Black Cat

By: John Russo

Narrated by: Mike Reaves

Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Spirited from the dark jungles of Africa to a place in the american desert...

The evil soul of a witch doctor lives on in the body of Simon, the great jungle beast who leads his human followers - the Panther People - in their orgies of lust and blood. Now the innocent Martin family, George, Peg, and their beautiful daughter, Jenny, on vacation, will stumble upon this gruesome cult, trapped in a desert nightmare of terror and death - waiting. In the quiet wasteland, the sound of their own pulses will be all they can hear.

But somewhere in the dark night, outside their lonely hotel room, there is something breathing. For once Simon has your scent - he will not stop until he tastes your warm, fresh blood....

©1982 John Russo (P)2019 Capricorn Literary

Excellent! I would listen to this one again!

 

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

This audio was excellent! I can remember vaguely reading this story a long time ago, but any great details were lost from my mind. This story is thrilling, and suspenseful and keeps you enthralled. There are very graphic scenes of sex and violence, so it may not be for everybody.

The narrator is very very good. I very much enjoyed his telling of this classic suspenseful tale. He painted a very vivid picture in my mind with each character.

I give this story five of five stars for great story and great story telling!

Overcooked!

Welcome to a gruesome horror thriller. On one hand, we have a cult of maniacal killers in the jungles of Angola calling themselves Panther People. Their witch-doctor leader Simon believes he can transform into a panther. Simon is bound and determined to remove all the white people from Angola. On the other hand, we have a family vacationing in Arizona. The story bounces between the two groups. For the longest time, I wondered how the Angola cultists and the Arizona family was going to meet. Even afterward, the explanation is a bit fuzzy. The immortality of Simon is a bit overstated. I submit Dan and Jessica Withers created the monster. Three.point.five. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Enjoyable, dark, weird, 1980’s pulp horror.

Horror fiction in the 1970’s through early 1980’s - often straight to paperback - had a penchant for being “out there”, as if the thought was: If you can’t top “The Exorcist” or “The Amityville Horror” or “The Shining”, then crank up the WTF level, and just outweird them! And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“Black Cat” - a perfect example of such paperbacks - may initially lead you into expecting simply a suspense tale of a killer panther, but it will surely throw you for a loop (in a good way) when it reveals itself to be a lurid tale of a family on a road trip, and a wandering Vietnam vet with PTSD & Agent Orange damage, both stumbling into “Wrong Turn”/“Hills Have Eyes” territory, involving a former circus performer turned voodoo panther cult leader, and his creepy AF family, in rural middle America. Along the way there are twists and turns, an uncertainty on who to trust from moment to moment, and the occasional out of nowhere WAIT...WHAT?!?
Narrator Mike Reaves does a fine job taking listeners through this lurid, creepy tale, particularly when using an electronic voicebox for one of the more sinister characters.
Is this fine, highbrow literature? Oh hell no. But is it an entertaining, fun, dark ride, as well as a good example of its genre and era? Most definitely!
I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Black Cat

I tried several times but could not get through this book.It was just too much gore for me,and I can take a lot usually. Mike Reaves seemed to be a fine narrator. I was given this book by the narrator,author or publisher free for an honest review.

Good stuff from Russo

Some good stuff from Russo. After starting high with Midnight, I'd been disappointed with his other titles until this. Like Midnight, Russo seems to be winging it and throwing in all kinds of elements. We start with an adulterous writer, a 'Nam vet dying of Agent Orange, and an anti-colonial terrorist in Africa.

Russo throws in hitchhiker suspense, panther cult atrocities, stranded motorist schtick, animal attacks, and circus gothic. Gory and dark, though the ending could use some trimming.

The Audible recording was OK, the sound quality wasn't the greatest and there's almost an hour of overlong pauses.

Classic

I love 70s and 80s horror and this is a good example
If you enjoy old school horror with lots of gore sex and deranged family’s this is for you
Mike did a great job narrating and the voice effect was a nice touch
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

Weird and Totally Amazing

I've been a hot second since I've been so sucked into a book as I was with this one. 'Black Cat' starts out weird and only gets weirder from there. I absolutely loved how the (possible) paranormal happenings were interweaved with what I clearly recognized as our reality. The way Russo uses primitive lore and connects it to a group of average Americans was very satisfying. Mike Reaves delivers a fabulous performance. I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone who enjoys bizarre, action filled stories.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

80's Horror B Movie greatness!

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

This is definitely an homage to the old B horror movies and I loved every minute of it! There is tons of gore, gratuitous sex, messed up people... EVERYTHING you'd expect from a horror movie in the 80's. The narrator does a good job bringing the story to life. All in all, if you like this sort of thing (and are an adult), I would highly recommend this audio book. If not, I'd recommend avoiding it.

Bonkers...

The audiobook version of Black Cat was sent to me in exchange for an honest review from Capricorn Literary.

Black Cat is the story of the Martin family -- George, Peg, and their daughter Jenny -- who are on vacation when they stumble upon the Panther People, murderous beings that serve the evil soul of a witch doctor that lives on in the body of a panther named Simon... Are you following me? If not, don't worry. You can just go along for the ride like I did.

You may know John Russo as the co-screenwriter of Night of the Living Dead (yes, that one) or the numerous paperback originals he has written throughout his long career. Black Cat was published in 1982 by Pocket Books with a very shiny, metallic looking cover. That edition fetches a hefty sum of dough online, but thankfully Burning Bulb Publishing has reissued the novel in new paperback and digital editions, and Capricorn Literary just released a newly-produced audiobook version, narrated by Mike Reaves.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to audiobooks, but Reaves's deep, gruff voice serves the grittiness of Black Cat's story very well. His use of voice filters and effects were kept to a minimum, complimenting the story rather than distracting from it. Overall, I thought it was a great production and I was never annoyed by the narration.

As for the novel itself... wow. What a crazy story. Going into this, I expected more of a killer cat book. Instead I got a road trip gone awry plot featuring a blood-thirsty cult, brutal (and I mean brutal) massacres, graphic rape scenes, incest (I think?), and a murderous spirit possessing the body of an already murderous panther.

So. This book is obviously insane. "Depraved" is the word I would use to describe it. It is over-the-top and completely bonkers, which gives the book some fun twists and turns. But the rape scenes and the scenes involving slayings of entire families prevent this reading experience from being a totally enjoyable one. It is disturbing and not for the faint of heart. Black Cat also has its fair share of misogyny, but since that is from the perspective of the villains, that may have been the intent. Either way, it isn't pleasant and should be approached with caution.

I would recommend this if you like trashy horror pulp and have a stomach of stone. I'm pretty hardened so I was able to get through it, mostly because I was entranced by the WTF plot. But in the end, Black Cat will only appeal a niche group of people. Don't read it to your kids as a bedtime story.

Black Cat Nine Lives Short Days Long Nights

Knowing of John Russo’s fame as a screen writer and director, I wanted to check out his novels. I’m a huge fan of B horror movies and pretty much any 80’s horror movie. With Black Cat you get both of those, a solid 80’s B horror movie in novel form. I would venture to say the high level plot is fairly typical, family runs from a crazed killer, but the unique aspect of adding the Panther people really made for a fun story.

The story took a bit for me to get into. I understand why the beginning was an important part of the story but it wasn’t until later in the story that I understood what happened. Once I finally got onboard with where everything was going I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. Enjoyed the gratuitous gore, violence and orgies. Had the basic tension of a cat an mouse story and the mystery and intrigue of Barnum and Bailey.

I liked the characters. I felt like I was riding with your typical 80s family on a trip in the faux-wood-paneled family truxster. It reminded me a bit of The Hills have Eyes as the family crosses the desert. Overall there wasn’t any real great character development, just the type of people you would expect in a story like this. That said, I enjoyed each person and their respective story.

Mike Reaves did a good job with the narration. He has a very deep voice and great cadence that keeps the story lively. I enjoyed the character voices he provided and look forward to hearing more of his narration.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.