Product Description

Set on the open road of long-distance truckers, the novel opens as Lucas and Sophie hear a cry for help over their CB radio. A trucker is cursed - doomed to drive forever or be consumed by fire. Their failure to save him means the curse falls upon them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #879031 in Books
• Published on: 1994-05-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The Black Mariah is the CB nickname for independent trucker Lucas Hyde's rig, which he rides cross-country with his partner Sophie Cohen, a former San Francisco debutante turned vegetarian intellectual hobo. A black man raised in gangland California, Lucas finds freedom from prejudice and streetlife in the anonymity of the highway. On a routine run, Lucas and Sophie receive a wailing CB call for help from a young man in a Camaro claiming he's been put under a curse requiring that he remain in constant motion. The truck-driving team helps him refuel while he keeps his car going, setting off a chain of queasy events that plummet Lucas and Sophie smack dab in the middle of the same curse. In a fast-paced chase sequence reminiscent of Cannonball Run via The Howling , Lucas, Sophie and a Mexican teenager flee highway cops, the FBI and an embittered octogenarian woman whose childhood betrayal by a young black man has turned her to mix voodoo and racism in creating the flying Dutchman curse. First novelist Bonansinga's unusual tale clearly has something to say about the difficulty of overcoming the effects of racism on the individual and he's chosen an odd, haunting venue for conveying it. Movie rights to New Line.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A SUPERB horror novel
I found this book at a yard sale and on the book it said George Romero was turning it into a movie. I had always been a huge Romero movie fan so I thought why not. I bought and I read this book in 3 days. I couldn't put it down. The plot was very original. The characters are well developed and the storyline never lags. I don't want to give any of it away but if you are a horror fan (GET THIS BOOK) You will not be sorry.

The only thing that I hate is that George Romero I don't guess is going to do the movie of it now. A shame because it could have racked in lots of money at the box office.

Too much "supernatural", not enough "horror" for this reviewer's liking
"The Black Mariah" (eagerly anticipated after going through the earlier Amazon reviews of the book) was somewhat of a disappointment for this reader. The plot revolves around an unfortunate CB transmission that trucking partners Lucas Hyde and Sophie Cohen pick up as they are traveling. The transmission deals with a curse that has been inflicted on an unwelcome suitor (Melville Benoit) by a deranged great aunt of the young lady in question. Benoit, an African-American, was cursed by the great aunt (Vanessa DeGeaux) because he had the audacity to attempt a relationship with DeGeaux's Caucasian grand niece. As the reader quickly finds out, the curse requires that Melville remain in constant motion (think the movie, "Speed") on the highway or perish.

Lucas and Sophie pick up Melville's plea for help as he becomes low on fuel. The trucking duo attempt a risky "mid-flight" refueling that ends up creating a highway disaster that causes a transference of the curse from Melville to Lucas and Sophie. The rest of the book deals with the duo's attempt to save themselves and end the curse.

Bonansinga does a fine job developing the characters of the book and because that, it is a fine read. For this reviewer's tastes, though, there are just too many fantastic situations for my total satisfaction. The book is heavy on supernatural activity, so the reader will have to suspend all powers of disbelief in order to enjoy "The Black Mariah" (the name of Lucas and Sophie's truck, by the way). There certainly are moments of horror and graphic gore, but not as much as earlier reviewers would lead you to believe.

Bonansinga has certainly made his mark in the literary world with fine novels such as, "Frozen", "Twisted", "Sick", and the imaginative "The Killers Game". Since those books deal primarily with the world of crime and/or private investigators, Bonansinga's fans may be somewhat caught off guard by this novel. Because of that, this reviewer would urge those fans to be cautioned that "The Black Mariah" is a diversion from Bonansinga's more familar genre'. It's not a bad book, just different from what one would expect from this author.

Thrills at High Speed
I recently finished The Black Mariah after searching for it for ten years.(I read about it in Fangoria magazine and just found it on Amazon.com)Finally, after reading it I felt it was worth the wait. The Black Mariah is one of the most involving books I've read in a long time. The book is part road story, part supernatural, part interracial love story about two truckers,a black man and his partner, a white woman. They come across a motorist who is unable to stop or slow down for fear he will die. They think it's a joke until they contract the mystical curse that eventually kills the young black motorist. It was cast by a racist old woman. The two truckers then find themselves unable to stop or they will burst into flames.All the while their gas gauge runs low. This book blends all the elements I mentioned into a great adventure with a moral ending. Highly recommened.