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    Black Mad Wheel: A Novel
    Black Mad Wheel: A Novel
    Black Mad Wheel: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Black Mad Wheel: A Novel

    Written by Josh Malerman

    Narrated by Robertson Dean

    3/5

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    About this audiobook

     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.

    Editor's Note

    For ‘Bird Box’ fans…

    If you loved “Bird Box,” be sure to check out author Josh Malerman’s other works. Whereas his megahit deals with the loss of reliance on sight, “Black Mad Wheel” delves into the psychological horror of not trusting what you hear.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 23, 2017
    ISBN9780062474438
    Author

    Josh Malerman

    Josh Malerman’s literary output began as a young child as he wrote about a space-travelling dog. During his many years spent as lead singer and guitarist for band The High Strung, Josh never stopped writing, until one day, the drafts began to form chilling debut Bird Box, published in 2015. Josh lives in Michigan and tweets at @JoshMalerman.

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    Reviews for Black Mad Wheel

    3/5

    81 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Like being caught in a strange nightmare.
    • 2/5
      I didn’t understand this book. Kept hoping it would pull together at the end. Even at the end it was very vague. Wish author had told us when, why and how this happened in the first place. Felt like he didn’t know how to end the book.
    • 4/5
      A bit muddled...I think it must have been easier with the blind motif, rather than the deaf. Soldiers?No more weapons? Whaaa?? How’s that supposed to work? Not very well, that’s how....
    • 4/5
      While reading this I didn’t feel I was reading horror, more a dark thriller, yet as I neared the end I realised how insidious the horror is. This is a story of what happens to a man thrown in at the deep end, morally abandoned, and used. The novel reads as a multilayered allegory; much of Malerman’s work seems to. For me, this one perhaps tries to illuminate the futility of war. I couldn’t help a rather bleak thought at one point, that the only way to stop war was to kill everyone. Readers who like crystal clear details and simple endings may find this writer’s work is not for them, but like poetry or a song, it leaves some details for self-interpretation. Still, the second part feels like no ‘part’ at all, and over too fast considering the tremendous buildup. Despite this, and some question left hanging, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
    • 3/5
      I'm not really sure how to review this. On the one hand, I felt compelled to listen to the entire story because I needed to know what happened. On the other hand, I found myself frequently wishing I was already at the end, knowing what happened, without having to sit through the full length of the audiobook to get to that point.The story alternates between past and present, with the past being the story of a band who is recruited by the US government to go to an African desert to find the source of a mysterious sound. The present is a member of that band back in the US, with catastrophic injuries and his recovery. This is definitely creepy and suspenseful, so kudos to Malerman for that, but it's not something I'd want to reread. I think this is a good candidate for borrow, don't buy.
    • 2/5
      “The question is not what you found… but what found you?”When Philip Tonka wakes in an Iowa hospital, he can’t remember how he got there or what happened to him, but his doctor informs him that he’s been in a coma for six months after breaking every single bone in his body. Prior to this, Philip and the rest of his bandmates, from the 1950s band called the Danes, are approached by government officials to investigate a peculiar sound emanating from the Namib Desert in Africa. The sound has been reported to make people sick when hearing it but most importantly has been the reason why a nuclear warhead was disarmed. Whether or not that sound is the reason for Philip’s injuries remains a mystery since he can’t remember if the source of the sound was ever actually found. Through alternating chapters told in past and present, it’s slowly revealed just what kind of bizarre answers Philip and his friends found in that desert.After adoring Malerman’s debut novel Bird Box, he quickly became an “I’m reading anything and everything” author for me. I went on to read his short story Ghastle and Yule (I didn’t even finish those 54 pages), his novella A House at the Bottom of a Lake (2 stars), and now I’ve finished his second full-length novel and damn but I’m full of disappointment. Mysterious sounds in the middle of a desert, government conspiracies, memory loss, injuries that shouldn’t even be possible… it sounded like one badass episode of The Twilight Zone and I was all onboard.I first tried to read this on my Kindle but Black Mad Wheel has quite the slow, meandering pace that made it difficult to stay invested. I opted to try it on audiobook before officially calling it quits and even if I didn’t end up loving the story as much as I had hoped, Robertson Dean thoroughly sold me on his narrative skills and I will definitely be seeking out more books narrated by him in the future. His various accents used for the different characters did wonders in helping to differentiate them because just from text alone, they all tended to blur together a bit. Once the pieces of the puzzle started coming together though, the story took a decidedly philosophical turn and while I loved the inclusion regarding the true power of music, it all just ultimately lost me in the end with Malerman opting instead to give only a vague hint at any concrete answers the reader may have been hoping for in the end.“I wonder, soldier, if it’s our mind playing tricks. I wonder if we cannot comprehend a sound with no source and so we invent one. Each our own way to stave off the feelings of futility for having tracked a sourceless sound.”
    • 3/5
      Josh Malerman's first book, Bird Box, was one of the best audio books I've ever listened to. I was eager to see what his newest book, Black Mad Wheel, would bring.In Bird Box, it was sight, seeing and not seeing, that was at the heart of the terror. This time around, Malerman brings hearing and sound as the focal point of the plot.1957. A group of musicians, all part of the band The Danes, as well as being former soldiers, are drafted by the US government to hunt down the source of a sound. A sound that by all descriptions will drive a person mad. They agree (the money they're offered seals the deal) and head to Africa. Former expeditions have defined an area that is believed to be at the heart of the sound. Those expedition members are dead.....The narrative goes from past to present so there is another point of view - that of a nurse called Ellen. She is responsible for only one patient in the government facility she works in - that of a sound survivor - Phillip Tonka of The Danes. While most of the book surrounds Phillip, I found the character I liked the most was Ellen.I liked the idea of a sound as a weapon or evil. And Malerman's enigmatic depiction of the sound is definitely scary. But for this listener Black Mad Wheel just never met my expectations. Which admittedly were very high as I adored Bird Box. I thought the enlisting of musicians, albeit ex soldiers, a bit of a stretch. For me, the 'horror' elements of this latest were just too... hmm...too something that I just can't define. Maybe amorphous is the word I'm looking for - the evil was just too vague for me. Malerman's latest work has been referred to as metaphysical by other reviewers.Black Mad Wheel's scenes and characters do benefit from Malerman's musical and band life. He is the lead singer of the band The High Strung.I chose to listen to Black Mad Wheel. The narrator was Robertson Dean. He has a rich, full voice with a nice low, mellow undertone. It's pleasant to listen to and the low tone and measured delivery fits the story well. He uses different tones and tenors to represent different characters. I'll still pick up Malerman's next book and I wonder if speaking will be at the crux of the book. We've had see no.....hear no.....