Two siblings encounter an otherworldly force that possesses one of them on a cross-country road trip. They are forced to fight for their lives as they're pursued across the American Southwest by malevolent forces both supernatural and terribly human.
Lyons knows how to trepan the genres and extract something weird and messy. Depending on your taste in such matters, you might be thrilled and/or horrified as the novel builds to its unbelievably gory climax. Or you might find yourself wondering if it’s simply high-class schlock: well fashioned but ultimately a black and endless hole ... an iron stomach and a willing suspension of disbelief are prerequisites — for both the characters and the reader — on this journey. The things one puts up with for one’s sibling ... Perhaps the most entertaining aspect of A Black and Endless Sky is the narrative voice Lyons uses ... That’s the kind of bravura, over-the-top writing that gives this profane, weird, credulity-stretching novel its charm. But you have to enjoy this hyper-masculine mix of style and plot to make it to the end of the long, strange trip. And the forgoing violence along the journey is nothing compared to the hell of its ending. Reader, I finished it.
The suspense of the chase and the discovery of the entity in Nell are great plotlines, but the siblings rediscovering their relationship is what will keep readers interested.
Readers will also appreciate the emotional elements in this atmospheric and terrifying book as the Talbots seek to save not only themselves but each other. The heartfelt allegiance between the siblings despite their complicated past increases the level to which readers will hold their breaths as they watch the terror unfold ... An uncomfortable sibling reunion quickly turns from bickering over the past to attempting to survive the present in this white-knuckle horror-thriller that readers won’t be able to put down.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay[/caption]
