Black Tar

by Michael Kanuckel

First Contact has been made, and the visitor has an appetite for flesh. Somewhere below the loneliest road in America, a top-secret organization held captive the deadliest threat the human race has even known and now . . . it has escaped The fate of the world rests in the hands of a disillusioned master of Linguistics, the crippled son of a dead physicist, and his best friend – a nice girl with a bad attitude. Together, they just might be able to save mankind from certain all they have to do is untangle a web of government secrets and decipher the schematics for a mysterious superweapon. Because Black Tar is out there. It feeds, it grows . . . and we’re all on the menu. From Michael Kanuckel, author of Agent White, Eat-the-dead Fred, Winter’s Heart, Trollbreaker, and one of the hero bards of the Straight to Video saga, comes this rollicking sci-fi adventure that explodes from the page as if it were playing out on the silver screen. Featuring an introduction from Russell Mulcahy, the director of Highlander.

202 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2016

Reviews

[Amanda M. Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Black Tar is a story about people in complicated circumstances tackling a very big monster who poses a real threat to their world. Not only do they learn it is they who must do so, they are quite literally the only thing that can stop it. The enormity of that, to be not just worthy but utterly and completely necessary to the survival of everyone one knows despite limitations both known and perceived, is not taken lightly but worn with a mighty weight. This book has impact precisely because it does a great deal more than offer you just another monster vs hero tale, letting you in on the sort of heroic elements that don't get much focus in the big screen version-the sort that mean confronting heartache, love, truth and self-reflection in the very moment when all of these things can dictate some of the most pivotal decisions our heroes face.

I've always enjoyed Kanuckel's stuff, I have yet to read anything from him that wasn't a genuine treat to sit down with. His characters, narrative, and open world all mesh together and create a great place to engage with, often a place where one could lose themselves completely. Black Tar is no exception. Come for the adventure and thrills of a great kaiju novel and walk away after completing it with real satisfaction in having come to known such great characters at their greatest moment.

[Troy Buffington · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mix of sci-fi and horror. Keeps you hooked until the very end. Definitely need to check out more from this author.