A group of friends head out to enjoy a much-deserved night out and paintballing is on the menu. But the team they are playing against has something entirely different in mind.
The friends find themselves in a battle for their lives in unfamiliar terrain against well-equipped opponents whose motivations are both irrational and lethal. Considered, “… a true trip into the darkest depths of what mankind is capable of at its worst,” by Midwest Book Review, this story is a classic tale of prey combined with slasher film “edge-of-your seat” vibes with a little modern-day relevance to keep you unsettled.
Told two ways in this ground-breaking screenplay/novella combo, The Black Hole will keep you guessing, engaged, and very, very scared.
“[The Black Hole] is a pulse-pounding journey into a real-life nightmare.”
-midwest book review
“You may never go into the woods again.”
Steven Van Patten, author of the Brookwater’s Curse series
In this latest literary creation, L. Marie Wood reminds us of a very harsh truth. Sometimes the greatest monster is a human. In a tale clearly inspired by the harsh social and political climates of modern-day America, ‘The Black Hole’ is one ferocious and disturbing ‘what if?’ It will have you questioning the motives behind random invitations for years to come. You may never go into the woods again.
” The stories stay with you.”
marc l. abbott, Author of hell at the waystation, part of the hell series
Imagine being so disliked that racists and your people are willing to set aside their hatred of one another to get rid of you? Six African American friends find themselves the target of a demented game in L. Marie Wood’s terrifying and taut thriller The Black Hole.
A blend of Surviving the Game, The Most Dangerous Game, and A Soldier’s Story, it’s a disturbing commentary about extremism and how far people will go to execute their prejudice against one another.
Wood gives us two versions of the same story in this book. The first is a short story, which introduces us to Martin, who is African American, and Jeremy, who is white, as two coworkers who are out to best one another at their preferred sport. For Martin, it’s basketball. For Jeremy, it’s paintball, with a demented twist. As it turns he and his friends prefer real guns and bullets to paint. Before Martin and his friends know what’s happening, they’re running for their lives instead of for points. The short story is filled with nervous energy and closes with an ending you wouldn’t expect.
In its screenplay form, L. Marie Wood’s story amplifies the horror that befalls a group of black men at the hands of southern white racists. What begins as a seemingly innocent bet between work rivals slowly and methodically unfolds into a story of betrayal and survival. The nervous energy that carries the short story is replaced with pure fear and a heightened state of anxiety. Every hasty decision that’s made by the protagonists is warranted. Then there is a twist you won’t see coming that adds to the mounting tension.
Collectively, both stories take you on a journey into madness and mayhem and will have you wondering what the real endgame is long after the story ends. The stories stay with you.
Buy wherever books are sold!
L. Marie Wood 