenage car thief who wants to go straight to be with the girl he loves. When his friend convinces him to do one last theft little do they realise that the car contains the souls of people destined for the devil. With demons on their tail, they must race for their lives. A quick entertaining read with some brilliant descriptions that conjure up the most amazing visuals. I really must read more by this author.
February 15, 2017
I'm honestly glad I only spend 2 euros on this "book". 2.5 page long chapters and what feels like rushed writing, really put me off reading this. Although the idea and plot are interesting, I feel as though I was promised more. It might be that I am just not accostumed to this form of writing yet, for now I'm saying this just wasn't my cup of tea.
March 26, 2020
Kort boekje van minder dan 200blz dus was snel uit. Heerlijke schrijfstijl maar niet mijn boek!
April 23, 2019
It could of been an real page turner if it was more in depth,the thought was there but it didnt exceed!!
January 5, 2014
I surprised myself by actually liking this book. Surprised because I haven't really liked any of the previous books I had read by this author. It's a simple story, simply told in just 144 pages, but a story that just doesn't stop for one second. Surprisingly, it also had a lot of depth and I found myself really relating to the main characters (a couple of teenage car thieves) even though they are the type of people I would normally hate with a vengeance in real life.
If I had an issue with the story, it's in the resolution - that even the worst person can be saved if they have faith in God. But then, I don't have faith either so It's not surprising that this plot device feels false to me.
I would recommend giving it a try if you like modern British horror stories.
If I had an issue with the story, it's in the resolution - that even the worst person can be saved if they have faith in God. But then, I don't have faith either so It's not surprising that this plot device feels false to me.
I would recommend giving it a try if you like modern British horror stories.
February 8, 2025
Jimmy is a 17-year-old car thief. Given one last chance by a magistrate, he intends to go straight. But a black Mercedes is to tempting. So Jimmy and his mate Ralph steal it. But the owner wants it back. Because stored in the boot are thirteen leather briefcases. Stowed in the cases are thirteen human souls bound for Hell. And their rightful owner wants them back. The Devil's coming for Jimmy, so Jimmy drives like hell...
My Thoughts:
This a short book by Thomas Emson which I quite easily read in one sitting. Normally his horror has a little bite to it. This book I found quite mild and it made me think it couls have been an episode from ‘Supernatural’.. It’s still quite a good read if you want something quick but I don’t think it would give you the creeps.
My Thoughts:
This a short book by Thomas Emson which I quite easily read in one sitting. Normally his horror has a little bite to it. This book I found quite mild and it made me think it couls have been an episode from ‘Supernatural’.. It’s still quite a good read if you want something quick but I don’t think it would give you the creeps.
April 27, 2018
Haven’t read any horror in awhile and this was good supernatural fun. Great story of faith
May 6, 2018
Its was ok. And light read to pass the time.
August 12, 2018
I picked this book up at the £1 shop, I devoured it on a Sunday morning, my heart was racing throughout! Brilliant, so gripping. A new author for me to try out.
August 9, 2019
It's a really short story and it goes really fast. I enjoyed reading it, but I thought it was rather predictable.
January 29, 2015
I actually quite liked this book despite it not really being that scary (okay it wasn't really scary at all but some might find it so). The story follows Jimmy who has a nasty habit of stealing cars and is forever getting caught and his friend as they do one last boost before trying to sort themselves out. Sadly for them they choose the wrong car and quickly discover that there are fates worse than prison. The story is well written and nicely paced although the ending didn't quite sit right with me, even ignoring personal opinion, I'm fairly certain that even that level of forgiveness isn't an option (and if it is there is defnitely something wrong somewhere!). I did also find the characters rather naieve but to me this read more like a teen/young adult book so I could forgive this (they are in their late teens after all). Not a bad read all told.
May 2, 2016
"Jimmy is a 17 year old car thief. Given one last chance by a magistrate, he intends to go straight. But a black Mercedes is too tempting. So Jimmy and his mate Tyler steal it.
But the owner wants it back. Because stored in the boot are thirteen human souls bound for hell and their rightful owner will have them back at any cost.
The Devil's coming for Jimmy, so Jimmy drives like hell."
Reading that story plot description on the back of the book, it sounded really good & I couldn't wait to read it. I certainly wasn't disappointed.
I rate this book 4.5 stars out of 5. I loved the story line, I really liked the writing style, it certainly was like looking through a 17 year old's eyes and I loved the reference to good old Corrie.
This is the first book by this Author that I have ever read and I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading more by him.
But the owner wants it back. Because stored in the boot are thirteen human souls bound for hell and their rightful owner will have them back at any cost.
The Devil's coming for Jimmy, so Jimmy drives like hell."
Reading that story plot description on the back of the book, it sounded really good & I couldn't wait to read it. I certainly wasn't disappointed.
I rate this book 4.5 stars out of 5. I loved the story line, I really liked the writing style, it certainly was like looking through a 17 year old's eyes and I loved the reference to good old Corrie.
This is the first book by this Author that I have ever read and I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading more by him.
December 20, 2014
Ah this book was so good. such a simple, fairly short story but it just gave me everything I wanted from it. Not the best writing exactly as there were a fair few mistakes but who cares. It's the story I care about, not how well the author can write. I much prefer when the author writes in the way that you would tell the story in a conversation. I see no need to make things overly complicated or overly descriptive. If it makes sense then it's all good, and that's exactly what this book did. I was surprised I liked the story so much. Loved the characters. simple yet enjoyable read!
September 26, 2011
My mom always said that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
May 8, 2012
While I enjoyed the story they needed to do a much better job of proof reading and editing, some of the mistakes were quite annoying, especially when they get the characters names mixed up.
November 1, 2012
Liked it! The supernatural/mythic manifesting in real life. My favourite thing. Really well written, no wasted words. Had a kind of beat feel sometimes.
October 21, 2012
Fast paced and fun :), not that scary but a great read.
November 23, 2012
hmmmm not so bad bit formulaic
January 10, 2016
Ok it's a 3.5 one for me. It was a short story, liked the concept but the end was boring and a bit weird. Anyway, it was short so it's not that i had to spend weeks reading it :')
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews