A review by helgamharb
Black Mad Wheel by Josh Malerman

4.0

Strange and terrifying

Maybe it’s because people can’t see the end that they agree to begin.

It was sort of a gig. An opportunity to make some money and at the same time have the adventure of a lifetime.
The former soldiers of World War II and current band-mates wouldn’t be playing any music in the Namib Desert. In fact, they wouldn’t be making any noise. They will be listening for a particular sound. A sound they have never heard. A sound which makes people sick, which renders nuclear weapons useless.
A malevolent sound.
They would be searching for its source.

-“There are things worse than a new weapon…”
-“Like what?”
-“Like the kind of person that would build it.”


But when the group arrives at the site, they realize that the empty and vast desert has secrets of its own; that even the darkness has eyes; that there is more to the sound of wind in the desert; that they are going to encounter the nightmare of their lifetime.

You never know what you’ll find if you keep digging.