The Black

Oceania

By: Paul E Cooley

Narrated by: Paul E Cooley

Something has survived…Weeks ago, the exploration rig Leaguer was destroyed shortly after sending an oil sample from the M2 trench for analysis. Officially, all hands were lost.

Unofficially, the “oil” was a deadly organism responsible for hundreds of deaths both on and offshore.

Sarah Celianne, a former HPD SWAT commander, found herself fighting for her life against creatures that defied biology, chemistry, and physics. Upon surviving the encounter, she’s recruited by a shadowy government entity to help secure the remaining M2 specimens. The effort failed.

Now, after escaping death again, she is dispatched to Papua/New Guinea to investigate reports of a lifeboat sighting, a lifeboat with the word “Leaguer” stenciled on its side.

The Black: Oceania, the fifth installment of the Parsec Award-winning series The Black, is an action-packed suspense thriller serial set in the waters of Papua/New Guinea that pits a trained mercenary squad against a new M2 creature and new unknowns.

©2023 Paul E Cooley (P)2026 Paul E Cooley

Monster Hunting

The Black series is a good read, Houston Texas based book series. Simple characters, easy to follow.

The scuba aspects were absolutely badass!

Only semi closed rebreathers have bubbles lol. Closed circuit do not creates bubbles unless you purge your loop.

Suspense and frustration - in a good way!

Another excellent installment to the series. Great setting and atmosphere with the slow trickle of information on the black to keep you guessing and asking questions while wanting more!

Cosmic horror, body horror and a wide ocean of possibilities! This installment has a great pacing that lets the action feel intense while after giving you just enough time to breath and fear what could happen next.

New insight into the monster that was almost as bad as evolution. So many test I’d want to run… but kill it with FIRE!!!! For the record I would not run the tests because books like The Black Evolution and Oceania exist!

Also I had to change my lawnmowers oil yesterday and I just had to watch it a bit longer than I wanted to in the sun.

Great job Paul on both the writing and audiobook!

thermal warfare

I love coming back into the ocean where it all began it really makes You think of how little we know about our own oceans

Five books in and going strong

As you can guess from the title, I've been following the black books since book 1. The first 4 were distinct bottle stories, with all the associated pressure on the characters. Despite this being in "the ocean" it still maintains that claustrophobic feeling of being trapped with something trying to kill you. Open water has not removed the pressure cooker feeling the author has cultivated in his other works.

That said this fits perfectly as a standalone story, with mere nods to previous characters. I'd recommend reading/listening to the early books more for enjoyment than out of necessity.

Voice acting in this is also really good. Characters are instantly recognisable, and general narrator voice is warm and easy to listen to.

Thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and am looking forward to what ever the author does next. I'll be back for more and would say this is more than worth a credit. Enjoy.