Black Spiral

This is the best ScFi series and futurism I have read since The Arc Of the Scythe series which is also reviewed on this site. It is the final in the series and ties up all the themes and plot lines in a satisfactory ending but leaving food for thought. . . . An extremely thought provoking series that is compulsive reading. Don’t miss this series you will kick yourself if you do.

Bob Docherty, Bobs Book Blog

I adored reading the first two volumes in Eileen Merriman’s The Black Spiral trilogy. My words grace the back of the third volume: 'Characters matter, dialogue matters, real-life detail matters, significant issues matter and you are always held in the grip of a perfectly pitched narrative …This YA fiction at its life-crackling best.' This appraisal also applies to the third and final volume, Black Spiral because it resonates and grips on many levels. Like the first two books, it is exquisitely crafted at the level of both sentence and architecture. . . . What makes the novel strike so deeply are the ideas. Follow the stench of corruption wherein those in power (not just the Foundation but across Governments and other organisations) use power to serve themselves as opposed to multiple communities. To serve the well-off, to dupe the vulnerable. What price human life? was a question running through my mind as I read. Ideas on biological warfare, vaccines, pandemics, human greed, percolate above and below the narrative surface. I am reminded how we need to insist on scrutiny, on speaking out, on maintaining solid, useful and indeed loving human connections. Yet what also makes the novel are the characters. The way good and evil are not clear cut, easily discernible divisions. . . . I couldn’t put the book down. Black Spiral clung to me as I ate, did chores, did my own writing. After I read the final page, I dreamed of the novel that night, and it stuck with me the next day. Like a shape shifter before my eyes. Like a phantom cloud of ideas, plot and epiphanies. The relationships, the connections. Eileen’s medical background adds gritty layers, ethical choices, questions about the babies we carry, medical interventions, using humans as guinea pigs, being transparent. Black Spiral still clings as I work on my own novel, as I read the next poetry book, as I hang out the washing, listen to the latest Covid numbers, the catastrophic events in Ukraine, the twisted choices of the protestors. Novels as good as this offer retreat, reinforcement and uplift. Glorious.

Paula Green, Poetry Shelf

The third and final book in this excellent Young Adult trilogy from Eileen Merriman. . . . A gripping finale to this series and an author to watch out for.

Ann Kilduff, Rotorua Daily Post

The Black Spiral is the final book in the 'Black Spiral' trilogy and brings the series to a thrilling conclusion. . . . The Black Spiral takes the trilogy to a deeper level while still being a suspenseful, page-turning read. The characters are well-drawn, the plotting first-class, and the story lingers in your mind long after reading the final page. It’s aimed at the young adult reader, but older readers will also enjoy these futuristic books.

Karen McMillan, NZ Booklovers