Spies, AIDS, and cartels culminate toward a medical thriller covering one of the most pressing health concerns in modern history.

Reading novels centered on medicine and medical crises carries a certain new gravitas since the start of 2020. Regardless of where one stands on the import of COVID itself, the illness dominated global headlines and concerns for quite some time. It also brought a new spotlight on the realm of contagious diseases itself, especially ones reaching epidemic or pandemic status. Rivers of the Black Moon makes AIDS the disease du jour, but including recent history regarding other diseases helps firmly cement the relevance of the novel.

Goliszek’s background in medicine shows tremendously throughout. When the disease or research being conducted on it are the focus, the story operated at its best. The author also has a knack for descriptive details, from the crime scene of the first chapter and excerpt on through. I don’t want to spoil where the novel gets its title from, but I also always enjoy when an author makes an effort to tie it into the plot. That happens majorly here, holding not only clues for the characters, but offering a great tie in for the reader.

The premise for Rivers of the Black Moon is incredibly sound. Even those not often drawn toward conspiracy theories don’t feel it’s a stretch to believe the powers-that-be withhold valuable information from the public. Or to believe that corporations will do anything to make money, even at the expense of public health and safety.

However, the execution of the premise behind the novel didn’t fully live up to the potential. From a technical standpoint, there are quite a few errors scattering the work. From a content standpoint, a handful of the rather large cast of characters don’t seem to stay entirely consistent from one scene to the next. There are also several instances of redundancy, especially in the narration, that add to making an already lengthy story feel even more so.

I do still consider this title well worth reading, and fans of spy or medical thrillers should enjoy Rivers of the Black Moon despite neither of the main characters being a doctor or a spy.

Rivers of the Black Moon is available to buy on Amazon.

Verdict:

READABLE