Roadwork December 25, 1973 Review: Olivia's Call and Bart's Dark Confession
Book: Roadwork
Author: Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
ISBN: 978-1-101-13813-7
Olivia calls collect from Las Vegas on Christmas morning. She sounds angry, exhausted, and unsafe. She says she may have been raped after getting high. Bart offers money, pushes her to stay steady, and then admits he is thinking about killing himself.
He calls it soul cancer. She tells him to get help. He keeps lecturing anyway, then hangs up and refuses her callbacks. Later Mary calls and he agrees to go to Wally’s New Year’s party. That night Magliore phones, hints he knows Bart did the arson, and says the project is still moving forward.
This chapter is bleak and very strong. Both Olivia and Bart are in trouble, and neither can rescue the other. The Magliore call then wipes out any illusion of progress. Christmas ends colder than it started.
Key Topics
- Long-distance breakdown
- Suicide confession
- Futility
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