Review; The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

A while back I read the horror novella The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle and today I'll post my review.

Description from Goodreads
People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.

Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.

A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?

My Thoughts on the Book
The Ballad of Black Tom is a fast-paced and engaging retelling of The Horror at Red Hook by H. P. Lovecraft and in general a fun read. The setting of 1920's New York is an interesting backdrop and adds a richness to it. The story is split in two, first focusing on Tester and then on detective Malone (a character from the original by Lovecraft) and the stories intertwine as one reads. Even though Lovecraft was a bit of a jerk to say it the least, an element that I love about Lovecraftian horror is the suggestive horrors that lurks in and behind the shadows, which I think is more creepy than the "throw in as much guts, blood and gore" approach some horror writers use in modern horror literature.

Overall, I though The Ballad of Black Tom was a good read, so feel free to pick it up.

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