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A review by errantdreams
The Black by Paul E. Cooley
4.0
First, I loved Shawna as a character. Okay, so she was the only female, but she represented well. No falling in love with some charming character, no threat of rape from anyone; she also doesn’t need the help of others in order to do her job well. Thank you, Mr. Cooley!
There is one “Chekhov’s Gun” problem: one of the characters brought a spear-gun to fish while out there. Unless I blinked and missed it (not wholly impossible), that weapon never gets mentioned again, even though a big deal was made out of it at first.
For the most part I find all of the characters interesting. I did have trouble with one characterization, though. I know it’s a great skill as a writer to find a shortcut that allows you to convey a character’s personality quickly. However, the use of a cigar and some single malt is overused as shortcuts go. On the other hand, the tech who obsessively uses his vape worked beautifully since it’s relatively new.
The author cleverly weaves information throughout the narrative so you never feel like you’re being lectured at or subjected to a scene-breaking infodump. Unfortunately there's one (potentially major) plot detail that gets ignored after it's discovered.
I find it easy to imagine this tale as a horror movie. It feels cinematic, and gave me a very clear image of what was going on. Despite the issues named above, I was glued to the pages to find out what happened next. The monster is also quite scary in terms of how it handles people.
Original review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/08/review-the-black-paul-e-cooley/
There is one “Chekhov’s Gun” problem: one of the characters brought a spear-gun to fish while out there. Unless I blinked and missed it (not wholly impossible), that weapon never gets mentioned again, even though a big deal was made out of it at first.
For the most part I find all of the characters interesting. I did have trouble with one characterization, though. I know it’s a great skill as a writer to find a shortcut that allows you to convey a character’s personality quickly. However, the use of a cigar and some single malt is overused as shortcuts go. On the other hand, the tech who obsessively uses his vape worked beautifully since it’s relatively new.
The author cleverly weaves information throughout the narrative so you never feel like you’re being lectured at or subjected to a scene-breaking infodump. Unfortunately there's one (potentially major) plot detail that gets ignored after it's discovered.
I find it easy to imagine this tale as a horror movie. It feels cinematic, and gave me a very clear image of what was going on. Despite the issues named above, I was glued to the pages to find out what happened next. The monster is also quite scary in terms of how it handles people.
Original review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2016/08/review-the-black-paul-e-cooley/