Creeping Dawn

The Rise of the Black Centipede

By: Chuck Miller

Narrated by: Chris Grall

The first volume in an epic tale of heroes, villains, murder, and madness. Follow the birth and growth of one of the strangest characters in new pulp fiction to date, The Black Centipede, as created by Chuck Miller!

©2011 Chuck Miller (P)2016 RadioArchives.com

More pulp than an unfiltered glass of OJ

I love pulp styled books, and I grew up listening to OTR shows like the shadow. Miller modernizes the story genre, but keeps true to the spirit. One thing that I loved was that the Black Centipede had no qualms about greasing the bad guys. In fact, this kind of takes a direction in which the hero sort of gets off beating the crap out of his opponents. I mean, it only makes sense. A pacifist woudl not kill or harm another person, and so putting on that mask means that you really don't take umbrage with having to break a few legs or arms to get what you want.

This book has a lot going on. There is the pulp aspect, paranormal touches, Jack the Ripper, anda love/death relationship with a spirit. MIller writes this from the Centipede's perspective, in the format of it being a copy of his memoirs. This works, as it puts you right insode the hero's head.

The sound quality on this is wonderful, and although it is modern it still comes across like one of those old Shadow programs. Clear as a bell, though. Grall just absolutely kills it with his narration, and he plays the cast like he was a one man broadway show. This is a fun book for a night's listening. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

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Very interesting, loved it!!!!

Like two books in one. Loved it! Interesting concept. Quick listen. I didn’t want to take a break. Lol

New pulp story filled with action

New pulp story filled with action. We witness how the Black Centipede was born, and the dark story surrounding Lizzie Borden and a supernatural being, Mary Jane Gallows. I found clever the way Chuck Miller mixed fantasy and reality in this tale and the supposed theory about Lizzie Borden's crimes. Mary Jane will become the Black Centipede's nemesis throughout the book and she is the one that will trigger the change in William to become a hero. An echo of the classic masked heroes, the Black Centipede is much more than that. He protects the citizens of Zenith, but in fact, he enjoys fighting and hurting, and one of his main goals is giving chase to a new villain, Dr. Almanac, and see who is behind him.

I especially enjoyed William's youth, in which he mentions being a friend of H.P. Lovecraft, and even helping him naming his monsters. The beginning of the novel is dark, not only because of his friendship with Lovecraft but also by how young William is uncannily attracted to a murderess. This will be crucial for his personality development.

There is a clear human component to the Black Centipede, but there is also something else, ambiguously described in the book. This aura of mystery will make the character of the Black Centipede even more interesting.

Several dialogs and scenes made me laugh a lot, by how extravagant they were, but I have to say that the whole book is quite weird but in a good way. This book is written as the memoirs of the Black Centipede. It is written in first person and it uses a rich language and humorous figures. It is a pleasure to the ear.

I really enjoyed Chris Grall's narration. His tone is direct and compelling, and his voice makes the listener focus on the tale Chuck wove. I think he was the perfect narrator for this story. Checking Audible, I only see two books narrated by Grall, but I am sure we will listen to more books narrated by him. There were no issues with the audio production.

This may not be a book for everyone, but if you are into classic or new pulp, or want just to enjoy a different book, I strongly recommend it.

Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Audiobook was provided for review by the narrator.

Any additional comments?

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Honestly, I'm not a fan of this particular genre. I tried, but I just could not get into this book. That's not to say it was bad or good, just that I didn't particularly care for it. I know this is a very unhelpful review, but there it is.