Books set on the road – roadtrips BookTrail style

Submitted: 25th February 2020

Books which take you on a journey – #BookTrailLiterarysettings

All books take you on a journey but some do it better than most. Some books involve a roadtrip of sorts where there’s a mystery to solve, a destination to get to and something to sort out. Characters change in these books as they might not do in others as they go on personal journeys at the same time their vehicle is weaving its way to their final destination.

Some journeys take you to dark places such as the race against time in The Chain but others take you to a holiday destination where love might be on the agenda.

So buckle up and take the journey that’s right for you…

Chasing the Stars across Sweden, Finland and Norway with Virginie Grimaldi

Anna realises her family is falling apart so she takes her family on a journey across Scandinavia for a campervan experience they will never forget.

Journey in a car from Dublin across Europe – The Roadtrip by Susanne O’Leary

Well, the clue is in the title, isn’t it? Setting off from Dublin, Maddy and Leanne lease a red convertible, winding through Europe and heading for the sun-drenched French Riviera. However, the two women have very different reasons for wanting to do this journey….

A roadtrip in a fast car to Italy – From Italy with Love by Jules Wake

A woman is left a Ferrari in her uncle’s will, but to earn it, she must take it on an journey across France, Switzerland and Italy and send postcards from various places. A journey which is definately a change of pace in more ways than one!

Then there’s the dark side of a roadtrip – sometimes you have to travel for a reason; to find something , to stop someone or to save yourself. Sometimes you can be travelling on a holiday and meet someone that turns a relaxing journey into the roadtrip from hell…….

Welcome to the dark side of travel:

Travel with the Chemical Detective from Teeside to Chernobyl and Fiona Erskine

This is a unique premise and roadtrip – Starting off in Teeside (where the book notes that this is where ICI, the famous chemical company was located in its heyday), the book follows a truck of chemical produce across Eastern Europe – Slovenia to the Ukraine to the infamous Chernobyl plant.

A roadtrip with a deadly purpose

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

What a roadtrip this is! A trail with murder as the link between one place and another. Exciting and very unique. What a premise! If you’re old enough to remember the chain letters, remember the fear and guilt some people felt if they broke the chain and didn’t ‘ pass it on’. Blimey, this is that childish game brought to freakingly shocking reality.

Where the journey starts well but then soon descends into chaos:

A train journey across Asia and Russia on the Trans Siberian Express

Violet by Susi Holiday

Despite the lovely flowery name of the book, this is DARK. Two backpackers meet and end up on the roadtrip of all roadtrips – a journey across Asia and a stint on the Transsiberian train. What an opportunity to travel in this way! Meet a fellow backpacker and get going! Except two girls end up in a train together and one realises that the other one is not all she seems. And where do you escape to when you’re in the middle of nowhere on a moving train with strangers?