Black Tide

“Beware of the Blob! It creeps, and leaps, and glides and slides across the floor.” –The Blob circa 1958

I must confess that Science-fiction is not my usual genre but I love a good post-apocalyptic novel and Black Tide is all that and more. This book had me on the edge of my seat from the first chapter. 

Beth, a self-proclaimed “hot mess” is a professional house sitter. She drinks, smokes and makes no apologies. When she meets Mike, the next-door neighbor of the house she is currently at, she sees someone who is maybe a twin soul, or maybe just a one-night stand. Mike, a former Hollywood producer, is mourning the loss of his wife and his career, drinking bottles of champagne like water. There is an instant connection, and when they wake up after spending the night together, the world is not as they left it. Beth wakes from a nightmare, and Mike tells her all about the meteorite shower she missed, showing her the odd ball he and Jake, the dog she is taking care of, brought back from one of the impact points on the beach. Together with Jake, the dog, they go exploring to find people and figure out what is happening. When they get to the ocean, they see people nervously waiting for a boat to come gather them up and take them away to safety. But what is dangerous? And where is everyone going in the boat? A police SUV arrives, begging everyone to disperse, to go home and lock their doors and await further instruction. An unearthly blob arrives, seemingly coming from the ocean, making chirping sounds and the man who is flagging down the boat is suddenly gone, swallowed by the big blob with tentacles. 

This is a stressful book. Everything that can go wrong, does. It is a hot day in October and they are stuck in a Subaru with Jake, because they can’t find the keys. They also can’t open the windows because they are surrounded by the little angry blobs with viny tentacles. They brought no water with them, just sandwiches and mimosas, so within hours Jake, the dog, is panting and dehydrated. Beth and Mike are constantly bickering about what they should do and they come close to dying many times. The atmosphere surrounding the car is a horror show, with torn bodies, moving “balls” with different colors and tentacles, a “queen” ball who stalks them. The ending very much sets up for another book, and while this is my first foray into science fiction, I can’t wait for more. It was just so much fun.