Blackbone

by George E. Simpson, Neal R. Burger

In the wilds of Montana lies the prison on Blackbone Mountain, a secret base where German prisoners of war are incarcerated. Outside its gun towers and barbed wire, World War II still rages. Inside, another war is brewing. Evil has already penetrated its strong defenses. Lieutenant Rolf Kirst miraculously survived a U-boat bombing, only to find himself taken as a prisoner of war by the Americans. But what happened to him in the two days he floated at sea forever changed him. Major David Gilman is a hotheaded commander assigned to lead at Blackbone, but one more mistake could cost him his career. Both men find their lives linked by war and by an insidious evil that is inside the detention camp. The German prisoners believe Kirst to be a spy; the Americans fear his unknown power. When his true secret is discovered, the commanders and prisoners at Blackbone will never be the same again . . . that is, if they survive.

284 pages, ebook

First published June 1, 1985

About the author

US author, film scriptwriter and sound effects editor who worked with Universal Studios for several years. With Neal R Burger (1931-2005) he wrote three sf novels, all with a strong espionage-thriller flavour.

Ghostboat (1976) centres on the submarine USS Candlefish, believed lost during World War Two, which reappears in modern times minus her crew. The solution of this mystery involves an uneasy mix of Timeslip and supernatural elements, leading to a grim but predictable resolution. Thin Air (1978) is based on the supposed 1943 "Philadelphia Experiment" attempt to render a US warship invisible (see Invisibility); decades later, the protagonist's investigation uncovers secret ongoing Matter Transmission experiments that began during the war years.

Fair Warning (1980) is an Alternate History tale involving efforts by US General George Marshall and US Secretary of State Henry Stimson (without President Harry Truman's knowledge) to avoid the use of the atomic bomb against Japan by convincing them to surrender; Josef Stalin becomes involved in an effort to steal the weapon for the USSR. Together,

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good old school book. Nothing amazing.

[Christopher Hivner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rolf Kirst, a German submariner, is the only survivor of his sunken U-boat. He bobs in the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean searching for a way to survive. Debris from a boat Kirst's crew had sunk moments before the U-boat was hit, floated by. Luckily for him one of the pieces was a crate. He pries off the lid, cleans out its contents and climbs in. He finds a silver flask in the crate and gulps down the contents and immediately something strange begins to happen to him. In New York, Loring Holloway, a museum curator, finds out the ship carrying ancient artifacts from Babylon, has sunk. Fear grips her as she knew exactly what was in the flask, because she had recovered it from a dig years earlier. Rolf Kirst is at a POW camp in Montana at the base of Blackbone Mountain. His strange behavior does not endear him to his fellow prisoners. Their dislike soon turns to hatred and fear as men begin dying and Kirst is at the center of it all. Loring Holloway follows Kirst to the POW camp to confirm her worst fears, that she has unleashed an ancient being whose only desire is to kill and destroy and if she can't find a way to stop it, the entire world is at risk.

Blackbone is a well written suspenseful horror/thriller that will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next. The story is well laid out. The WWII backdrop adds an interesting dimension to the horror aspect of it. The descriptive scenes with the demon are handled very well, especially how the soldier Rolf Kirst feels with it inside of him. The characters are well drawn with the possible exception of Loring Holloway where a little more detail could have been provided but not knowing a lot about her didn't effect the story in any way.