The synopsis's description of Black Tide as "cinematic" is spot on, because after finishing this, my first thought was "okay this needs to be a movie!" It was quite a ride, that is for sure, and one that I never wanted to put down.

We are introduced to Beth, who basically is a whole mess of a person. She's housesitting in a coastal Oregon town, and finds neighbor Mike sitting in his yard. They spend a night together, and that is when things start to go awry. They head to the beach to try to figure out what the heck happened during the prior night's meteor storm, and find themselves helplessly stranded, and at the mercy of some unknown entities.

The bulk of the story takes place during the day they are stranded. It's just Beth, Mike, and the dog she's watching, trying to figure out how to get back off the beach. They encounter a few people along the way, all of whom are trying just as desperately to get out of dodge. They try to board a boat, but who knows if this will keep them safe. Beth and Mike still have no idea what they're up against- the most they can surmise is that some sort of creature is snatching people from literally everywhere and they're goners. They finally see a police officer get taken, and they know it's no joke.

While things seem hopeless, Beth and Mike are scrappy enough to keep on trying. And while they do, we learn a lot more about them as characters, which also really made me hope they'd make it out safely even more. They seem like such realistic and flawed characters, which makes their plight even more relatable- any reader could picture themselves, complete with baggage and inadequacies, trying their best to survive despite having no discernable survival skills other than the sheer will to live.

It's a very tense and exciting book, and the more I read about Beth and Mike, the more desperate I was to survive. There are a couple of great twists that increased the stakes a lot, which I loved too. I may have wanted a few more answers at the end, but it was also really appropriate for the vibe of the story as a whole. That said, I would absolutely love to read more stories set in this world, because it was quite fabulous!

Bottom Line: High stakes, great characters, a chilling apocalypse... yep, this was my kind of story

I am almost always on board with apocalyptic stories, and I was excited to start this one. The long-drawn-out character building was a bit too much for me. I was looking for a faster spiral into the end-of-the-world stuff. But once it got going, it was an interesting situation. I got a bit invested, but then everything got so out of control, and it just felt really disjointed. Things felt super over the top and others felt completely unexplained. This one just didn't work for me.

I really had fun with <i>Black Tide</i>. I personally find the isolation even scarier than the apocalypse, and the build of creepiness was very well dune. Hearing distant sounds really gets to me for some reason. Maybe it's because your imagination always creates horrors worse than what you'd find in reality. In any case this was a great beach read horror for those of us who would rather pick up a Stephen King than a Danielle Steele when relaxing in the sun.

This book was creepy and fantastic. This is Stephen King writing sci-fi. I really liked it, and I hope that we eventually get a sequel so we can find out what happens next - the book is finished but very open-ended, so it can go either way. However, there is a trigger warning in this book for attacks against an animal in this book - no human animal abuse but there is damage done to an animal, in case that's a trigger for you. All in all I really liked this one! 4 stars and I really hope we get a sequel.

Give me apocalyptic fiction and I'm usually on board. First, there were some good things about this book. It had potential. It really did. I was intrigued by the messy yet relatable personalities of the main characters and the apocalypse elements held strong for the first half. The second half spun out of control. The long drawn out battles with the alien beings were barely believable. Yet, the most completely unbelievable elements were the main characters deciding to have spontaneous sex while drowning in a car, suddenly the radio worked broadcasting a message that basically indicated the aliens (or whatever they were) were afraid of lumberjacks and axes, and last but not least, just ending when they decide to drive to another city because magically the roads are clear and the aliens won't get them along the way?! Sorry, but this reader is giving you the side eye. On a brighter note, this book would probably make a great cult classic B movie.

<i>Sorry, humanity. You needed a Sarah Connor, or an Ellen Ripley, or even a Katniss Everdeen. You got me.</i>

Beth, a 33 year old struggling to make ends meet dog-sitter, meets Mike, incredibly unhappy neighbor to the house she is watching, on the Oregon coast. After a one night stand with Mike, Beth finds her dreams plagued with aliens and, unknown to either of them, Mike watches the meteor shower that is bringing that apocalyptic world to them. Mike and Beth leave in the morning to go investigate what they witnessed and deal with the aftermath.

First of all, Jake the dog steals the show for me. I spent the entire novel in agony worrying about his safety because dogs are never safe in apocalyptic novels. The entirety of the novel takes place over 24 hours and gives a small localized look into the aftermath of meteors, and what they bring with them, crashing into Earth.

If you liked The Quiet Place or Cloverfield, I definitely recommend this.

This novel is fantastic; a wonderful mashup of The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, Cujo by Stephen King and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World! The writing style propels the story which makes this twisted tale un-putdownable. The characters are likable and relatable despite not having incredibly complex or intricate backstories or even a lengthy book. I absolutely loved it and hope to read much more from K.C. Jones!

As a house sitter out of need, Beth is used to moving around and being a disaster. When housesitting for a couple on the Oregon coast, she keeps herself busy by walking their dog and trying to imagine what life might be if she had one hell of a house. When she sees Mike drinking Don Perignon on his porch, she invites herself over. The two spend the night together, desperate for human connection. The possible embarrassment of the one-night stand is dwarfed dramatically by a meteor shower, and a terrifying invasion. Losing their car keys in the sand leaves them stranded on the empty Oregon coast while the two have to find a way to put aside their self-destructive natures to try and survive unspeakable horror. 

Black Tide is suspenseful, smart, and believable, which all make it even more terrifying. KC Jones is an excellent writer, and the character of Beth feels painfully real in a post-COVID world. I will say that I had a hard time with this one as the world is basically on fire right now and my brain wants so badly to avoid apocalyptic settings.  Still, the book is hopeful even with the anxiety and fear flooding through. 

