Home
/
Fiction
/
Black Flies
Black Flies
Jan 18, 2026 8:05 AM

Author:Shannon Burke

Black Flies

After failing to get into medical school, Ollie Cross takes a job as a paramedic in Harlem. Ashamed of his middle-class roots and eager to fit in, he adopts a tough-guy persona which carries him through the dark days on the streets- the shoot-outs, the bad cops, the unhinged medics and hopeless patients.

But the daily horrors begin to take their toll and, as his personal life starts to unravel, even Ollie can't tell who he is anymore.

Black Flies is a gripping and unforgettable novel about indelible experiences, friendship in extreme conditions, deterioration and redemption.

Reviews

An arresting, confrontational book

—— New York Times

Carries the force of a punch... deftly sketched, with lean clarity

—— Guardian

A dark gem of a story

—— Chicago Tribune

Stark, intense ... a gifted stylist

—— Time Out, New York

Tim Wilkinson is a seriously good translator...I may have given the impression that this is harrowing, and it is; but it has its moments of great, consoling insight, is about far more than just the Holocaust and in its own haunting way provides comfort for the afflicted

—— Nicholas Lezard , Guardian

Tim Wilkinson's translation... is a fine and powerful piece of work. ... Dark, at times cryptic, and hugely energetic, this is a phenomenal piece of writing, showing the depth and breadth of the effects of war on its survivors

—— Nora Mahony , Irish Times

The best single work of science fiction yet written

—— Ursula Le Guin

A syncretic, wildly imaginative text...a passionately literary work. This book reads like nothing else on earth before or since

—— Bruce Sterling

'We was a prophetic book not because Zamyatin gazed into a crystal ball but because he saw the likely consequences of what people were thinking in the first years of the Soviet Union. That is why we think Zamyatin, Huxley and Orwell better than the science fiction writers - because they trace conditions back to sources in the mind

—— Clive James , New York Review of Books

The travel writer's wanderlust generated bestselling and Booker-nominated work, but his collected letters unveil the man behind the books

—— Times

These letters are as close to the real McCoy as we're going to get - not least because he sloughs off the confident, self-possessed persona exhibited in his books and allows his vulnerabilities to show

—— Alastair Mabbott , Herald

'[a] page turner...a series of profound, and mystifying, stories within a stoy that will confound and delight...Another confirmed bestseller

—— News of the World

Eighteen years on from Generation X, Coupland still satirises pop culture better than anyone. This globe-spanning tale, set in the near future, is masterfully told and often hilarious

—— GQ

With this exceptional sequel to Generation X, Douglas Coupland may be one of the smartest, wittiest writers around . . . He is a terrifically good writer . . . Generation A is set in the near future . . . Bees have become extinct, but then five people are stung . . . It is the attempt to get to the bottom of this mystery that brings the five together on an Alaskan island where they are made to tell stories to one another. Coupland weaves common elements across these tales and into the main narrative: large themes . . . comic themes . . . existential themes . . . There is a compelling plot . . . Coupland scatters his smartly satirical observations throughout . . . This is a clever, brilliant book - and it's loads better than Generation X . . . funny and profound . . . Straight A . . . (Coupland) deserves top marks for his latest novel

—— Esquire

Coupland is a master at creating eccentric, lonely characters and illuminating the mundaneness of dull lives in our celebrity-obsessed, technology-driven world . . . Ideas bounce of his writing like sparks off a live electrical wire

—— The Scotsman

[A] tour-de-force myth of the near future . . . As ever, the writing is sharp and witty, displaying Coupland's keen eye for cultural trends and an awareness of the ever-expanding limits of technological advancement

—— Q

Highly recommended. Like Murakami in thriller-trope mode. Go for it

—— William Gibson, author of Virtual Light

Ambitious and weird . . . genuinely experimental

—— Scotland on Sunday

Unusual circumstances ensue in this latest read from the brilliant social commentator

—— Elle

Coupland is a smart, witty writer . . . A delight

—— London Lite

Coupland juggles some fascinating ideas . . . Equal parts humor and revelation...An intelligent look at pop and digital culture

—— Publishers Weekly

From the very first pages it jumps out: the language, the preoccupations, the political and technological references, the humour - they're all so now . . . Scintillating . . . I must admit I read the novel enviously. Oh, to have written something so clever, funny, heartfelt and original . . . The narration is layered, there are passages that are very funny, others that are wise, and throughout the language crackles with vitality . . . In the future, if people are curious about what it was like to live in our times, in the early 21st century, they will do well to read Douglas Coupland

—— Yann Martell

Superbly entertaining stuff. Coupland's dialogue is witty and spiky and makes you laugh out loud . . . Coupland just can't resist making his characters as smart as he is, which is very smart indeed. He's one of the few writers who has really grasped what different times we live in . . . But Coupland's personality as a writer isn't just smart, it is also charming humane and fundamentally optimistic. A pure pleasure

—— Independent on Sunday

A delightful Decameron of a book . . . rich, educative and even consoling

—— Independent

One of the most popular serious writers of our time

—— Aravind Adiga , Financial Times
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved