What do you think?
Rate this book
Black Mad Wheel
From the author of the hit literary horror debut Bird Box ("Hitchcockian." --USA Today) comes a chilling novel about a group of musicians conscripted by the US government to track down the source of a strange and debilitating sound The Danes--the band known as the "Darlings of Detroit"--are washed up and desperate for inspiration, eager to once again have a number one hit. That is, until an agent from the US Army approaches them. Will they travel to an African desert and track down the source of a mysterious and malevolent sound? Under the guidance of their front man, Philip Tonka, the Danes embark on a harrowing journey through the scorching desert--a trip that takes Tonka into the heart of an ominous and twisted conspiracy. Meanwhile, in a nondescript Midwestern hospital, a nurse named Ellen tends to a patient recovering from a near-fatal accident. The circumstances that led to his injuries are mysterious--and his body heals at a remarkable rate. Ellen will do the impossible for this enigmatic patient, who reveals more about his accident with each passing day. Part Heart of Darkness, part Lost, Josh Malerman's breathtaking new novel plunges us into the depths of psychological horror, where you can't always believe everything you hear.
Audio CD
First published May 23, 2017
About the author
Josh Malerman
81 books7,300 followersJosh Malerman is the New York Times best selling author of BIRD BOX, MALORIE, GOBLIN, PEARL, GHOUL n THE CAPE, and more.
He's also one of two singer/songwriter for the rock band The High Strung.
He's also one of two singer/songwriter for the rock band The High Strung.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 865 reviews
September 2, 2018
josh malerman has become the go-to dude for sensory horror.
if they ever let monkeys* become book reviewers (why so UNFAIR, world?), this is how it would go:
Bird Box:
Black Mad Wheel:
his (awesome) debut novel, Bird Box, featured an ambiguous “something” that swept the globe; a presence that drove anyone who looked at it mad: homicidal, suicidal, utterly destroyed. it was wonderfully intense, as characters were threatened by a force they could neither name nor even visualize, spending their lives in a protective elective blindness; not-looking at what might or might not be right there on their periphery, lurking behind them, creeping up the stairs… all of which made for a delicious tension for the reader; the horror of the unseen and unknowable foe.
this one is about a mysterious sound emanating from a desert in africa, one so intense that it neutralizes weapons and causes immediate visceral responses in the human body: vomiting, immobility, pain, and, when too close to the source of the sound, delivers an impact that’ll break every bone in the body. however, instead of characters avoiding a mysterious destructive force, here we have people who are sent specifically to locate the sound.
philip tonka is a man who experienced all of the above trauma, and somehow lived through it. he has been in a coma for six months, and has just awakened in a secret military hospital in iowa, recovering from his injuries at a remarkable rate, and being grilled by officers and doctors about his experiences, memories of which are fragmented and confusing.
i should mention, since the synopsis does not, that this is a historical novel, taking place in 1957. otherwise, you may have the same bewildering moment of dislocation i had when philip mentions something that happened when he returned from world war II, leaving me wondering how old this damn character was, and how an elderly man could have survived the breaking of every bone in his body. but no - he is only thirty-one, although it's still pretty remarkable to survive these massive sound-inflicted injuries.
philip did indeed serve in WWII, but not in active combat - he was in the military band, where he made the friends with whom he would go on to form the successful detroit-based rock band the danes. and now, twelve years after their service, the four members of the danes are approached by military intelligence telling them to soldier up and head into the desert to investigate this sound, a mission that has already been attempted twice, unsuccessfully, with the reasoning that those with a musical background will be better-equipped to handle the specific challenges of acoustics and echoes that an auditory threat presents.
they patriotically accept, the offer made more tempting by the promise of $100,000 each.
from that point on, the narrative is a jumble of past and present, real and surreal, as two stories unfold: the band and their military escorts head into the desert and are unprepared for what they find, and the aftermath of philip’s broken mind and body trying to remember what went down from his hospital bed, while the sympathetic nurse ellen is the only friendly face in a barrage of interrogations and injections by sadistic doctors and military personnel.
there are a lot of questions: the military wants to know what happened, how to get to the sound, if it can be weaponized, and philip wants to know what happened to himself and what became of the other danes. the reader, of course, wants to know all of this and more. and while many answers will be given - some of which answers just lead to further questions, some of the details remain unclear.
i’m still unsure how i feel about this book. in Bird Box, there was much left ambiguous at the end, and there the lingering mystery-shiver was wholly satisfying. with this one, some of the answers that are given take too much of the mystery away while others led to too many unanswered follow-up questions of “but, why?” & etc.
the writing definitely kept me interested and turning those pages, especially once everything started chugging and i began to get the same kind of vibe i got from Dark Matter, but i never really got that AHA! moment that makes a twisty-structured book like this *work.*
additional minor quibbles: despite this book being almost entirely from philip’s perspective, he isn’t particularly well-defined. he's the dude who does the stuff and who has the stuff happen to him more than a character. also, the romance aspect is jammed in without a whole lot of narrative foreplay, so it doesn't feel like a natural progression of events.
but all that aside - the journey itself is a creepy good time, even if the payoff is a bit muddled. it’s thoughtful overall, and it’s an unusual situation, which goes a long way towards my own personal readerly enjoyment, and i’m always willing to concede “it's me, not you” when it comes to any confusion i might have with a book.
so - it's definitely worth a read, for everything that happens between the naively optimistic, "How much trouble can one sound be?" to the chilling warning of "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
shivers.
*with apologies to rigorous taxonomists
***********************************************
so, for those of you who were asking - right now it's a solid 3-3.5. i need to do another pass before i cement that rating. not as much creepy fun (for me) as Bird Box, but definitely worth reading.
full review and probably more star-waffling to come...
come to my blog!
if they ever let monkeys* become book reviewers (why so UNFAIR, world?), this is how it would go:
Bird Box:
Black Mad Wheel:
his (awesome) debut novel, Bird Box, featured an ambiguous “something” that swept the globe; a presence that drove anyone who looked at it mad: homicidal, suicidal, utterly destroyed. it was wonderfully intense, as characters were threatened by a force they could neither name nor even visualize, spending their lives in a protective elective blindness; not-looking at what might or might not be right there on their periphery, lurking behind them, creeping up the stairs… all of which made for a delicious tension for the reader; the horror of the unseen and unknowable foe.
this one is about a mysterious sound emanating from a desert in africa, one so intense that it neutralizes weapons and causes immediate visceral responses in the human body: vomiting, immobility, pain, and, when too close to the source of the sound, delivers an impact that’ll break every bone in the body. however, instead of characters avoiding a mysterious destructive force, here we have people who are sent specifically to locate the sound.
philip tonka is a man who experienced all of the above trauma, and somehow lived through it. he has been in a coma for six months, and has just awakened in a secret military hospital in iowa, recovering from his injuries at a remarkable rate, and being grilled by officers and doctors about his experiences, memories of which are fragmented and confusing.
i should mention, since the synopsis does not, that this is a historical novel, taking place in 1957. otherwise, you may have the same bewildering moment of dislocation i had when philip mentions something that happened when he returned from world war II, leaving me wondering how old this damn character was, and how an elderly man could have survived the breaking of every bone in his body. but no - he is only thirty-one, although it's still pretty remarkable to survive these massive sound-inflicted injuries.
philip did indeed serve in WWII, but not in active combat - he was in the military band, where he made the friends with whom he would go on to form the successful detroit-based rock band the danes. and now, twelve years after their service, the four members of the danes are approached by military intelligence telling them to soldier up and head into the desert to investigate this sound, a mission that has already been attempted twice, unsuccessfully, with the reasoning that those with a musical background will be better-equipped to handle the specific challenges of acoustics and echoes that an auditory threat presents.
they patriotically accept, the offer made more tempting by the promise of $100,000 each.
from that point on, the narrative is a jumble of past and present, real and surreal, as two stories unfold: the band and their military escorts head into the desert and are unprepared for what they find, and the aftermath of philip’s broken mind and body trying to remember what went down from his hospital bed, while the sympathetic nurse ellen is the only friendly face in a barrage of interrogations and injections by sadistic doctors and military personnel.
there are a lot of questions: the military wants to know what happened, how to get to the sound, if it can be weaponized, and philip wants to know what happened to himself and what became of the other danes. the reader, of course, wants to know all of this and more. and while many answers will be given - some of which answers just lead to further questions, some of the details remain unclear.
i’m still unsure how i feel about this book. in Bird Box, there was much left ambiguous at the end, and there the lingering mystery-shiver was wholly satisfying. with this one, some of the answers that are given take too much of the mystery away while others led to too many unanswered follow-up questions of “but, why?” & etc.
the writing definitely kept me interested and turning those pages, especially once everything started chugging and i began to get the same kind of vibe i got from Dark Matter, but i never really got that AHA! moment that makes a twisty-structured book like this *work.*
additional minor quibbles: despite this book being almost entirely from philip’s perspective, he isn’t particularly well-defined. he's the dude who does the stuff and who has the stuff happen to him more than a character. also, the romance aspect is jammed in without a whole lot of narrative foreplay, so it doesn't feel like a natural progression of events.
but all that aside - the journey itself is a creepy good time, even if the payoff is a bit muddled. it’s thoughtful overall, and it’s an unusual situation, which goes a long way towards my own personal readerly enjoyment, and i’m always willing to concede “it's me, not you” when it comes to any confusion i might have with a book.
so - it's definitely worth a read, for everything that happens between the naively optimistic, "How much trouble can one sound be?" to the chilling warning of "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
shivers.
*with apologies to rigorous taxonomists
***********************************************
so, for those of you who were asking - right now it's a solid 3-3.5. i need to do another pass before i cement that rating. not as much creepy fun (for me) as Bird Box, but definitely worth reading.
full review and probably more star-waffling to come...
come to my blog!
May 22, 2017
4.5/5 stars!
Black Mad Wheel is a story which defies categorization and instead focuses on delivering characters that you like and can believe in.
The Danes are a band consisting of ex-army men, (even if they were only in the army band), who are asked by the military to investigate a noise in the African desert. I know it sounds crazy, and maybe it is, but I found it be compelling dark fiction.
From Philip's point of view, (Philip being the band's keyboard player), the narrative switches between the trip to Africa and the present, in which he is hospitalized with every. single. bone. in his body broken. He wakes up not quite remembering everything that happened to him or what happened to the rest of the band. The very fact that he wakes up at all is a miracle. Or is it?
Featuring some of the creepiest scenes I've read in quite some time, the author's talent for dark fiction really shines through. I doubt that I'll ever look at a goat in the same way again and I'll probably freak out if I ever see a red piano in real life. I loved the writing and the descriptive scenes and I even loved reading about the two prior military teams that were sent to investigate this mystery sound. (Not to mention the story of the couple native to that part of the desert-it was truly disturbing.) The only difficulty I had was that the premise wasn't really believable-at least not to me. However, I suspended my disbelief, and once I did, I just went along for the ride and what a ride it was!
If you've ever felt a song in your heart, I believe you'll be able to identify with Philip and Ellen, his nurse, because it's the music they discover is a common bond between them. The ties between band members are also incredibly strong, (especially when they've been together as long as The Danes), and those connections are not easily broken. (In this respect, Black Mad Wheel reminds me of Robert McCammon's THE FIVE, easily one of the best fictional books about a band that I've ever read.) The last scene nearly broke my heart and I can't think of a more perfect ending.
Music, mystery, desert mines and mad doctors, (oh, didn't I mention that before?): with all that going on how can you resist reading this book? You know you want to! Go ahead: invest yourself in Black Mad Wheel , at the very least you'll be intrigued. At the very best, you will end up making space on your bookshelf at home-the one that houses all your favorite books. Highly recommended!
Available everywhere tomorrow, May 23, 2017 here:
Black Mad Wheel: A Novel
*Thank to Ecco and to Edeweiss for the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This is it. *
Black Mad Wheel is a story which defies categorization and instead focuses on delivering characters that you like and can believe in.
The Danes are a band consisting of ex-army men, (even if they were only in the army band), who are asked by the military to investigate a noise in the African desert. I know it sounds crazy, and maybe it is, but I found it be compelling dark fiction.
From Philip's point of view, (Philip being the band's keyboard player), the narrative switches between the trip to Africa and the present, in which he is hospitalized with every. single. bone. in his body broken. He wakes up not quite remembering everything that happened to him or what happened to the rest of the band. The very fact that he wakes up at all is a miracle. Or is it?
Featuring some of the creepiest scenes I've read in quite some time, the author's talent for dark fiction really shines through. I doubt that I'll ever look at a goat in the same way again and I'll probably freak out if I ever see a red piano in real life. I loved the writing and the descriptive scenes and I even loved reading about the two prior military teams that were sent to investigate this mystery sound. (Not to mention the story of the couple native to that part of the desert-it was truly disturbing.) The only difficulty I had was that the premise wasn't really believable-at least not to me. However, I suspended my disbelief, and once I did, I just went along for the ride and what a ride it was!
If you've ever felt a song in your heart, I believe you'll be able to identify with Philip and Ellen, his nurse, because it's the music they discover is a common bond between them. The ties between band members are also incredibly strong, (especially when they've been together as long as The Danes), and those connections are not easily broken. (In this respect, Black Mad Wheel reminds me of Robert McCammon's THE FIVE, easily one of the best fictional books about a band that I've ever read.) The last scene nearly broke my heart and I can't think of a more perfect ending.
Music, mystery, desert mines and mad doctors, (oh, didn't I mention that before?): with all that going on how can you resist reading this book? You know you want to! Go ahead: invest yourself in Black Mad Wheel , at the very least you'll be intrigued. At the very best, you will end up making space on your bookshelf at home-the one that houses all your favorite books. Highly recommended!
Available everywhere tomorrow, May 23, 2017 here:
Black Mad Wheel: A Novel
*Thank to Ecco and to Edeweiss for the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This is it. *
October 20, 2020
It isn’t Bird Box, but it is the bizarro horror/mystery fiction that I have come to expect from Malerman. I enjoyed the ride and in the end I was sort of left with more questions than answers. But this is usually the case with his books. It is kind of like the Shyamalan twist, but in each case of the Malerman twist it is just as bizarre as everything before it. Because of that it is not really shocking, nor does it provide any answers, it just twists you into even more WTF-ness.
The plot of this one kind of reminds me of the movie Armageddon. NASA needed to destroy an asteroid by drilling into it and inserting a bomb. But, none of the people at NASA were good drillers, so they went and got professional drillers. In Black Mad Wheel there is a weird sound coming from the desert that seems to be some sort of weapon. So, who better to go investigate it than a popular 1950s rock and roll band? Might seem like they are ill-equipped, but the hard-core military types they sent in previously didn’t do any better, so why not!?
There is lots of time jumping from before, during, and after the desert expedition. Many bizarre and interesting characters including tragic heroes and twisted villains. I spent a lot of time confused, but in a good way. The writing as really good and the ride to find some clarity had some decent roller coaster-esque hills and plunges. If you want to go back and forth from kick back relaxed to edge of your seat, this book can do it for you. But, if I had to guess, 50% of the people who decide to read this book based on my review will hate it. Are you willing to try it to see which side you fall on?
So, have I made you want to read it or have I scared you away? You should be scared, but you should also read it!
The plot of this one kind of reminds me of the movie Armageddon. NASA needed to destroy an asteroid by drilling into it and inserting a bomb. But, none of the people at NASA were good drillers, so they went and got professional drillers. In Black Mad Wheel there is a weird sound coming from the desert that seems to be some sort of weapon. So, who better to go investigate it than a popular 1950s rock and roll band? Might seem like they are ill-equipped, but the hard-core military types they sent in previously didn’t do any better, so why not!?
There is lots of time jumping from before, during, and after the desert expedition. Many bizarre and interesting characters including tragic heroes and twisted villains. I spent a lot of time confused, but in a good way. The writing as really good and the ride to find some clarity had some decent roller coaster-esque hills and plunges. If you want to go back and forth from kick back relaxed to edge of your seat, this book can do it for you. But, if I had to guess, 50% of the people who decide to read this book based on my review will hate it. Are you willing to try it to see which side you fall on?
So, have I made you want to read it or have I scared you away? You should be scared, but you should also read it!
July 23, 2017
Ugh. Review to come when I can deal with my crushing disappointment.
---------------
Finally reading this! I swore I wouldn't buy any more books. But I really wanted this one, so it doesn't count. Right?
-----------------------
New Josh Malerman book? Sign me the fuck up.
February 26, 2017
So very, very disappointed. Bottom lip stuck wayyyy out.
Of course, my expectations were pretty high, considering how much I loved Malerman's first book, Bird Box. He proved himself in his creeptastic debut that he's a master of suspense, and creator of original ideas. I've basically been waiting for instalment #2 ever since finishing #1 having been totally disturbed (in a good way) by Gary and the dangerous creatures stalking the earth in his post-apocalyptic masterpiece.
I had a totally different reading experience this time around.
The story takes place in the 50's, after WWII. Main character and leader of the Detroit band The Danes, Philip Tonka, is in a hospital with literally every bone in his body broken. We learn through a series of flashbacks that he and the other three members of the band were recruited by the US military to find the source of a malevolent sound somewhere in the African Namib desert. The sound renders nuclear weapons ineffectual, so it's a concern (naturally). He sustained his mysterious injuries during this trip.
What I liked:
1) Malerman did a great job of showing Philip Tonka's state of mind, the PTSD resulting from his horrific mission.
2) I got to experience some great suspense in a hospital scene with Ellen the nurse striking matches and hiding in the medicine closet.
3) Who doesn't love a cray doctor?
4) He created atmosphere in the desert scenes.
5) The awesome dedication - seriously, I'm not trying to be snarky by saying the best part of the book is the dedication, but man!! Lucky Allison.
My gripes:
1) My first problem with the book was its premise. I had a hard time believing that the military would recruit a bunch of musicians to do this job, just because they 'knew music' and thus would be able to find a sound. I mean, really?
2) While it has been a few years since I read him last, I really don't remember Bird Box being filled with so many 2 word sentence fragments. This book is rife with them.
3) The main relationship just wasn't convincing to me.
4) So much vomiting!
5) The book took a really sharp turn into science fiction, which isn't really my thing. The plot became completely surreal, thus, weak and unsatisfying.
Maybe this is a case of wrong book for the wrong person. I'll still be interested in whatever Josh Malerman writes next.
I want to thank Edelweiss and HarperCollins for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Of course, my expectations were pretty high, considering how much I loved Malerman's first book, Bird Box. He proved himself in his creeptastic debut that he's a master of suspense, and creator of original ideas. I've basically been waiting for instalment #2 ever since finishing #1 having been totally disturbed (in a good way) by Gary and the dangerous creatures stalking the earth in his post-apocalyptic masterpiece.
I had a totally different reading experience this time around.
The story takes place in the 50's, after WWII. Main character and leader of the Detroit band The Danes, Philip Tonka, is in a hospital with literally every bone in his body broken. We learn through a series of flashbacks that he and the other three members of the band were recruited by the US military to find the source of a malevolent sound somewhere in the African Namib desert. The sound renders nuclear weapons ineffectual, so it's a concern (naturally). He sustained his mysterious injuries during this trip.
What I liked:
1) Malerman did a great job of showing Philip Tonka's state of mind, the PTSD resulting from his horrific mission.
2) I got to experience some great suspense in a hospital scene with Ellen the nurse striking matches and hiding in the medicine closet.
3) Who doesn't love a cray doctor?
4) He created atmosphere in the desert scenes.
5) The awesome dedication - seriously, I'm not trying to be snarky by saying the best part of the book is the dedication, but man!! Lucky Allison.
My gripes:
1) My first problem with the book was its premise. I had a hard time believing that the military would recruit a bunch of musicians to do this job, just because they 'knew music' and thus would be able to find a sound. I mean, really?
2) While it has been a few years since I read him last, I really don't remember Bird Box being filled with so many 2 word sentence fragments. This book is rife with them.
3) The main relationship just wasn't convincing to me.
4) So much vomiting!
5) The book took a really sharp turn into science fiction, which isn't really my thing. The plot became completely surreal, thus, weak and unsatisfying.
Maybe this is a case of wrong book for the wrong person. I'll still be interested in whatever Josh Malerman writes next.
I want to thank Edelweiss and HarperCollins for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 6, 2017
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
3.5 Stars
“This is a matter of national security. Not a love story.”
If you follow me and my (pretty much) daily ramblings, you might have noticed a couple of things. First, I’ve been gone for a bit. I thought I was taking a couple of days off to acquire a lethal dose of skin cancer via way of the local baseball fields, but ended up with nearly a week free of work thanks to a floating holiday that was given to us pee-ons in addition to the 4th of July. ‘MURICA!!!!
Second, you may have been witness to a nearly historic event of me becoming the type of person who annoys me most. Wait, who am I kidding? All people annoy me most. Anyway, I participated in behavior Ms. Manners would frown upon by touting my own shit as worthy of a re-read and giving it a bump. Which I promise to refrain from in the future, but after reading Black Mad Wheel (that I continue to call “Mad Black Wheel”), I realized that Bird Box was kind of the shizzle for rizzle for me and deserved a better rating. Not only because I thought it was really good, but because this one wasn’t as good and I couldn’t allow myself to give them the same amount of Starzzzzzzzzz.
I requested Black Mad Wheel (and was promptly denied, natch) because Bird Box was such a page turner for me. It’s pretty much a miracle when I recognize a new-to-me author’s name enough to know I want their newest release, but want it I did – and without even reading anything about it. But when I got it from the library I had to put it on the backburner once I discovered it was about a group of bandmates who get sent into the desert to track down a mysterious sound . . . .
Yes. I have the mentality of a 12 year old boy.
Once I finally got over my case of the giggles, I was able to give this one a go. Much like Bird Box, not much can be said without ruining the whole thing. As stated above, it’s about a group of men who are hired by the military to go track down a noise in Africa. Then it does the wibbly wobbly with the timey wimey and we discover one of the men is now in Iowa and . . . . .
“What I’m telling you is that you didn’t just break your wrists and elbows. You broke almost everything.”
It then flips between the desert and the hospital in order to piece a story that is part suspense, part mystery, part paranormal, part conspiracy theory, part romance and part anti-war narrative. While not as “edge of your seat” as Bird Box, Black Mad Wheel was still quite the page turner and I am now an automatic sell when it comes to whatever Malerman releases next. And not that he’d ever even see what I have to say, let alone listen to it, but I would love if he would continue this “exploration of the senses” as he has done by writing stories about sight (or lack thereof, as it were) and now sound . . . .
3.5 Stars
“This is a matter of national security. Not a love story.”
If you follow me and my (pretty much) daily ramblings, you might have noticed a couple of things. First, I’ve been gone for a bit. I thought I was taking a couple of days off to acquire a lethal dose of skin cancer via way of the local baseball fields, but ended up with nearly a week free of work thanks to a floating holiday that was given to us pee-ons in addition to the 4th of July. ‘MURICA!!!!
Second, you may have been witness to a nearly historic event of me becoming the type of person who annoys me most. Wait, who am I kidding? All people annoy me most. Anyway, I participated in behavior Ms. Manners would frown upon by touting my own shit as worthy of a re-read and giving it a bump. Which I promise to refrain from in the future, but after reading Black Mad Wheel (that I continue to call “Mad Black Wheel”), I realized that Bird Box was kind of the shizzle for rizzle for me and deserved a better rating. Not only because I thought it was really good, but because this one wasn’t as good and I couldn’t allow myself to give them the same amount of Starzzzzzzzzz.
I requested Black Mad Wheel (and was promptly denied, natch) because Bird Box was such a page turner for me. It’s pretty much a miracle when I recognize a new-to-me author’s name enough to know I want their newest release, but want it I did – and without even reading anything about it. But when I got it from the library I had to put it on the backburner once I discovered it was about a group of bandmates who get sent into the desert to track down a mysterious sound . . . .
Yes. I have the mentality of a 12 year old boy.
Once I finally got over my case of the giggles, I was able to give this one a go. Much like Bird Box, not much can be said without ruining the whole thing. As stated above, it’s about a group of men who are hired by the military to go track down a noise in Africa. Then it does the wibbly wobbly with the timey wimey and we discover one of the men is now in Iowa and . . . . .
“What I’m telling you is that you didn’t just break your wrists and elbows. You broke almost everything.”
It then flips between the desert and the hospital in order to piece a story that is part suspense, part mystery, part paranormal, part conspiracy theory, part romance and part anti-war narrative. While not as “edge of your seat” as Bird Box, Black Mad Wheel was still quite the page turner and I am now an automatic sell when it comes to whatever Malerman releases next. And not that he’d ever even see what I have to say, let alone listen to it, but I would love if he would continue this “exploration of the senses” as he has done by writing stories about sight (or lack thereof, as it were) and now sound . . . .
June 20, 2019
3.5 Stars.
"The question is not what you found...but what found you?"
The mission: Locate source of evil, debilitating sound.
The payment: $100k each.
The question: Do you believe in ghosts?
The bottom line: Survival.
Former soldier, Private Philip Tonka wakes up in a military hospital after six months comatose, a broken painful mess of bones trying to piece together what happened to him and his struggling Detroit band/x-soldier buddies after a dangerous and mysterious mission to Africa.
He knows not who to trust as his memory and movements slowly spasmodically return. The tortuous Doctor is mad, but nurse Ellen relieves his pain and tugs at his heart thru music.
BLACK MAD WHEEL is a super strange psychological work of fiction that Josh Malerman does so well. The novel had me totally engaged turning the pages to discover the truth, but a bit disappointed in the rushed resolution that left me with unanswered questions. Still....sign me up for anything this man writes!
(some great oldies mentioned....Little Bitty Pretty One and Young Love.)
October 15, 2017
I really enjoyed Malerman's first novel Bird Box and picked up on the See no Evil, Hear no Evil vibe going on between both of these novels, looking even more toward the next which will have to be a Speak no Evil one or I'm going to give up on reviewing anything forever.
That being said, oh so melodramatically, I wanted to like this particular Hearing Evil novel much more than I did. All the setups in 1957 with a rock band getting propositioned by the US Government on a super secret project was delightful. The back history was great. Unfortunately, I wasn't all that impressed by Philip.
He was the ultimate English Patient, too, filled with a long recovery and memories in a prolonged reveal, and while the base story was damn interesting and the waits were well worth it, I still didn't connect all that much with the MC. Maybe I've just been spoiled by some recent excellent authors. Maybe it really is the MC. Either way, it reduced my overall enjoyment. Things happened to him. A lot. And while he does get some actions on the page, it wasn't all that satisfying.
Great concept, somewhat middling execution unless it is meant to be a riff on old movies and novels all the way down to the style and devices. And if that was the case, then I'd have to say it succeeds. Nurse falls in love with a patient and notions of duty conflicting hard with personal limits. There's even a cool number of old-style scares, both hazily scientific and religious, all of which feel very period.
I'm not complaining. Seen from a certain viewpoint, this is a very successful novel in that it captures a very specific feel. Unfortunately, that feeling may or may not be agreeing with me. Nor, I presume, with a few others. Honestly, it feels like a partial modern novel, cherry-picking classic tropes and killing it with clever newish ideas and sealing it with a solid mystery-horror vibe, all the while falling into the trap of awkward pacing and lack of agency.
Like I said, I wanted to like this more, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it... because I did. I was fascinated for grand stretches of the novel and the promised reveals drove me on. The core is all sorts of wonderful. :)
That being said, oh so melodramatically, I wanted to like this particular Hearing Evil novel much more than I did. All the setups in 1957 with a rock band getting propositioned by the US Government on a super secret project was delightful. The back history was great. Unfortunately, I wasn't all that impressed by Philip.
He was the ultimate English Patient, too, filled with a long recovery and memories in a prolonged reveal, and while the base story was damn interesting and the waits were well worth it, I still didn't connect all that much with the MC. Maybe I've just been spoiled by some recent excellent authors. Maybe it really is the MC. Either way, it reduced my overall enjoyment. Things happened to him. A lot. And while he does get some actions on the page, it wasn't all that satisfying.
Great concept, somewhat middling execution unless it is meant to be a riff on old movies and novels all the way down to the style and devices. And if that was the case, then I'd have to say it succeeds. Nurse falls in love with a patient and notions of duty conflicting hard with personal limits. There's even a cool number of old-style scares, both hazily scientific and religious, all of which feel very period.
I'm not complaining. Seen from a certain viewpoint, this is a very successful novel in that it captures a very specific feel. Unfortunately, that feeling may or may not be agreeing with me. Nor, I presume, with a few others. Honestly, it feels like a partial modern novel, cherry-picking classic tropes and killing it with clever newish ideas and sealing it with a solid mystery-horror vibe, all the while falling into the trap of awkward pacing and lack of agency.
Like I said, I wanted to like this more, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it... because I did. I was fascinated for grand stretches of the novel and the promised reveals drove me on. The core is all sorts of wonderful. :)
September 13, 2017
Black Mad Wheel bitti! Çeviri bitti!
Dünyanın en güzel hislerinden biri bu. Bir buçuk ay boyunca didindikten sonra, "İşte bu!" diyebilmek. "Ben yaptım!" diyebilmek. "Bitti!" diyebilmek.
Black Mad Wheel'ı Kafes'ten de Gölün Dibindeki Ev'den de ayrı, apayrı bir yere koyuyorum; çünkü ziyadesiyle meramlı, sapasağlam bir kitap Black Mad Wheel. Üstelik kurguyu da entelektüel açıdan çok ama çok daha doyurucu buldum. Yazım şekli açısından ilk ikisine kıyasla biraz daha ağır; durup durup okunacak, sindirebilmek için tekrar tekrar okunacak yerleri var. Viraj manyağı ediyor insanı. Öyle bir şekilde başlıyor ve öyle bir şekilde bitiyor ki adeta Arif'in Manchester'a attığı golü ararken kendimizi bambaşka bir yerde buluyoruz. Dolu bir kitap. Okuyucusuna bir şey anlatan bir kitap. Okuyucusunu uyaran bir kitap. Evet, henüz Türkçe adını paylaşamıyorum ama belli olduğu gün buralarda bas bas bağırırım:)
Tüm bu zaman boyunca gece gündüz demeden müzik terminolojisiyle ilgili sorularımla darladığım, bir kez olsun gık demeyen o dört-beş kişiye ne desem, ne kadar teşekkür etsem az. Bildikleri teknik terimleri pat diye paylaştılar, bilmediklerini araştırdılar, bulamadıklarını benimle birlikte kafa yorarak Türkçeleştirmeme yardım ettiler. Haklarını ödeyemem. Teşekkür ederim.
Ah... Bu arada... Black Mad Wheel'ı çevirme maceramı kitabın çıkışıyla eşzamanlı olarak Kayıp Rıhtım'da bulabilirsiniz. Bu defa bir Çevirmenin Çemberi yazısı da benden! :)
Herkese sevgiler!
Dünyanın en güzel hislerinden biri bu. Bir buçuk ay boyunca didindikten sonra, "İşte bu!" diyebilmek. "Ben yaptım!" diyebilmek. "Bitti!" diyebilmek.
Black Mad Wheel'ı Kafes'ten de Gölün Dibindeki Ev'den de ayrı, apayrı bir yere koyuyorum; çünkü ziyadesiyle meramlı, sapasağlam bir kitap Black Mad Wheel. Üstelik kurguyu da entelektüel açıdan çok ama çok daha doyurucu buldum. Yazım şekli açısından ilk ikisine kıyasla biraz daha ağır; durup durup okunacak, sindirebilmek için tekrar tekrar okunacak yerleri var. Viraj manyağı ediyor insanı. Öyle bir şekilde başlıyor ve öyle bir şekilde bitiyor ki adeta Arif'in Manchester'a attığı golü ararken kendimizi bambaşka bir yerde buluyoruz. Dolu bir kitap. Okuyucusuna bir şey anlatan bir kitap. Okuyucusunu uyaran bir kitap. Evet, henüz Türkçe adını paylaşamıyorum ama belli olduğu gün buralarda bas bas bağırırım:)
Tüm bu zaman boyunca gece gündüz demeden müzik terminolojisiyle ilgili sorularımla darladığım, bir kez olsun gık demeyen o dört-beş kişiye ne desem, ne kadar teşekkür etsem az. Bildikleri teknik terimleri pat diye paylaştılar, bilmediklerini araştırdılar, bulamadıklarını benimle birlikte kafa yorarak Türkçeleştirmeme yardım ettiler. Haklarını ödeyemem. Teşekkür ederim.
Ah... Bu arada... Black Mad Wheel'ı çevirme maceramı kitabın çıkışıyla eşzamanlı olarak Kayıp Rıhtım'da bulabilirsiniz. Bu defa bir Çevirmenin Çemberi yazısı da benden! :)
Herkese sevgiler!
June 8, 2017
The second effort from the author of Bird Box. It's about a band of musicians that are also a band of solidiers. The premise is a bit thin but the creep factor isn't. I thought that the Bird Box was better but Malerman is an interesting writer and I'll be sure to read whatever he writes next.
June 5, 2017
A rocket-fast story told with staccato-like prose, this bad boy whizzes by you equal parts thrilling, philosophical, mysterious, and frightening. There wasn’t a dull moment or a wasted word on these pages. While the end gallops up rapidly and lands on the allegorical side, I was wholly invested in the protagonist’s journey. The voice here is unique, as is the plot itself. This book is a winner, to be sure.
April 12, 2017
I spent about a month between the pages of this book, not because I'm a particularly slow reader or because I had trouble getting through it, but because there's something about Josh's writing that calls for a bit of savoring. His sentence structure can be quirky—a one word paragraph followed by a hundred word sentence followed by a thought and maybe a little dialog. He recklessly bounces from head to head, chapter to chapter, past to present and back again. If you were to ask your eleventh grade English teacher to grade it, she would tell you it's all wrong, he didn't follow a single rule, in fact, he broke damn near all of them, yet...somehow it works. It works brilliantly. I take my time reading Josh Malerman because like a fine wine, his words shouldn't be gulped. They're best when you take a break and think about what you've just read, the deliberate craftiness of his deceptively simple sentences—there's music there.
Is Black Mad Wheel what we expected from Malerman's sophomore effort? Nope. And that's exactly why I like it. Only Josh knows how to tell a story in the key of F.
Is Black Mad Wheel what we expected from Malerman's sophomore effort? Nope. And that's exactly why I like it. Only Josh knows how to tell a story in the key of F.
July 28, 2017
Black Mad Wheel's storyline involves sensory horror, military/war-related themes, the suspense of a top secret mission, paranormal activity, rock n roll, historical fiction, and the slow burn mystery of how the member of a rock band had every single bone in his body crunched like a soda can. All this and more is incorporated into a story that reads less like intentional fiction and more like someone recounting their dream from the night before. It's that weird. But it's good. It's about how history repeats itself over and over like a Mad Black Wheel. Ding ding ding!!!
This review isn't intended to spoil anything. It's meant to encourage you to push through the weirdness of it all. It's worth it for the perspective and lesson about patterns in history that we will all likely know in full real-life detail sooner than later I'm afraid. Read it and have fun with the overall story, but keep the horrifically real theme close to your heart. Josh Malerman is a rock star...literally!
My favorite quote:
“Philosophy doesn’t travel at the same speed technology does. It takes a man forty years to realize what it took his father forty years to realize. And what’s worse, he resists the truths his father’s come to know, until he learns them himself. Meanwhile, technology doesn’t wait. All a man has to do is add another piece to his father’s technological puzzle and the machines, the weapons, the means, are stronger. In the end you have an army with the same philosophy of the cavemen, but with the weapons of ten billion artless minds. Do you see?”
This review isn't intended to spoil anything. It's meant to encourage you to push through the weirdness of it all. It's worth it for the perspective and lesson about patterns in history that we will all likely know in full real-life detail sooner than later I'm afraid. Read it and have fun with the overall story, but keep the horrifically real theme close to your heart. Josh Malerman is a rock star...literally!
My favorite quote:
“Philosophy doesn’t travel at the same speed technology does. It takes a man forty years to realize what it took his father forty years to realize. And what’s worse, he resists the truths his father’s come to know, until he learns them himself. Meanwhile, technology doesn’t wait. All a man has to do is add another piece to his father’s technological puzzle and the machines, the weapons, the means, are stronger. In the end you have an army with the same philosophy of the cavemen, but with the weapons of ten billion artless minds. Do you see?”
September 7, 2021
یه روزی میام یه چیزایی در موردش مینویسم.
فعلا نظری ندارم.
فعلا نظری ندارم.
November 6, 2017
Josh Malerman ile Gölün Dibindeki Ev sayesinde tanışmıştım ve gerçekten hayal kırıklığı yaşamıştım. O yüzden Kafes’e elim gitmedi. Sonra Kırmızı Piyano çıktı, konusu gerçekten ilgimi çekti ve yazara bir şans daha vermek istedim.
Pişman oldum mu?
Kesinlikle hayır.
Philip Tonka ve arkadaşları Danes adında ordudan emekli olmuş bir müzik grubu. Bir gün Amerikan ordusunda görevli bir general çıkıp geldi ve onlara bir sesin varlığından bahsetti. Afrika’da çölün ortasında nükleer silah başlıklarını bile etkisiz hale getirebilecek kadar güçlü bir ses. Amerikan ordusu bu sesin kaynağını bulmak için Danes’i çöle göreve göndermek istiyordu ve karşılığında yüklü bir ödeme alacaklardı. Fakat işin içinde paradan daha önemli bir şey vardı Danes elemanları için; macera.
Bu görevden aylar sonra ise bir hastanede hemşire Ellen vücudundaki bütün kemikler kırılmış bir hastaya bakıcılık yapıyordu. Hastaya ne olduğunu ona kimse söylemiyordu ama hastanın bu kadar hızlı iyileşiyor olması hemşireyi rahatsız etmeye başlamıştı. Ve Ellen kendisini bu gizemi çözmeye çalışırken çok başka bir maceranın içinde buldu.
Kitap bölüm bölüm flashbackler ile ilerliyor. Bir bölümde çölde neler olduğunu okurken bir bölümde hastanede neler olduğunu okuyoruz ve bir yerden sonra bölümler birleşiyor. Kitaptaki gizem unsuru hiç azalmıyor bu da sizin merakınızı diri tutuyor. Gerilim ve korku muydu ? Hayır değildi. Ama inanılmaz gizemli oluşuyla kendisini diken üstünde okutmayı başarıyordu. Üstelik hikaye o kadar katmanlı bir hikaye ki okurken bundan zevk alıyorsunuz. Yazarın anlatımının da bu kitapta çok daha sağlam olduğunu düşünüyorum.
Kitaptan 1 puan kırdım çünkü kitap bittiğinde bir süre anlam veremedim. Üzerine düşündüm, Kronik Okur Ömer ile konuştum ve nihayetinde sonunun beni tam olarak tatmin etmediğine karar verdim. Çok farklı bir beklentim vardı böyle bir şey ile karşılaşınca ise biraz afalladım.
Yinede keyifle okuduğum bir kitap oldu. Kurgusu oldukça orijinaldi. En azından benim için :’) Josh Malerman hayranları zaten sevecektir ama sizde benim gibi Gölün Dibindeki Ev ile tanışıp sevmediyseniz bu kitaba bir şans verin derim.
Öptüm.
Pişman oldum mu?
Kesinlikle hayır.
Philip Tonka ve arkadaşları Danes adında ordudan emekli olmuş bir müzik grubu. Bir gün Amerikan ordusunda görevli bir general çıkıp geldi ve onlara bir sesin varlığından bahsetti. Afrika’da çölün ortasında nükleer silah başlıklarını bile etkisiz hale getirebilecek kadar güçlü bir ses. Amerikan ordusu bu sesin kaynağını bulmak için Danes’i çöle göreve göndermek istiyordu ve karşılığında yüklü bir ödeme alacaklardı. Fakat işin içinde paradan daha önemli bir şey vardı Danes elemanları için; macera.
Bu görevden aylar sonra ise bir hastanede hemşire Ellen vücudundaki bütün kemikler kırılmış bir hastaya bakıcılık yapıyordu. Hastaya ne olduğunu ona kimse söylemiyordu ama hastanın bu kadar hızlı iyileşiyor olması hemşireyi rahatsız etmeye başlamıştı. Ve Ellen kendisini bu gizemi çözmeye çalışırken çok başka bir maceranın içinde buldu.
Kitap bölüm bölüm flashbackler ile ilerliyor. Bir bölümde çölde neler olduğunu okurken bir bölümde hastanede neler olduğunu okuyoruz ve bir yerden sonra bölümler birleşiyor. Kitaptaki gizem unsuru hiç azalmıyor bu da sizin merakınızı diri tutuyor. Gerilim ve korku muydu ? Hayır değildi. Ama inanılmaz gizemli oluşuyla kendisini diken üstünde okutmayı başarıyordu. Üstelik hikaye o kadar katmanlı bir hikaye ki okurken bundan zevk alıyorsunuz. Yazarın anlatımının da bu kitapta çok daha sağlam olduğunu düşünüyorum.
Kitaptan 1 puan kırdım çünkü kitap bittiğinde bir süre anlam veremedim. Üzerine düşündüm, Kronik Okur Ömer ile konuştum ve nihayetinde sonunun beni tam olarak tatmin etmediğine karar verdim. Çok farklı bir beklentim vardı böyle bir şey ile karşılaşınca ise biraz afalladım.
Yinede keyifle okuduğum bir kitap oldu. Kurgusu oldukça orijinaldi. En azından benim için :’) Josh Malerman hayranları zaten sevecektir ama sizde benim gibi Gölün Dibindeki Ev ile tanışıp sevmediyseniz bu kitaba bir şans verin derim.
Öptüm.
May 15, 2021
امتیاز من: 3/7
انقدر نویسنده با کتاب جعبه پرنده(کابوک) معروفه که هر کی اسمشو میاره میگه نویسنده ی همون
خلاصه که برای همه خیلی آشنا ست
کتاب ماموریت اعضای یک باند موسیقی رو در سال 1975 شرح میده که فضاش کاملا ملموس بود و تمرکز روی شخصیت اصلی ، فلیپ هست فلیپ مردیه که با دایره ی دوستانش یه باند موسیقی تشکیل داده که خیلی هم پرطمطراق و معروفه چون اونا کهنه سربازهایی بودن که از جنگ جهانی دوم برگشته بودن! زنده و کاملا سالم...حالا بعد از مدت ها ارتش آمریکا دوباره به سراغشون میاد و با پیشنهاد 100 هزار دلاربه ازای هر نفر، ازشون میخواد که برای ردیابی منبع صدایی مرموز و خیلی خطرناک به یه ماموریت توی بیابانی در آفریقا به نام نامیب برن.
این صدا به قدری قدرت داره که سلاح ها رو از کار میندازه و و باعث واکنش هایی توی فیزیک بدن انسان میشه و برای هرکسی میتونه این واکنش ها متفاوت باشه. واکنش هایی مثل سر درد،تهوع، استفراغ، بی حرکتی و درد شدید که اگه به منبع صدا خیلی نزدیک باشی امکان داره تمام استخون های بدن همزمان بشکنه!!! اینا همه برای صد هزار دلار!!!
.فلیپ بعد از شش ماه که توی کما بوده توی یه بیمارستان نظامی به هوش میاد ... با خاطرات جسته گریخته و پراکنده
که گریز توی زمان حال و گذشته خیلی جذاب و خوندنیه و کشش خوبی هم داره
حالا فلیپ روی تخت بیمارستان با ذهن و بدنی که به شدت تخریب شده باید به ارتش آمریکا جواب بده ،
ارتش می خواد بدونه چه اتفاقی افتاده ، چطور میتونه دوباره به صدا دسترسی داشته باشه و...، و فیلیپ می خواد بدونه چه بلایی سر خودش اومده و اونجا دقیقا چی شد و دوستانش هنوز زنده هستن یا نه
خب بعضی جزییات هنوز برای من مثل علامت سوال هستن و واقعا کتاب خیلی هم ترسناک نیست اما دلهره آوره
جزییات چپترهای آخر خیلی زیبا با فصل اول هماهنگی داره و من این نبوغ جاش ملرمن رو خیلی دوست داشتم...اینم بگم که کتاب واقعا ترجمه ی خیلی خوبی داشت و خیلی از اسم ها یا مکان های ناآشنا رو توی پاورقی خیلی خوب و کامل توضیح داده بود
از طرح کاور خیلی خیلی حذاب نشر هم چیزی نمیگم ...چون اوه مای گاد
#چشم_های_آتشین
و ای کاش عاشق نمیشد فیلیپ:/ والا به خدا...جوون به اون رعنایی و زیبندگی
چقدر حرف زدم :)))
لذت ببرید
:D
انقدر نویسنده با کتاب جعبه پرنده(کابوک) معروفه که هر کی اسمشو میاره میگه نویسنده ی همون
خلاصه که برای همه خیلی آشنا ست
کتاب ماموریت اعضای یک باند موسیقی رو در سال 1975 شرح میده که فضاش کاملا ملموس بود و تمرکز روی شخصیت اصلی ، فلیپ هست فلیپ مردیه که با دایره ی دوستانش یه باند موسیقی تشکیل داده که خیلی هم پرطمطراق و معروفه چون اونا کهنه سربازهایی بودن که از جنگ جهانی دوم برگشته بودن! زنده و کاملا سالم...حالا بعد از مدت ها ارتش آمریکا دوباره به سراغشون میاد و با پیشنهاد 100 هزار دلاربه ازای هر نفر، ازشون میخواد که برای ردیابی منبع صدایی مرموز و خیلی خطرناک به یه ماموریت توی بیابانی در آفریقا به نام نامیب برن.
این صدا به قدری قدرت داره که سلاح ها رو از کار میندازه و و باعث واکنش هایی توی فیزیک بدن انسان میشه و برای هرکسی میتونه این واکنش ها متفاوت باشه. واکنش هایی مثل سر درد،تهوع، استفراغ، بی حرکتی و درد شدید که اگه به منبع صدا خیلی نزدیک باشی امکان داره تمام استخون های بدن همزمان بشکنه!!! اینا همه برای صد هزار دلار!!!
.فلیپ بعد از شش ماه که توی کما بوده توی یه بیمارستان نظامی به هوش میاد ... با خاطرات جسته گریخته و پراکنده
که گریز توی زمان حال و گذشته خیلی جذاب و خوندنیه و کشش خوبی هم داره
حالا فلیپ روی تخت بیمارستان با ذهن و بدنی که به شدت تخریب شده باید به ارتش آمریکا جواب بده ،
ارتش می خواد بدونه چه اتفاقی افتاده ، چطور میتونه دوباره به صدا دسترسی داشته باشه و...، و فیلیپ می خواد بدونه چه بلایی سر خودش اومده و اونجا دقیقا چی شد و دوستانش هنوز زنده هستن یا نه
خب بعضی جزییات هنوز برای من مثل علامت سوال هستن و واقعا کتاب خیلی هم ترسناک نیست اما دلهره آوره
جزییات چپترهای آخر خیلی زیبا با فصل اول هماهنگی داره و من این نبوغ جاش ملرمن رو خیلی دوست داشتم...اینم بگم که کتاب واقعا ترجمه ی خیلی خوبی داشت و خیلی از اسم ها یا مکان های ناآشنا رو توی پاورقی خیلی خوب و کامل توضیح داده بود
از طرح کاور خیلی خیلی حذاب نشر هم چیزی نمیگم ...چون اوه مای گاد
#چشم_های_آتشین
و ای کاش عاشق نمیشد فیلیپ:/ والا به خدا...جوون به اون رعنایی و زیبندگی
چقدر حرف زدم :)))
لذت ببرید
:D
May 23, 2017
Anyone who has read Bird Box knows that Josh Malerman is capable of reaching inside, grabbing your soul and freaking the hell out of it. Once I saw that he had a new book releasing, I knew that I needed to read it.
Black Mad Wheel played back and forth between two timelines in the protagonist’s life. This is a formula that has worked for Malerman before, I like it; this flow really allows the author to build the mystery, leaving the reader to wonder WTF is going on. Additionally, this format allows for not just one but two climaxes. Yes, I am greedy.
At several points in Black Mad Wheel I had to remind myself that this is not Bird Box. The story was well developed, the characters are dark, just the way I like them, and the mystery of what was going on, deeply intriguing. It was just that the “magic” was missing; the connection to the characters wasn’t what I’ve seen from Malerman before. I knew he could do more, and I wanted it.
But then again, this is not Bird Box. Black Mad Wheel is its own entity. Standing on its own two feet, Black Mad Wheel is a great book, filled with a darkness and mystery that is palpable. Each of the characters has their own cross to bear, just the types of characters I look for.
Black Mad Wheel will take you on a remarkable, mysterious journey. It will hold you until the very last page, but it was just missing that little something.
*I received a copy of the book from the publisher (via Edelweiss) in exchange for an honest review.
Black Mad Wheel played back and forth between two timelines in the protagonist’s life. This is a formula that has worked for Malerman before, I like it; this flow really allows the author to build the mystery, leaving the reader to wonder WTF is going on. Additionally, this format allows for not just one but two climaxes. Yes, I am greedy.
At several points in Black Mad Wheel I had to remind myself that this is not Bird Box. The story was well developed, the characters are dark, just the way I like them, and the mystery of what was going on, deeply intriguing. It was just that the “magic” was missing; the connection to the characters wasn’t what I’ve seen from Malerman before. I knew he could do more, and I wanted it.
But then again, this is not Bird Box. Black Mad Wheel is its own entity. Standing on its own two feet, Black Mad Wheel is a great book, filled with a darkness and mystery that is palpable. Each of the characters has their own cross to bear, just the types of characters I look for.
Black Mad Wheel will take you on a remarkable, mysterious journey. It will hold you until the very last page, but it was just missing that little something.
*I received a copy of the book from the publisher (via Edelweiss) in exchange for an honest review.
July 27, 2020
Strange and terrifying
Maybe it’s because people can’t see the end that they agree to begin.
It was sort of a gig. An opportunity to make some money and at the same time have the adventure of a lifetime.
The former soldiers of World War II and current band-mates wouldn’t be playing any music in the Namib Desert. In fact, they wouldn’t be making any noise. They will be listening for a particular sound. A sound they have never heard. A sound which makes people sick, which renders nuclear weapons useless.
A malevolent sound.
They would be searching for its source.
-“There are things worse than a new weapon…”
-“Like what?”
-“Like the kind of person that would build it.”
But when the group arrives at the site, they realize that the empty and vast desert has secrets of its own; that even the darkness has eyes; that there is more to the sound of wind in the desert; that they are going to encounter the nightmare of their lifetime.
You never know what you’ll find if you keep digging.
Maybe it’s because people can’t see the end that they agree to begin.
It was sort of a gig. An opportunity to make some money and at the same time have the adventure of a lifetime.
The former soldiers of World War II and current band-mates wouldn’t be playing any music in the Namib Desert. In fact, they wouldn’t be making any noise. They will be listening for a particular sound. A sound they have never heard. A sound which makes people sick, which renders nuclear weapons useless.
A malevolent sound.
They would be searching for its source.
-“There are things worse than a new weapon…”
-“Like what?”
-“Like the kind of person that would build it.”
But when the group arrives at the site, they realize that the empty and vast desert has secrets of its own; that even the darkness has eyes; that there is more to the sound of wind in the desert; that they are going to encounter the nightmare of their lifetime.
You never know what you’ll find if you keep digging.
March 6, 2019
What an imagination this author has. I cannot get enough of his books as they provide enough weirdness, horror and strangeness that I devour them in one sitting, if possible. This story revolves around a group of WWII veterans who are musicians in a band called "The Danes" who are asked by the government to investigate a mysterious sound in the African desert. This "sound" renders listeners sick and much worse and renders all weapons ineffective. Some readers take issue with the implausibility of all of this, but, to me, that is what makes it so fantastical. What's interesting is that there is a big push by the government to investigate the use of sound as a weapon, as evidenced by the recent attack in Cuba, as one recent example. For me this only adds to the creepiness.
January 31, 2019
"Hey, Phil. If you're gonna spew, spew into this."
-Garth Algar, Wayne's World
If it weren't for the vomit on the carpets, this probably would've been a 5-star read for me. I generally do not do horror and definitely don't do sci-fi. But I DO do Josh Malerman whose dark, underbelly of writing suits me just fine.
This addictive story made me initially feel pretty miserable. Physical pain, nausea, foreboding, the inability to move a muscle - all experienced by our protagonist - are not usually a draw for me (understatement), but like the intro to a piece of music you've known since childhood, I couldn't not follow on and play the rest of Malerman's tune.
Do yourself a favor. Do not read the summary or blurb or reviews that expound on the entire story. Walk in blindfolded, as I did. Some have expressed disappointment in the novel after having adored the freakishly wonderful Bird Box, but not I. Perhaps it is the more masculine story line that puts some off - I don't know. I did listen to this instead of reading it, so that may have made a difference.
The main character here is a male this time, a member of a four-man rock band who loves the other three like a band of brothers. When they, all veterans, are offered a gig overseas, it smells suspicious. When the slick, older military man offering the opportunity makes them each vomit and writhe before they even think about accepting, you know things are not going to end well. But this being horror, of course they're going to board the plane anyway.
Tidbits I love? The character names - a weathered old former Army general called Lovejoy. The military guy offering them the job? Mal - French word for "bad" (although I listened to this instead of reading, so the spelling could be off, but the audio of his name is definitely this). The lead character is Phillip Tonka - like the sturdy boy-toys of the 1970s...Tonka-tough. The band is called The Danes, but I'm not literary enough to figure out what (or even if) that might tie to except maybe Shakespeare's Hamlet. Secondly, if a book doesn't introduce a snake in one of its darker chapters, a goat - with those wild, yellow slitted eyes - will certainly do!
Who would love this book like I did? Definitely musicians, fans of old rock bands, veterans or those who revere them, lovers of the weird, guys. Nick Cave would probably be crazy for this. The book feels very nightmarish in every other of the super short chapters, but a nurse who enters the story with her own bit of baggage tends to soothe the fraughtness. The ending left me wanting just a few more details, and if they'd just put a little plastic garbage can in front of everybody who was about to hurl, it really would've warranted the full constellation of stars from me. But to Malerman, the talented real-world singer and musician and exceptional writer, I say you did more than fine. Every Good Boy Does Fine
-Garth Algar, Wayne's World
If it weren't for the vomit on the carpets, this probably would've been a 5-star read for me. I generally do not do horror and definitely don't do sci-fi. But I DO do Josh Malerman whose dark, underbelly of writing suits me just fine.
This addictive story made me initially feel pretty miserable. Physical pain, nausea, foreboding, the inability to move a muscle - all experienced by our protagonist - are not usually a draw for me (understatement), but like the intro to a piece of music you've known since childhood, I couldn't not follow on and play the rest of Malerman's tune.
Do yourself a favor. Do not read the summary or blurb or reviews that expound on the entire story. Walk in blindfolded, as I did. Some have expressed disappointment in the novel after having adored the freakishly wonderful Bird Box, but not I. Perhaps it is the more masculine story line that puts some off - I don't know. I did listen to this instead of reading it, so that may have made a difference.
The main character here is a male this time, a member of a four-man rock band who loves the other three like a band of brothers. When they, all veterans, are offered a gig overseas, it smells suspicious. When the slick, older military man offering the opportunity makes them each vomit and writhe before they even think about accepting, you know things are not going to end well. But this being horror, of course they're going to board the plane anyway.
Tidbits I love? The character names - a weathered old former Army general called Lovejoy. The military guy offering them the job? Mal - French word for "bad" (although I listened to this instead of reading, so the spelling could be off, but the audio of his name is definitely this). The lead character is Phillip Tonka - like the sturdy boy-toys of the 1970s...Tonka-tough. The band is called The Danes, but I'm not literary enough to figure out what (or even if) that might tie to except maybe Shakespeare's Hamlet. Secondly, if a book doesn't introduce a snake in one of its darker chapters, a goat - with those wild, yellow slitted eyes - will certainly do!
Who would love this book like I did? Definitely musicians, fans of old rock bands, veterans or those who revere them, lovers of the weird, guys. Nick Cave would probably be crazy for this. The book feels very nightmarish in every other of the super short chapters, but a nurse who enters the story with her own bit of baggage tends to soothe the fraughtness. The ending left me wanting just a few more details, and if they'd just put a little plastic garbage can in front of everybody who was about to hurl, it really would've warranted the full constellation of stars from me. But to Malerman, the talented real-world singer and musician and exceptional writer, I say you did more than fine. Every Good Boy Does Fine
November 14, 2017
Josh Malerman okurlarının duyularıyla oynamayı seven bir yazar. İlk kitabı Kafes ile bize “Sakın Gözlerini Açma” derken, hem dünyada hem de ülkemizde bu sene (2017) yayımlanan son romanı Kırmızı Piyano’da ise “Sese Kulak Verme” diyor.
Malerman, okurunu yaşamımızın bir parçası olan beş duyumuz üzerinden vurmayı seviyor, çeşitli koşullandırmalara sokmayı da öyle. Doğruya doğru, ben böyle komut cümleleriyle koşullandırma çemberine giren bir okur değilim. Bunlar çoksatar taktiği olan çalışmalar. Fakat bu durum Kırmızı Piyano’dan keyif almama engel olmadı. Dahası, Malerman’ın tarzına dair de güzel ipuçları veriyordu. Bunu da ıskalayamazdım. Böylece Kırmızı Piyano’nun gizemlerine, nükleer savaş başlıklarını bile etkisiz hale getiren Ses’e ve kaynağı olduğu düşünülen Namib Çölü’ne doğru ben de Philip Tonka ve arkadaşlarıyla birlikte sürüklenmeye başladım. Karşımaysa buzdağı gibi bir kitap çıktı. Çoksatar maskesi altına gizlenmiş ama arkasında ciddi bir altyapısı olan bir eser. Fakat şunu da söylemek gerekiyor ki, her ne kadar bir maske kullanıyor olsa da satır aralarını okuyabilen okurlara vadettiği kadar da derin değil.
Kitap boyunca sembolizmde yeri olan kimi unsurlar göze çarpıyor. Özellikle kırmızı ve keçi figürünün kullanılış şekli ve sıklığı, şeytanla ilişkilendirilen hayvanlardan biri olan keçinin ve renk olarak kırmızının etkisi altında Ses’in kaynağını uzun süre şeytani olarak yorumlamamıza kasıtlı bir katkıda bulunuyor. Öyle olmadığını iddia etmiyorum bu arada. Kitabın sonuna geldiğinizde neyi nasıl göreceğiniz size kalacak. Eserin gayesi de tam olarak bu.
Keçi ve onun geçtiği her yerde vurgulanan kırmızıyla birlikte cehennemi bir yolculuk yaşıyoruz. Fakat kitabın yeraltı edebiyatına kayan yönü de bu cehennemi yolculukta bizi asla bırakmıyor. Böylece kâh gerilim kâh yeraltı türü arasında devinerek körlemesine ilerliyoruz.
Philip Tonka’nın Ses’i keşfetmesinden önceki ve keşfettikten sonraki hasarlı hayatıysa bir bütünün iki yarısı. Biri olmadan diğeri var olamayacak şekilde incelikle işlenmiş, ki bunu oldukça takdir ettim. Philip’in geçirdiği değişim ve sonrasında korkusunun üzerine gidişi dikkat çekici. Bireysel bazlı karakter gelişimi ve içindeki boşluğu dolduracak yegâne hareketin boşluğa çıplak gözlerle bakabilmek olduğunu vurgulayan bir alt metin var burada.
Kırmızı Piyano, her zaman daha üstün gördüğümüz yok oluşa yaradılış alternatifini getirerek ikircikli bir kurguya imza atıyor. Asla tam olarak açıklanmayan Ses’in gerçek kaynağı, dünyanın ilk zamanlarından beri var olmuş olan şarkı/müzik kültürüne de bir gönderme niteliğinde. Burada Josh Malerman’ın da müzikle içli dışlı oluşu, The High Strung adlı grubun solisti ve söz yazarı olduğu gerçeği de göz ardı edilecek cinsten değil.
Daha önceki Malerman kitaplarında olduğu gibi Aslı Dağlı’ya ait olan çeviri oldukça duru. Herhangi bir tökezlemeye izin vermeyen, akıcı, anlaşılır ve yazarın yer yer başvurduğu edebi cümlelerinin altından rahatlıkla kalkılmış hissi veren bir yapıya sahip. Çeviride bir bütünlük var, bunu rahatlıkla söyleyebilirim. Zaten Aslı Dağlı pek çok çalışmasıyla kendini kanıtlamış bir isim. O nedenle daha azını bekleyemezdim.
Editörlük açısından da herhangi bir sorunla karşılaşmadım. Ömer Ezer de Aslı Dağlı kadar iyi bir iş çıkartmış. Her ikisine de gönül rahatlığıyla emeklerinize sağlık demek istiyorum.
Kitap boyunca toplamda dört tane yazım hatasına rastladım. Bu da benim için kabul edilebilir bir sayı. İthaki Yayınları’nın kitapları kimi zaman yazım hataları bakımından oldukça üzücü olabiliyor çünkü. Neyse ki Kırmızı Piyano’da böyle bir durum söz konusu değil de bu akıcı kitapta takılmadan, heyecanla kopup gidebiliyoruz.
Kırmızı Piyano, yer yer okuru güzel mi güzel geren, ürküten, yeraltı sosuyla keyiflendiren bir eser. Bir günde, hatta bir gecede okunacak türden akıcı. Fakat buraya değinmişken okurun ne bekleyeceğine göre de bir yorum yapmak gerek.
Eğer amacınız soluksuz bir gerilim kitabı okumaksa, hiç durmayın, bu kitabın üzerine atlayın. Buradan sonrasını da okumayın. Ama eğer benim gibi ağır kitaplarla yoğrulmayı seven bir yapınız varsa fazladan edecek birkaç lafım var.
Eser, ulu bir amacı olmasına karşın çoksatar mantığındaki yapısıyla kendi kendini baltalıyor. Kısa sürede, merak ederek okuyup bitirdim. Oysa ona aşık olmadım; ona bayılmadım. Bana keyifli bir zaman sundu ve her kesimden okura hitap ettiğini kanıtladı. Ama günün sonunda kendi inceliğini satış kaygısıyla sarsmış hissine kapılıyorum.
Malerman, okurunu yaşamımızın bir parçası olan beş duyumuz üzerinden vurmayı seviyor, çeşitli koşullandırmalara sokmayı da öyle. Doğruya doğru, ben böyle komut cümleleriyle koşullandırma çemberine giren bir okur değilim. Bunlar çoksatar taktiği olan çalışmalar. Fakat bu durum Kırmızı Piyano’dan keyif almama engel olmadı. Dahası, Malerman’ın tarzına dair de güzel ipuçları veriyordu. Bunu da ıskalayamazdım. Böylece Kırmızı Piyano’nun gizemlerine, nükleer savaş başlıklarını bile etkisiz hale getiren Ses’e ve kaynağı olduğu düşünülen Namib Çölü’ne doğru ben de Philip Tonka ve arkadaşlarıyla birlikte sürüklenmeye başladım. Karşımaysa buzdağı gibi bir kitap çıktı. Çoksatar maskesi altına gizlenmiş ama arkasında ciddi bir altyapısı olan bir eser. Fakat şunu da söylemek gerekiyor ki, her ne kadar bir maske kullanıyor olsa da satır aralarını okuyabilen okurlara vadettiği kadar da derin değil.
Kitap boyunca sembolizmde yeri olan kimi unsurlar göze çarpıyor. Özellikle kırmızı ve keçi figürünün kullanılış şekli ve sıklığı, şeytanla ilişkilendirilen hayvanlardan biri olan keçinin ve renk olarak kırmızının etkisi altında Ses’in kaynağını uzun süre şeytani olarak yorumlamamıza kasıtlı bir katkıda bulunuyor. Öyle olmadığını iddia etmiyorum bu arada. Kitabın sonuna geldiğinizde neyi nasıl göreceğiniz size kalacak. Eserin gayesi de tam olarak bu.
Keçi ve onun geçtiği her yerde vurgulanan kırmızıyla birlikte cehennemi bir yolculuk yaşıyoruz. Fakat kitabın yeraltı edebiyatına kayan yönü de bu cehennemi yolculukta bizi asla bırakmıyor. Böylece kâh gerilim kâh yeraltı türü arasında devinerek körlemesine ilerliyoruz.
Philip Tonka’nın Ses’i keşfetmesinden önceki ve keşfettikten sonraki hasarlı hayatıysa bir bütünün iki yarısı. Biri olmadan diğeri var olamayacak şekilde incelikle işlenmiş, ki bunu oldukça takdir ettim. Philip’in geçirdiği değişim ve sonrasında korkusunun üzerine gidişi dikkat çekici. Bireysel bazlı karakter gelişimi ve içindeki boşluğu dolduracak yegâne hareketin boşluğa çıplak gözlerle bakabilmek olduğunu vurgulayan bir alt metin var burada.
Kırmızı Piyano, her zaman daha üstün gördüğümüz yok oluşa yaradılış alternatifini getirerek ikircikli bir kurguya imza atıyor. Asla tam olarak açıklanmayan Ses’in gerçek kaynağı, dünyanın ilk zamanlarından beri var olmuş olan şarkı/müzik kültürüne de bir gönderme niteliğinde. Burada Josh Malerman’ın da müzikle içli dışlı oluşu, The High Strung adlı grubun solisti ve söz yazarı olduğu gerçeği de göz ardı edilecek cinsten değil.
Daha önceki Malerman kitaplarında olduğu gibi Aslı Dağlı’ya ait olan çeviri oldukça duru. Herhangi bir tökezlemeye izin vermeyen, akıcı, anlaşılır ve yazarın yer yer başvurduğu edebi cümlelerinin altından rahatlıkla kalkılmış hissi veren bir yapıya sahip. Çeviride bir bütünlük var, bunu rahatlıkla söyleyebilirim. Zaten Aslı Dağlı pek çok çalışmasıyla kendini kanıtlamış bir isim. O nedenle daha azını bekleyemezdim.
Editörlük açısından da herhangi bir sorunla karşılaşmadım. Ömer Ezer de Aslı Dağlı kadar iyi bir iş çıkartmış. Her ikisine de gönül rahatlığıyla emeklerinize sağlık demek istiyorum.
Kitap boyunca toplamda dört tane yazım hatasına rastladım. Bu da benim için kabul edilebilir bir sayı. İthaki Yayınları’nın kitapları kimi zaman yazım hataları bakımından oldukça üzücü olabiliyor çünkü. Neyse ki Kırmızı Piyano’da böyle bir durum söz konusu değil de bu akıcı kitapta takılmadan, heyecanla kopup gidebiliyoruz.
Kırmızı Piyano, yer yer okuru güzel mi güzel geren, ürküten, yeraltı sosuyla keyiflendiren bir eser. Bir günde, hatta bir gecede okunacak türden akıcı. Fakat buraya değinmişken okurun ne bekleyeceğine göre de bir yorum yapmak gerek.
Eğer amacınız soluksuz bir gerilim kitabı okumaksa, hiç durmayın, bu kitabın üzerine atlayın. Buradan sonrasını da okumayın. Ama eğer benim gibi ağır kitaplarla yoğrulmayı seven bir yapınız varsa fazladan edecek birkaç lafım var.
Eser, ulu bir amacı olmasına karşın çoksatar mantığındaki yapısıyla kendi kendini baltalıyor. Kısa sürede, merak ederek okuyup bitirdim. Oysa ona aşık olmadım; ona bayılmadım. Bana keyifli bir zaman sundu ve her kesimden okura hitap ettiğini kanıtladı. Ama günün sonunda kendi inceliğini satış kaygısıyla sarsmış hissine kapılıyorum.
November 14, 2020
Josh Malerman’s “Black Mad Wheel” has a touch of Stephen King’s creepiness, mixed in with some Blake Crouch “Dark Matter”, all tied up with a “Daisy Jones & The Six” cherry on top.
“The Danes” used to top the Detroit music charts. Now, they are desperately seeking inspiration, looking for another number one hit. When they are approached by the U.S military and receive a strange, yet profitable, offer, every one of them jumps at the chance. Soon all four members of The Danes are on a plane to a desolate African desert, to investigate the root of something simply dubbed “the sound”. What they are investigating is no simple noise however; “the sound” has the power to disable weapons, to make ghosts walk, and to turn humans into mush. And of course, the U.S Army needs to have control of this power. Six months later, Philip Tonka is the only member of The Danes left. After waking from a coma in a Midwestern United States hospital, with very little memory of his experience, Philip realizes how powerful the knowledge he has is, and how dangerous it can be.
Malerman found huge success in his novel, “Bird Box”, but “Black Mad Wheel” is deserving of its own praise. It is less intriguing who-dunnit than “Box”, but it definitely has its own science-fiction, rock and roll vibe that deserves to be explored.
The chapters are short, and they alternate between time periods; the first, when Philip wakes up in the hospital and is trying to find answers (and he isn’t the only one) , and the second which predates the first, when Philip and his band mates first head to Africa. The short, gripping chapters make this novel easy-to-read. I had no problem polishing this beauty off in two days.
Although there are some moments of confusion in this novel, and some parts I found lacking (I wanted more details in some areas, and less details in others) , this is one of those novels that I can’t get out of my head. A whole new “conspiracy” novel, with some Detroit rock and roll mixed in, “Black Mad Wheel” definitely reminds us that Malerman has more in his wheelhouse than “Bird Box”, and he’s not going anywhere.
“The Danes” used to top the Detroit music charts. Now, they are desperately seeking inspiration, looking for another number one hit. When they are approached by the U.S military and receive a strange, yet profitable, offer, every one of them jumps at the chance. Soon all four members of The Danes are on a plane to a desolate African desert, to investigate the root of something simply dubbed “the sound”. What they are investigating is no simple noise however; “the sound” has the power to disable weapons, to make ghosts walk, and to turn humans into mush. And of course, the U.S Army needs to have control of this power. Six months later, Philip Tonka is the only member of The Danes left. After waking from a coma in a Midwestern United States hospital, with very little memory of his experience, Philip realizes how powerful the knowledge he has is, and how dangerous it can be.
Malerman found huge success in his novel, “Bird Box”, but “Black Mad Wheel” is deserving of its own praise. It is less intriguing who-dunnit than “Box”, but it definitely has its own science-fiction, rock and roll vibe that deserves to be explored.
The chapters are short, and they alternate between time periods; the first, when Philip wakes up in the hospital and is trying to find answers (and he isn’t the only one) , and the second which predates the first, when Philip and his band mates first head to Africa. The short, gripping chapters make this novel easy-to-read. I had no problem polishing this beauty off in two days.
Although there are some moments of confusion in this novel, and some parts I found lacking (I wanted more details in some areas, and less details in others) , this is one of those novels that I can’t get out of my head. A whole new “conspiracy” novel, with some Detroit rock and roll mixed in, “Black Mad Wheel” definitely reminds us that Malerman has more in his wheelhouse than “Bird Box”, and he’s not going anywhere.
October 27, 2017
Ъъъ...
Бих качила картинката, но чувствата ми са толкова убити, че само ще я цитирам:
What am I supposed to feel? :/
Доста бледо произведение. При предишните две книги на същия автор поне присъстваше онзи тип атмосфера, която мога да нарека "мистична", ако и да не е точното определение. Това, което ми харесваше в тях, беше опитът за вкарване на напрежение, опитът за използване на "��езнайното зло се прокрадва зад гърба ти" и прочие подобни похвати. Безспорно не нови, но лично за мен много добре представени от Малерман и правещи книгите му приятни. В случая на "Кутия за птици" дори въздействащи по някакъв начин.
"Червеното пиано" (а защо всъщност за пореден път трябва да си слагаме наше си заглавие, различно от оригиналното?) ми прозвуча фалшиво още в момента, в който изскочи идеята, че някакви си музиканти ще спасяват света. Толкова изкуствено, толкова нелогично, толкова... безсмислено.
Цялата книга е просто нахвърляна отгоре-отгоре. Специално частта за Африка е пълен миш-маш. От цялата работа липсва най-основната подправка - емоцията. Нищо не ти улавя интереса, нищо не те пла��и, нищо не те разчувства, нито един герой дори не ти остава в главата, какво остава за случващото се. Невъзможни изцеления, бутнати сякаш в отчаян опит историята да се закърпи, та поне да е фантастична, ако не може да е страшна.
Букви из страниците без особена стойност. Специално в точно тази книга - страшно дразнещи повторения, чиято цел е уж да зареждат напрежението, ама... не точно. Накрая оставаш с объркана представа за този "мистериозен звук". Нелогичен и малко смотан завършек... макар че то на такава история, човек какво точно да очаква?
В никакъв случай не е по-добра от "Кутия за птици". Че даже и от "Къщата на езерното дъно". Ако това всъщност беше първият роман на Малерман, щях да проявя разбиране, понеже е първи, само че в случая сега мога само да кажа, че нещата падат надолу. За съжаление, защото все още обичам "Кутия за птици" и "Къщата..." ми беше предимно приятна. Не твърдя, че авторите не бива да експериментират и в други насоки, но ето, че при някои просто не се получава.
Бих качила картинката, но чувствата ми са толкова убити, че само ще я цитирам:
What am I supposed to feel? :/
Доста бледо произведение. При предишните две книги на същия автор поне присъстваше онзи тип атмосфера, която мога да нарека "мистична", ако и да не е точното определение. Това, което ми харесваше в тях, беше опитът за вкарване на напрежение, опитът за използване на "��езнайното зло се прокрадва зад гърба ти" и прочие подобни похвати. Безспорно не нови, но лично за мен много добре представени от Малерман и правещи книгите му приятни. В случая на "Кутия за птици" дори въздействащи по някакъв начин.
"Червеното пиано" (а защо всъщност за пореден път трябва да си слагаме наше си заглавие, различно от оригиналното?) ми прозвуча фалшиво още в момента, в който изскочи идеята, че някакви си музиканти ще спасяват света. Толкова изкуствено, толкова нелогично, толкова... безсмислено.
Цялата книга е просто нахвърляна отгоре-отгоре. Специално частта за Африка е пълен миш-маш. От цялата работа липсва най-основната подправка - емоцията. Нищо не ти улавя интереса, нищо не те пла��и, нищо не те разчувства, нито един герой дори не ти остава в главата, какво остава за случващото се. Невъзможни изцеления, бутнати сякаш в отчаян опит историята да се закърпи, та поне да е фантастична, ако не може да е страшна.
Букви из страниците без особена стойност. Специално в точно тази книга - страшно дразнещи повторения, чиято цел е уж да зареждат напрежението, ама... не точно. Накрая оставаш с объркана представа за този "мистериозен звук". Нелогичен и малко смотан завършек... макар че то на такава история, човек какво точно да очаква?
В никакъв случай не е по-добра от "Кутия за птици". Че даже и от "Къщата на езерното дъно". Ако това всъщност беше първият роман на Малерман, щях да проявя разбиране, понеже е първи, само че в случая сега мога само да кажа, че нещата падат надолу. За съжаление, защото все още обичам "Кутия за птици" и "Къщата..." ми беше предимно приятна. Не твърдя, че авторите не бива да експериментират и в други насоки, но ето, че при някои просто не се получава.
June 28, 2017
I think I need to create a new bookshelf for this one and call it "Aw-man-really". Because, though I liked the book well enough, I found myself saying "Aw man. Really?!" too many times out loud while listening to it during my commute.
I crushed on Malerman's BIRD BOX so hard core, and had such high hopes for this one. Did I set the book up to fail me? Perhaps. But... aw man... reaaaallly?
I crushed on Malerman's BIRD BOX so hard core, and had such high hopes for this one. Did I set the book up to fail me? Perhaps. But... aw man... reaaaallly?
August 16, 2020
تا سال ۱۹۱۴ دنیا سر عقل اومده بود. می���دونین حاصلش برامون چی بود؟ هیچ میدونین ثمرهی هزاران سال اونیفورم نظامی برامون چی بوده؟ استتار! با ظهور استتار، دیگه نیروهای نظامی از هم تشخیص داده نمیشدن. در این دوران بیشتر از هر دورهی تاریخ نظامی دیگه، سرباز با آتیش نیروهای خودی مُرد. شده بود مثل تونل وحشت پارکها. سربازها تصاویر کجومعوجی از خودشون میدیدن و بعد همچین بگینگی از سر ترس شلیک میکردن. دیگه تنها چیزی که اهمیت داشت، شده بود پنهانشدن و غافلگیری که بیشباهت به پنهانشدن برای شکار گوزن نبود. «غافلگیری» شده بود کلمهی روز. حقا که اینطور بوده. همهچی شده بود کمین. اصلاً میتونین این روزها تصورش رو بکنین که برین میدون جنگ و توی یه زمینِ باز با یه ارتش دیگه روبهرو بشین؟ میتونین تصور کنین که باید منتظر بشیم تا ژنرالهامون بهطور رسمی نبرد رو شروع کنن؟ برن با هم دست بدن؟! نه. امروزه کاری که ما میکنیم پنهانشدنه. پنهان میشیم، چون اونها پنهان میشن. اونها هم پنهان میشن چون ما پنهان میشیم. همه درحال پنهانشدن هستن، چون هیچکس نمیخواد دیگه اون بیرون توی فضای باز باشه.
موافق نیستی؟ همینالآن پنجهزار گونه از حشرات و حیوونها هستن که پنهان شدهن. نگاهمون میکنن و بهمون گوش میدن. ما هم یاد گرفتیم چهطور خودمون رو لای درختها پنهان کنیم. سرکار تونکا! موفقیت بزرگ ما همینه؟ یعنی نهایتش اندازهی سوسکها باهوشیم؟
موافق نیستی؟ همینالآن پنجهزار گونه از حشرات و حیوونها هستن که پنهان شدهن. نگاهمون میکنن و بهمون گوش میدن. ما هم یاد گرفتیم چهطور خودمون رو لای درختها پنهان کنیم. سرکار تونکا! موفقیت بزرگ ما همینه؟ یعنی نهایتش اندازهی سوسکها باهوشیم؟
May 19, 2018
This one took a little while for me to get into, but after 75ish pages I was intrigued.
March 6, 2022
I loved birdbox and was excited to read more by Josh Malerman. Unfortunately I didn't end up enjoying it. It had some intruging elements but did nothing to get me invested in the audiobook
July 10, 2022
It’s not really fair to compare an author’s book against their other books but it’s also really hard not to do that. Josh Malerman’s Bird Box is one of my most favorite books of all time! It’s also the first Malerman I ever read. So this kind of sets high expectations for his others!
“Every good boy does fine” Do you remember this from music class? According to the blurb about Malerman here on Goodreads, he is also a musician. So it’s not surprising that music is incorporated into this book. In fact, he did a great job of incorporating music into much of this novel including small details that might be missed if you’re not paying attention. Sentences like: “It’s the spaces between words, the downbeats in a conversation in which two people feel bad for having fought.” and others that I didn’t highlight but should have.
Black Mad Wheel is a different kind of book. It is not one to rush through but one to be pondered and appreciated for the uniqueness it offers.
“Maybe it’s because people can’t see the end that they agree to begin.”
“Every good boy does fine” Do you remember this from music class? According to the blurb about Malerman here on Goodreads, he is also a musician. So it’s not surprising that music is incorporated into this book. In fact, he did a great job of incorporating music into much of this novel including small details that might be missed if you’re not paying attention. Sentences like: “It’s the spaces between words, the downbeats in a conversation in which two people feel bad for having fought.” and others that I didn’t highlight but should have.
Black Mad Wheel is a different kind of book. It is not one to rush through but one to be pondered and appreciated for the uniqueness it offers.
“Maybe it’s because people can’t see the end that they agree to begin.”
December 17, 2016
Black Mad Wheel is a very particular type of book, a pastiche of strange and inexplicable things. I am often just fine with a book that leaves things unresolved or ambiguous, but if it does so I need a strong structure/plot/character to go on and this book is not that. It is more of a pastiche, more of a mood and an atmosphere, and so not the kind that I could really sink my teeth into.
As anyone who read Bird Box knows, Malerman is great at suspense and writing an extremely tense book. Black Mad Wheel is also really tense and full of that page-turning expectation. But I did miss the more strict plotted structure of Bird Box, which used the flashbacks-every-other-chapter to better effect since each timeline had its own drive and specifics. Here the switching between timelines did keep the tension high but also meant that as a reader I rarely felt satisfied with any particular payoff.
As anyone who read Bird Box knows, Malerman is great at suspense and writing an extremely tense book. Black Mad Wheel is also really tense and full of that page-turning expectation. But I did miss the more strict plotted structure of Bird Box, which used the flashbacks-every-other-chapter to better effect since each timeline had its own drive and specifics. Here the switching between timelines did keep the tension high but also meant that as a reader I rarely felt satisfied with any particular payoff.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 865 reviews