A BLACK AND ENDLESS SKY BY MATTHEW LYONS

16/3/2022

A sibling road trip evolves into a journey to hell in an exhilarating second novel

I love novels which play out along the open highways, stories that are immense journeys of both distance and human experience. There are very few novels out there which both combine these factors better and are as off-the wall crazy as A Black and Endless Sky where the empty landscapes morph into living characters and the dead-end diners or bars, which act as pit-stops, become hives of activity after long periods of road emptiness. The open highway might not be the most obvious setting for a horror novel, but in his second outing, Matthew Lyons converts a long journey across the American southwest into a highly gripping nightmare trip into hell.

Back in the day all Jack Kerouac, Neal Cassady, Hunter Thompson and company, who were all partial to the odd open road trip, had to contend with was drug withdrawals, lack of booze and running into the occasional backcountry hick. A Black and Endless Sky is considerably darker and takes the spirit of the Beat pioneers and shakes it with a heavy mix of alcohol and the supernatural. The empty roads of Utah and Nevada are probably the last place one might expect demon possession, but Matthew Lyons blends the open road and the paranormal together incredibly well in what was a very enjoyable, page-turning read in which the 350 pages will be eaten up quicker than the miles driven by the beaten-up old car featured in the story.

I also reviewed The Night Will Find Us (2020) which was the debut novel of Lyons. You can read that here:

https://gingernutsofhorror.com/fiction-reviews/the-night-will-find-us-by-matthew-lyons-book-review

This sophomore effort is a significantly stronger novel than The Night Will Find Us which I enjoyed in fits and starts. Overall, A Black and Endless Sky is more polished featuring a story which is very nicely framed and lacks the loose threads which held its predecessor back. I am already interested in what this author has in the works for his third effort and he clearly has the potential to be a big new name in the horror genre.

Firstly, I loved the way A Black and Endless Sky’s chapters were built around the number of miles siblings Jonah and Nell Talbot had to travel. The action starts in San Francisco where they have 1,325 miles on the clock to reach their final destination of Albuquerque in New Mexico. Along the way they pass through Nevada, Utah, and various small towns as they descent deeper into hell in what was a genuine white-knuckle horror-thriller. The siblings have to put aside their personal differences in a fight for both their lives and their souls as running out of gas or a flat tire becomes the least of their worries.

The novel opens with Jonah and Nell about to leave San Francisco, in the wake of his divorce, and return to his home city of Albuquerque where Nell and his father still live. Although the siblings were close as teens, and got into many scrapes together, they have drifted apart and have rarely spoken over the last few years. Although Jonah is an emotional and psychological low point in his life he hopes to reconnect with his big sister and mend their broken relationship along the course of their journey on the open road.

The believable and moving relationship between the brother and sister was a major strength of A Black and Endless Sky, which is told in alternating voices, whilst skilfully filling in their back stories, reasons for their antagonisms, and Jonah’s previous life as a bar room brawler of some prowess. Although the story has a genuinely outstanding prologue which gives a prod in the direction the story will take, things take a considerably darker turn after an argument forces them to stop near an abandoned industrial site somewhere in the Nevada desert. After becoming disorientated on the site there is an accident and Nell begins experiencing ghastly visions and exhibiting terrifying, otherworldly symptoms. The strengthening supernatural story combined perfectly with the disconnected siblings who realise the occurring change in Nell, with some of this being given its own ‘inside’ chapters.

The action is beefed up considerably by Terry who leads a biker gang which the siblings have a run in with and is also given his own voice and chapters. These fight sequences, where the Jonah of old resurfaces with bells on, were out of this world and brutally bloody action sequences, and if Matthew Lyons gets bored of writing horror he could comfortably jump genres and become an action novelist! The supernatural story has another fascinating angle, Nell is being tracked by a weird type of exorcist (but that word is never used) who claims to be able to help her with her affliction, whatever it might be. This is also given a clever backstory and if Lyons ever revisited this story would be perfect for development.

A Black and Endless Sky was a rollercoaster ride which was great entertainment, throwing in feuding siblings, the bleakness of the open road, biker revenge, killer fight sequences, totally messed up exorcists and crazy demon possession at the reader. Reading that sentence back to myself makes it sound very trashy or low rent, but far from it. This novel was skilfully written, has a superb sense of time and place and action sequences which are from the top drawer. Within the context of the novel the demon possession was terrific and was backed up by three (Terry was great too) well drawn lead characters. Highly recommended.

Tony Jones

A Black and Endless Sky
by Matthew Lyons

One of Tor Nightfire's "Horror Books We're Excited About in 2022"!

"Lyons burnishes his reputation as a rising horror star . . . [and] keeps the pages flying with fast-paced chills." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the author of The Night Will Find Us comes a white-knuckled horror-thriller set across the American Southwest.
Road trips can be hell.
Siblings Jonah and Nell Talbot used to be inseparable, but ever since Jonah suddenly blew town twelve years ago, they couldn’t be more distant. Now, in the wake of Jonah’s divorce, they embark on a cross-country road trip back to their hometown of Albuquerque, hoping to mend their broken relationship along the way.
But when a strange accident befalls Nell at an abandoned industrial site somewhere in the Nevada desert, she begins experiencing ghastly visions and exhibiting terrifying, otherworldly symptoms. As their journey through the desolate American Southwest reveals the grotesque change happening within his sister, one thing becomes clear to Jonah: It’s not only Nell in there anymore.
Pursued by a mysterious stranger who knows far more about Nell’s worsening condition than they let on, the siblings race to find a way to help Nell and escape the desert before they’re met with a violent, bloody end. But there are far worse things lurking in the desert ahead... some of them just beneath the skin.