The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle

I've noticed that I've been on an unconscious mission to read new to me authors this year... That is until now! I think the main reason I am reading more books by new to me authors this year may be due to borrowing more books from the public library via Hoopla. Additionally, I've been given books by other readers and also book recommendations. Many of these books are written by new to me authors.  I'm also discovering new to me authors from a book club I've been participating in at my public library.

Victor Lavalle is a new to me author. I chose to listen to the unabridged audio version of The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle, which is narrated by Kevin R. Free via Hoopla. I primarily chose this novella because it's short and also because it was "one of NPR's Best Books of 2016, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Fantasy Award, the This is Horror Award for Novella of the Year, and a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards."

I enjoyed the writing and storyline for The Ballad of Black Tom. But I wasn't overly impressed with it. Sure, I enjoyed listening to The Ballad of Black Tom as it is well narrated, but I didn't find this novella stellar enough to be worthy of its hype by NPR and the awards and award nominations.

Below is the publisher's summary for The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle, which I discovered on Amazon's website:

One of NPR's Best Books of 2016, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Fantasy Award, the This is Horror Award for Novella of the Year, and a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, World Fantasy, and Bram Stoker Awards

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?

I am giving The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!