A Black and Endless Sky

By: Matthew Lyons

Narrated by: Hillary Huber, Neil Hellegers, Amara Jasper, Pat Grimes, Qarie Marshall

Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Siblings Jonah and Nell Talbot used to be inseparable, but ever since Jonah suddenly blew town 12 years ago, they couldn’t be more distant. Now, in the wake of Jonah’s divorce, they embark on a cross-country road trip back to their hometown of Albuquerque, hoping to mend their broken relationship along the way.

But when a strange accident befalls Nell at an abandoned industrial site somewhere in the Nevada desert, she begins experiencing ghastly visions and exhibiting terrifying, otherworldly symptoms. As their journey through the desolate American Southwest reveals the grotesque change happening within his sister, one thing becomes clear to Jonah: It’s not only Nell in there anymore.

Pursued by a mysterious stranger who knows far more about Nell’s worsening condition than they let on, the siblings race to find a way to help Nell and escape the desert before they’re met with a violent, bloody end. But there are far worse things lurking in the desert ahead…some of them just beneath the skin.

©2022 Matthew Lyons (P)2022 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Unlikeable characters and bizarre plot

The main characters Jona and Nell constantly argue and it makes for a difficult listen at times. The were some facts from beginning that didn't make sense....buried under 1000 feet of frozen Mojave desert? What? But on a positive note, the biker fights were good. If you like gore and action then you may like this story, but if you want something more literary this isn't it.

Packed with action and gore. I should have liked it more.

I should have liked this story more than I did, because it’s right up my alley. There were some strong moments, but for some reason it just didn’t connect with me. As much as I thought it would that may be because I just never felt that invested in any of the characters, I was entertained, but I was never really worried about the outcome for any of the characters.

Difficult Characters

The main characters are difficult to really connect to. Without spoiling the story all that I can say is that no one takes responsibility for their actions and some of the things done were huge. Shutting down and not communicating with one another became old after a while. But the overall story was ok.

You’ve got to be sh***ing me but in a good way

Don’t worry about hating the main characters because I gather that this is the gist of it. I wish I could’ve gotten to know the main characters to give them some grace but I think that’s what makes the entire novel is you hate them and that you’re always trying to dig for something better to not hate them. I will admit it does start off slow and excessively gory and the gore never stops; it’s very Argento but without the writing. You will find yourself confused about who to root for. You will find yourself wondering, ” how the hell are they still alive?”
The entire novel is daunting and what seems like not only a dark sky but a pointless road but the ending ties it so well together that you were not only left with your mouth open but you are wanting more but you know that more could never come.
This novel is comparable to a very violent loss of somebody that you wanted to know more about. You knew them growing up and you knew they were always trouble and they go a certain way but you’re too chicken to find out how they went. these are those people.

Rough start but I’m glad I kept going with it - fun read/listen

At the beginning I was on the same boat as those with the negative reviews about the concept of their life calling was to be bar fighters. I still think that was a silly characterization, especially because there was no background to that. Bad childhood? Early life trauma? I don’t know.
Ultimately what gripped me was the brother and sister relationship and the growth they had throughout the story. I was intrigued by the supernatural concepts and would like to read more about the lore the author used for such an intriguing world.
Once I stopped overthinking some silly decisions it was an overall fun read.

An okay story with great narration

While it was a very slow start it did eventually hook me enough to continue. To me this was more of a background, drift in and out of paying strong attention, listen. The narrator's were all excellent, especially the narrator for Jonah, but as previous reviews had stated, it is a bit repetitive, so it was hard to focus. If I was reading this book rather than listening, I may not have finished it.

Boring.

Cliche imagery. Characters that were Hollywood strong. Offensive to anyone who knows the real God.

Endless is just so

This book would benefit from being 25% shorter. The story points, character points, internal monologues and action sequences are very repetitive. And what lacks in interesting depth or twists it tries to cover with gore. I finished it but can not recommend it

Gave Up - Avid Horror Fan

I had high hopes for this book. I listened for a few hours after not liking the premise of one of the characters true calling in life being a bar fighter (!). You've got to be kidding me. The book did not get better from there.

Loaded with too many cliches. Too predictable. Insulted the reader's intelligence. Character development was one-dinensional.

Finally gave up and returned the book - hopefully for a much better experience in the near future.

I couldn't finish after chapter 6

At first I loved the plot line but then it started to drag. The author put so much detail into every little thing, that I started skipping forward 30 seconds again and again to finish the repetitive cycle. I couldn't finish it after chapter 6 because I was bored to be blatantly honest.