Black Flowers

by E.F. Watkins

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592798101
• ISBN13: 9781592798100
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Amber Quill Pr Llc
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

New Jersey Can Be Very Scary

You will not be able to stop reading. And it's really scary. I won't say I can count on one hand the number of horror novels I've read--because I don't think I've read any. But as a resident of New Jersey I was attracted to Black Flowers because of my suspicion that if dastardly profit-motivated experiments in genetic engineering are taking place anywhere, they're probably taking place in those well-groomed corporate parks that have turned North Jersey into one of the most affluent regions in the country. This is a milieu that E.F. Watkins seems to know intimately as well. Black Flowers deals with a world in which the men go off to mysterious but very well-paid jobs at a company with the sinister name of Genesis while the women preside over households filled with upscale furnishings and pampered children. But for all her wealth and privilege, Watkins' protagonist Allie Constantine is one of the most appealing fictional characters I've met in a long time. So when she starts to suspect that something about her husband doesn't really seem human--and that her children, who she'd protect with her life, might have inherited this sinister trait, I care as much about her as if she were a friend I'd known my entire life. Watkins starts off with a bang as a young man who had worked for Allie's husband dies on her lawn, leaving behind a corpse that wastes away to nearly a skeleton seconds after death. And from there on out, I found it impossible to stop reading as each chapter ratcheted up the suspense with increasingly alarming incidents. And that the end--with its amazing revelation--flows so naturally and convincingly from what has come before is a tribute to Watkins' skill. Its amazing revelation is a tribute to her truly astonishing imagination.

A Techno Thriller in an Age of Conspiracy

My usual reading is mysteries and thrillers, and I wanted to try something different - to expand my horizons into some new genres. BLACK FLOWERS is a very effective mixture of a suspense novel with components of thriller and horror novels, too. I think what makes this book so effective is how realistic the premise seems. Without giving too much away, the Genesis corporation seems to be up to no good with a recently developed strain of ugly black flowers for which they have found a very profitable use. The heroine, Allie, is married to the president of Genesis. When her housekeeper's son does horribly in front of Allie's eyes, Allie begins delving a bit more deeply into what is going on at her husband's company. And the more she discovers, the more she begins to fear her husband. To say more would be a spoiler, but you'll race through this book as I did, in just a few nights. Watkins keeps the suspense high and the pace fast, and I thought there were a lot of other smaller elements of the book done equally well: a look at isolated and wealthy communities, the way the rich live, and the challenges that face the parents of autistic children. I also liked the way the sci-fi elements of the book stayed within the realm of believability, as well as the creepy twist in the epilogue. Overall, I thought the book a very effective and thought-provoking thriller and recommend it to anyone who has wondered what all those mega-corporations are up to....

Black Flowers

Black Flowers This was an excellent read from the beginning to the last page. I would love to see more by this author.

Black Flowers

At the suggestion of a friend, I recently read "Black Flowers". From page 1, I was completely drawn in---just couldn't put the book down. The suspense throughout kept me totally captivated and I must say that it reminded me of a Stephen King/ Twilight Zone piece of work. In fact,it would make a great screenplay, in my opinion. It is definitely stirring, and quite believable in this technologically advanced age. Excellent novel.