Roadwork (United Kingdom)

Roadwork (United Kingdom) follows Barton George Dawes, a middle-aged laundry manager whose life begins to unravel when he learns that both his longtime home and the business where he works are scheduled for demolition to make way for a new highway project. Still haunted by the death of his young son and struggling with a failing marriage, Dawes becomes increasingly unable to cope with the relentless forces of change and loss closing in around him. As construction advances, his grief, anger, and sense of helplessness drive him toward isolation, obsession, and acts of defiance against the authorities responsible for reshaping his world. What begins as resistance to a public works project gradually becomes a deeply personal battle against progress, mortality, and the pain of letting go. Published under Stephen King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman, the novel is a dark psychological thriller that explores grief, alienation, and a man’s tragic descent toward self-destruction.