Out of the Black [Kindle Edition]

Lee Doty (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Doty's razor-sharp prose and impeccable sense of timing make this book difficult to put down... A fast-paced, highly entertaining thriller."

--Kirkus Discoveries

Product Description

"Doty's razor-sharp prose and impeccable sense of timing make this book difficult to put down... a fast-paced, highly entertaining thriller." -- Kirkus

Thriller semifinalist  -- 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY)

It is the year 2071:  The world is at peace, across the planet mankind has vanquished poverty, embraced technology, the gym, healthy cooking-- found balance.

In this world, Anne Kelley sticks out like a... well, like an under-employed, horribly insecure 260 pound woman might stick out in the year 2071.  She grits her teeth a lot; she averts her eyes a lot.

Then one night Anne makes a discovery: it's the end of the world.  Not the mushroom cloud end, not the machines rise to judge their makers end... the hungry, swarming apocalypse end.  Yeah... that one... well, sort of.

Now five damaged strangers must find each other and piece together a mystery with roots older than recorded history. They must find the courage to stand together against an ancient evil.  They must become the heroes the world needs before the darkness falls forever.

Sometimes destiny falls into the most broken lives, like a careless stone fallen out of the clear black sky.

"Out of the Black is an amalgam of cop thriller, science fiction and magical fantasy. The mix is highly entertaining. The plot is taut, fast moving, and original. The prose is solidly crafted. Characters are fully realized, engaging and likable... The dialog is delicious; I often found myself laughing out loud." -- J. T. Thorleifson 

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 551 KB
• Print Length: 551 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1419696858
• Publisher: Createspace; 2 edition (July 12, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00295RII6
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (165 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,706 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

This is the author as he appears online.

It's also the author as he might appear if he were his eight-year-old daughter flouncing about in his wife's chemotherapy wig.

If there's a moral in that silliness somewhere, it's that life throws you curve balls and you're supposed to make lemonade. Wait... not with the curve balls, but I guess maybe after they smack you in the cup... hold it, something's still off with that metaphor.

What was I saying? Oh yeah. Life's hilarious. It'll make you laugh and cry. Choose to focus on the laughter.

The official version of this bibliography:
"That Lee Doty fellow grew up strange and decided to write books"

That was terrible! Let's try again with the bullet list bio:

* I love my wife and four daughters. My dogs and cat-- less so.
* I'm a full time computer nerd who writes realtime trading systems for a major investment bank
* I like to punch/kick/grapple with stuff. I've practiced a lot of martial arts, but probably love the Wing Chun Kungfu the most. (and the MMA style I'm doing now is also a blast)
* I love to write, and do it almost exclusively during my daily 2+ hour train commute to my office in downtown chicago.
* I play "Left 4 Dead", BC2, and other shooters with friends online. Look for me on steam. Steam ID = PingBannon
* My greatest aspiration in life it to be funny. My greatest satisfaction is making others laugh... ok, my GREATEST satisfaction is making my kids laugh when they're angry at me.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, genre-bending entertainment, April 16, 2010

By 

J. T. Thorleifson "Sci-Fi Fanatic" (Katy, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Out of the Black (Kindle Edition)

Sometimes you get more than you pay for. The $2.99 Kindle edition of Lee Doty's "Out of the Black" is a bargain. "Out of the Black" is an amalgam of cop thriller, science fiction and magical fantasy. The mix is highly entertaining. The plot is taut, fast moving, and original. The prose is solidly crafted. Characters are fully realized, engaging and likable. The plot lines of the two protagonists cleverly interweave to converge in a rousing climax. The dialog is delicious; I often found myself laughing out loud. Particularly enjoyable is the cop banter between protagonist Detective Ping Bannon and coworkers. On the funny meter "Out of the Black" compares well to, for example, "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.

My only nitpick with "Out of the Black" is the omnipresence of '80's pop cultural references. For instance, Blade Runner: The Director's Cut" is a cult classic for my generation, but perhaps of limited wider appeal. Such references make "Out of the Black" less accessible to a wider audience, and may ultimately detract from the book's ability to stand the test of time.

I suspect Lee Doty is the outcome of a secret genetic experiment combining DNA from Richard K. Morgan and Dean Koontz. If so, he's an experiment gone happily awry. Doty's work combines the best of Morgan and Koontz, and exhibits a refreshing optimism and faith in humanity lacking in either. "Out of the Black" does not fit neatly into any single genre; no doubt this makes selling books tough for Mr. Doty. But for jaded readers lucky enough to find him, the result is pure delight. I can't wait for more.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Depends on the reader, January 12, 2011

By 

Robert Hafernik (Austin, Tx USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Out of the Black (Kindle Edition)

This book is certainly worth the price. Doty has several parts of the writing craft perfected: the characters are nicely drawn and pull you into the story. The plotting is strong and direct. The themes are clear, but don't whack you in the face. That said, the book didn't work for me in two ways. First, the pacing is off. Doty goes from 100 MPH to zero in one sentence. Character-building flashbacks happen inside of action sequences. It's not that the characters don't get built, it's just severely jarring to change gears so fast. Second, the novel rides along on an extended reality of magical stuff that is never explained, not even in a hand-waving sort of way. I'm willing to believe that there is a "Loom" at the core of our reality that can be worked by the very skilled to give themselves extraordinary abilities, but the author needs to meet me half-way by explaining what's going on, how it works and its limitations.

Buy the book and see a new writer in proto form. I think Doty is going to be good - possibly even great - once he works out a couple of kinks. At this price, you can't hardly go wrong.

40 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Smart, June 18, 2010

By 

DAVID R THORSRUD - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Out of the Black (Kindle Edition)

Like the guy who watches his lawn grow, I am more a fan of science fiction than fantasy and almost didn't buy this book. Unlike lawnmower man, I thought it was worth every penny - and more. The dialogue between the characters had me laughing out loud, the characters were interesting, the language was textured without being blatantly borrowed from other classic novels and the action was nonstop. Notably, the fantasy wasn't the unicorn frolicking type, but the what-if-hyperdimensional-physics-and-virtual-realities-could-explain-mystical-experiences type...more like The Matrix than Merlin the Magician. And when I say mystical, it is more along the lines of Obi Wan talking to Luke when he was dropping the torpedo down the gopher hole and not a pedestrian morality tale of how a genocidal, all loving, omniscient god wants you to love your brother. There are numerous references to pop culture which I ate up...but then not everyone is both a fan of BladeRunner and man enough to quote Vanilla Ice when the groaning gets tough.

Oh, and for those who liked the soundtrack to The Matrix: on the last page, the author writes his idea of the musicians who would do the soundtrack to a movie version of the book. I discovered Etnica and have been listening to them while I program. The Etnica Pandora channel is better then the Deep House, Drum&Bass, Juno Reactor, Crystal Method, or Psy Trance channels I've been listening to. So, I got a twofer with this book.