Disclaimer #1 – I NEVER GIVE 5 STAR REVIEWS (unless they/it deserves it). Something would have to give me a “happy ending” that goes beyond what is normally expected.

Disclaimer #2 – I have been participating in the TheDeadRobotSociety Facebook site. (Link Pending – my work blocks it so I can’t link while here). I am not looking to kiss anybodies ass but at the same time I don’t want to burn any bridges. So… the following will be as neutral as I can make it.

I don’t read enough.

That being said it’s probably not a good thing to admit as amateur author. My reading also goes in spurts. When I got around to reading the Ender’s Game series I read 4-5 of the stories over the span of several months. My daughter was just born and with the kindle app on my phone I was able to do the rocking while still doing something mental. If there is one thing I can’t handle is not being mentally active. If I don’t have anything going on mentally I start to get sleepy. On a side note I have *Never suffered from insomnia. (I have after breaking up with a girlfriend or other mentally intense event but never on a regular basis).

My kids are now almost 9 and almost 5. It has been a while since I have found it beneficial to rock them. I find chloroform works much easier now. Reading for most other things tends to put me to sleep. Did I mention I don’t read that much?

I have started only one of Brandon Sanderson’s doorstops (?The Way of Kings?) but got to the 7% part and found my interest drifting away. That was six months ago.

Disclosure – I bought “The Black” off of the kindle store just a few weeks ago as part of a .99$ sale. Being lazy I love my kindle and its syncing ability that allows me to use multiple devices for the same story at different locations.

Getting back on topic… I read the book in under two weeks. The first 10% took the longest to get through with the last 84% taking little to no time at all. There is an excerpt of another story at the end of the kindle which takes up the remaining space. Overall I would say my speed/time getting through it resembled an exponential curve with it plateauing at some point.

The book is a fictional horror story which takes place on an oil rig out in the middle of the ocean. Not soon after the world gets established does ‘hilarity start to ensue’. I have read a few horror stories back in my younger years (Stephen King) but didn’t find his stuff all that disturbing. I didn’t find this all that disturbing either. Am I not just not the type to get creeped out? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t remember enough of the specifics from the books I had read but maybe that is just time diffusing my mental distortion.

The characters seemed distinct yet stereotypical. They were mostly just a bunch rednecks so there wasn’t that much of a range to work with. I might have missed it but I can’t remember what happened to the doctor who had locked himself into the office.

The logic of the reality and physics seemed real enough. When something seems too far-fetched it can throw me out of a story and this didn’t do that. I know from listening to his podcasts that he others more familiar with the technology providing feedback on how things worked in reality.

Overall I was pleased with the book and would recommend it but not as a “horror” novel. It had a monster but at no time was I truly feeling creeped out. Maybe it’s just my bias. It’s hard to say. Maybe if I read more I could give a better answer here.

Final Score, which is coming from my gut, is X

========================

Today is July 10th 2015

In keeping with the honesty theme with my reviews, I am changing my grading system to now be Lincoln heads instead of stars.

Yes the image is “borrowed” without written consent by the owner(s) but considering it came from Futurama (a.k.a. Matt Groening) and their use of humor I am going to chance it.

So without further ado the final score for “The Black” by Paul E. Cooley is…

3.5 Lincoln heads out of 5.