The Ballad of Black Tom

De: Victor LaValle

Narrado por: Kevin R. Free

People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.

Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his black skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their trained cops. But when he delivers an occult page to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.

A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?

“LaValle cleverly subverts Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos by imbuing a black man with the power to summon the Old Ones, and creates genuine chills with his evocation of the monstrous Sleeping King, an echo of Lovecraft’s Dagon… [The Ballad of Black Tom] has a satisfying slingshot ending.” – Elizabeth Hand for Fantasy & ScienceFiction

"[LaValle] reinvents outmoded literary conventions, particularly the ghettos of genre and ethnicity that long divided serious literature from popular fiction."
--Praise for The Devil in Silver from Elizabeth Hand, author of Radiant Days

Cosmic horror for the modern reader.

The story builds pace rather quickly and grips the reader. Very unlike the slow burn lovecraftian horror I was expecting. However, it slows down towards the mid point but picks up again a little later.

The prose is fantastically written, Victor Lavalle's prose is like poetry but never feels over done.

The only gripe I have with this book, is that it kind of fizzles out and never does end properly. But then again, it's horror on a cosmic scale, us puny humans wouldn't get it anyway.

Great performance, uneven story

So many elements were so great, delicious for fans of Lovecraft Country. When the story takes a turn, I wasn't a fan of the POV switch.

Absolutely enthralled

I finished this in one sitting! The story and the voice actor was amazing!

I Didn't Want It to End

A wonderful reimagining of a problematic Lovecraft classic. Fast-paced and immersive, this novella draws you in to 1920's NYC and keeps the reader engaged throughout. I was not familiar with the the work of Victor LaValle prior to reading "Black Tom," but he is an excellent storyteller and I will definitely be reading more of his work. Kevin R. Free was the perfect choice for narrator. I highly recommend this short and compelling horror story.

everything about this was awesome

the story is fantastic, the twist on Lovecraft was great, the narration was exactly what was needed