Black River

by Melanie Tem

For Renata Burgess -- wife, mother, social worker and writer -- Friday, March 18, 1988, is just the start of a busy weekend. Her daughter's going to a birthday party sleepover. Her elder son will be over for Sunday dinner, her nine-year-old boy clamoring to have a friend over. Just a normal Friday. Until 8:20 PM -- when one of her children is found dead.Wrenched by shock and grief into currents of reality of which she's never previously been aware, Renata struggles to come to terms with her loss. A she learns to live day to day and moment to moment with the pain, she embarks on an eerie journey through an underworld inhabited by monstrous and seductive creatures that threaten both her sanity and her physical survival. She travels not only downwards but also backwards in time. Finding herself thrown into the lives of other mothers at the moment of their bereavement, Renata takes her first step towards healing -- recognizing the fact that she is simply part of an infinite process...

Genres: Horror

437 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2013

About the author

Melanie Kubachko was born and raised in rural northwestern Pennsylvania. She received a degree at Allegheny College and went on to earn a master's degree in social work from the University of Denver. Apart from a varied career in social work she has published short fiction in numerous publications, including Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Skin of the Soul, and Final Shadows. Her work has also been included in such anthologies as Women of Darkness and Women of the West.

Married to Steve Rasnic Tem.

Reviews

[Des Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine this author once having written this novel with a river of black ink….. from her eyes, or from her pen. Or both as metaphor, via her fingers.

The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of my observations at the time of the review.