Black Mad Wheel audiobook

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!

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.

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.

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?”

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.

"Hey, Phil. If you're gonna spew, spew into this."-Garth Algar, Wayne's WorldIf 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

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.”

I have no words that can accurately describe how freaking AMAZING and out of this world this story was but I’m going to give it a try. I knew it would be good because it’s basically my two favourite things smashed into one, horror and music. But I had no idea just how good it would be and it absolutely blew my mind! It had serious evil Lovecraftian vibes going on and it was insane how good it was. I love the way the music was presented and the role it played, it was so unique and unlike anything I’ve read before. It was dark and gritty and by the end of it I felt like I’d sell my soul for even just a couple pages more! Malerman truly has me fully under his spell after this book. I loved him before but this one really sealed the deal for me and I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next.

What to tell you about this one. I guess the same thing I said on Facebook the other day is appropriate enough: 300 pages of divine madness packed with the kind of twisted mind-fuckery that has become Josh Malerman’s stock in trade. He stormed onto the horror scene with the insanely popular breakout novel, Bird Box, and now he’s showing us with Black Mad Wheel that it was no fluke. He really is just that fucking good. Josh has climbed to the apex of my favorite authors list and it’s going to take a monster of an author to ever replace him.Full review coming soon

Have you ever heard a sound so strange, so sharp, so absurd, or nonsensical that you have gotten a severe headache? What about one that will literally shut down your body and make you vomit? That is the sound we're dealing with when it comes to Mad Black Wheel. One not of this earth, one that makes all weapons useless, one that can be used as a weapon.In Mad Black Wheel, we are introduced to Philip Tonka, the pianist for The Danes. The Danes are a rock band made up of WWII veterans. They have one hit single and are beginning to take off. When we first meet Philip Tonka, The Danes are all missing, and he's laying in a hospital bed with almost every body in his body broken. How did this happen? What happened to The Danes? What is this noise? These questions are all answered as the story continues.Josh Malerman is an author who I'm growing quite fond of. His short stories are fantastic. Bird Box was one of my favorite horror novels when it came out in 2013. And, he's a fantastic writer. His novellas tend to be more intimate, and his novels tend to focus on sensory horror. Stories where our own senses are played against us. Bird Box involved sight, if the people took off their blindfolds or glanced outside; they would go insane. In Black Mad Wheel, it's sound. A sound so alien, so strange, those who hear it lose control of their body and vomit. A sound that renders weapons useless. In this story we follow two timelines. Philip Tonka recovering from his wounds in a hospital, and the mystery of this strange hospital (yes, it has creepy doctors too!). We also follow Philip and The Danes who are recruited by the U.S. Military to go to Africa and locate this strange sound. This is a very tense and enthralling narrative. Just like with Bird Box, I keep wanted to read more, and wanting to know more. The characters are great, the tension and mystery are fantastic. This is a book that will keep you reading until late in the night. However, I do have a problem with this book. I feel the climax and the ending bits of the novel were a little weak. I would of preferred the author doing less. I would of liked a more open ending. I won't say anything else because I don't want to spoil. But I feel by the end of the book, it kind of fizzled out. In my opinion, that's not the best way to end things. However, I also feel that stories are more about the journey than the destination, and the journey is fantastic.If you haven't read Malerman, do so. He is a rising voice in the field of literary horror and with good reason. He is a fantastic writer.Pros: Fantastic characters, compelling story, lots of tensionCons: Lots of vomit, could of been creepier, the ending

Mr. Malerman's follow up novel is a riveting page turner as suspenseful and satisfying as Bird Box.