Consignment

"Consignment" by Alan Edward Nourse is a science fiction story that looks at what happens when revenge and technology mix in the future. In a world crisscrossed by automated highways, a prisoner named John Krenner breaks out after nearly three decades, wanting to get even with his old partner, Jerome Markson, who set him up. As Krenner moves through the Rolling Roads—the super-advanced transportation system of the future—he fights and tricks his way closer to Markson, dodging the cops and using every trick he knows to survive. The book takes a dark turn when Krenner’s quest ends unexpectedly, as he gets caught in a coal delivery system, leading to a showdown in the last place he expected: Markson’s steel foundry.