The Other Places

In The Black Room #3

by Luke Smitherd

What Is The Black Room?

There are hangovers, there are bad hangovers, and then there's waking up inside someone else's head. Thirty-something bartender Charlie Wilkes is faced with this exact dilemma when he wakes to find finds himself trapped inside The Black Room; a space consisting of impenetrable darkness and a huge, ethereal screen floating in its centre. Through this screen he is shown the world of his female host, Minnie.

How did he get there? What has happened to his life? And how can he exist inside the mind of a troubled, fragile, but beautiful woman with secrets of her own? Uncertain whether he's even real or if he is just a figment of his host's imagination, Charlie must enlist Minnie's help if he is to find a way out of The Black Room, a place where even the light of the screen goes out every time Minnie closes her eyes...

68 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 19, 2013

About the author

Luke Smitherd is the author of The Stone Man (shortlisted for Audible Book of the Year 2015) and its sequels as well as several other novels. A former singer and guitarist, he now writes full time, hosts the comedy music-discussion show Cracker Juice, and performs around Los Angeles as a stand-up comic. He divides his time between the United States and the United Kingdom.


www.lukesmitherd.com

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This third instalment of Luke Smitherd weird, but very engaging, sci-fi novella series was the shortest of the bunch at only around two hours in audio, but despite that it was filled with a few shocking twists and turns.

All in all a very fun read that has me bursting to get to the final novella in the series!

Rating: 4 stars

Audio Note: This was narrated by the author Luke Smitherd and while his performance was far from perfect it was tolerable.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the shortest of the four "Black Room" novellas, but it was gut-wrenching. It was incredibly sad to think that these two people, who had a connection like none other and deeply loved each other, might never be able to be together through circumstances completely beyond their control.

The following passage is heartbreaking. The sense of loss it conveys it universal.

"...all Charlie felt was a tightness in his chest and a dying sensation in his heart. He'd known he was drawn to her, but a vague awareness of true desire is quickly and fully realised when the possibility for obtaining that desire is taken away."

I felt just as broken as Charlie after reading that.

We finally find out what all those previous flashes to water actually mean and how they are connected to the Woman in the Night.

There are a lot of questions to answer in the final chapter:

1. Why does The Black Room keep getting lighter?
2. What is The Blue Room?
3. Will Charlie and Minnie be able to save themselves and each other?
4. How much pain can two people stand? Jeez, oh man. This one hurt a lot.

[Renee G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admit it, I have a short fuse when it comes to getting annoyed. I've tried serialized novels in the past, and give up because I just can't get "re-interested" enough to pick up the 3rd, 4th, 5th etc release. And that leaves me kind of bitter. I want a story! I want an ending! But not so with The Black Room... each section has had me clamoring for more, even more so in part 3. This author's style and voice are original, and so far The Black Room has been a wild ride. I'll keep back for more, and more, and more.... (even when the story was promised to be in 3 parts ... if you read earlier descriptions please note that it has expanded and 3 is NOT the resolution, but in my opinion is the best part so far!)

[Bonnie Gleckler Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book In the series of four "The Black Room" by Luke Smitherd. Millie agrees to meet Chuck in a restaurant (for Millie to get to know Charlie's alternate self). Both open up to each other while having dinner and then Chuck takes Millie home. He leaves, but then comes back just a few hours later. What transpires between them takes this story down yet another surprising path. Luke Smitherd weaves a distinctly different story, Its been quite a while since I've read anything quite like this. Am I enjoying it, yes....so on I go to "...Part Four: The End".

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feeling a bit annoyed that I'm still reading this - and really bothered by the lack of editing - but I was in this far, so felt I should finish it up.

[Tom Loock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the whole series, well, no, novel as part work except the last part.