Black Tide is available May 31, 2022.

The comp titles – Cujo and A Quiet Place – immediately piqued my interest, and a beach setting sealed the deal.

Like Cujo, much of this story is spent with the two main characters trapped in a car. As in A Quiet Place, silence is the best way to avoid these invading creatures. A little over two hundred fifty pages, this is a well-paced, quick read, and the action starts almost immediately. At first glance, Beth and Mike aren’t people you’d bet on to survive an alien invasion. Beth is irresponsible and basically a trainwreck, and Mike is teetering on a life and death decision in his personal life. But you play the hand you’re dealt.

After both characters have bizarre experiences during the night (dreams? hallucinations?), their day gets even worse when they go to the beach and discover they weren’t dreaming or imagining things. Their world has been invaded and the beach is being attacked. The descriptions of the alien creatures are creepy and very visual. Some of the scenes are fairly graphic, so if you’re a reader who prefers to avoid gore you might want to skip some paragraphs. The characters run into one obstacle after another in their attempts to survive, and there are plenty of tense scenes to sink your teeth into. Most are within the confines of a small car, and with two adults, a dog, and sweltering temps during the day it can feel pretty claustrophobic.

I like the way the author chose to end the story, leaving a feeling of hope for the characters because the odds sure aren’t in their favor. Black Tide is an intriguing blend of sci-fi and horror providing terror-filled visual scenes for fans of the genres.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I liked the first half better than the second. I wish it had been more atmospheric and Jake deserved a better end, but it was good. I’ll definitely be checking out the author’s next book.

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for providing me with an ARC.

The world goes to Hell overnight in KC Jones’s Black Tide.

More than one boundary is crossed when “human car wreck” Beth hops a late-night fence for a late-night romp with a suicidal film producer. After a champagne-soaked one night stand, Mike wades out into the ocean for what is meant to be a one-way trip while Beth experiences strange dreams. But when the sun rises the next morning, it’s on a whole new world. Strange “alien bowling balls” litter the ground and shimmering, tentacled creatures float in the sky. It’s not good.

But this is only the beginning of Beth and Mike’s troubles.

When Mike and Beth track the sky fall up the Oregon coast, they unexpectedly find themselves stranded, the keys to Mike’s Subaru lost—by Beth, who’s chugging mimosas like the world is ending (which, of course, it is)—on a beach held in perimeter by monsters. The two are now stuck together in the worst possible circumstances, and have to survive both one another and the end of the world. When shrieking, invisible monsters shred everything else in sight, the two must hold themselves and each other together, no matter the cost.

Normally, science fiction—even the scary kind—is not my bag, but Black Tide is addictive, consuming, and bizarrely relatable. Maybe it’s being trapped in a car with a stranger you can’t live without. Maybe it was Beth’s willingness to sacrifice herself to save a dog. Maybe it was the mimosas. Either way, this book was unstoppable, un-put-down-able, and while the world may have ended, my appreciation for Jones has just begun.

In KC Jones’ debut novel, the apocalypse is nigh. Before the meteor shower, Beth and Mike were simply strangers brought together by chance. After a drunken one-night stand, the two wake up to discover that what they thought was a meteor shower left a slew of destruction behind — including otherworldly threats. Stranded on the beach with no car keys and a rising tide, the pair find themselves fighting for survival as horror after horror closes in on them.

Right off the bat, Jones hooks readers with an intriguing first chapter. His writing style lends itself to the ominous tone throughout the book, with small moments of humor peppered in. But largely, the story hinges on the steady increase of tension. Jones does well spreading information evenly without losing the suspense. He withholds information, using each reveal to pile on the stakes. His writing cleverly mirrors the slowly rising tide in the story.

Jones’ decision to write from both Beth and Mike’s POVs also strengthens the story. Naturally, readers get a sense of each character’s personality and how it affects their responses to everything that’s happening. As they assess and work through each obstacle, readers gain more and more insight into each character. One thing that stood out for me is how Jones used Mike’s film experience to sprinkle in tidbits of story structure without ever really giving too much away. Another aspect I was also glad to see work in Jones’ favor is that neither Beth nor Mike is especially optimistic. Given the impossible circumstances, they’re realistic about their potential fates, but they aren’t entirely without hope.

Black Tide is the perfect choice for horror fans searching for their next read. It makes a great summer read and one for the spooky season. Jones makes full use of his beach setting, creating a palpable sense of claustrophobia that’s eerie and unsettling. The included gore is visceral but never gratuitous. Jones weaves in equally punny and self-deprecating humor that offers many laugh-out-loud moments. He answers major questions through Beth and Mike without making them all-knowing, leaving just enough information to keep readers satisfied and reiterate that, like Beth and Mike, they won’t ever fully know or understand the truth. It’s a well-paced story filled with suspense and a build-up that keeps readers on edge and wanting more.

Simplistic but readable

This was an okay creature feature read. Set on the northern Oregon coast, it alternated viewpoints between the two main characters - Mike, a troubled movie producer and Beth, a troubled professional house sitter.

After a heavy-duty meteor shower (or was that all it was), Mike, Beth and of course the faithful dog head up north on the beach and there they find MONSTERS and not just one kind.

This was a quick read, or it should have been. It took me a few days to get through it. So probably not a book I would recommend.

I received this book from Tor NightFire through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

This was an action-packed apocalyptic sci-fi/horror novel. It doesn’t take long for things to get horrific and stay that way for the duration. It has been described as being similar to the movies, A Quiet Place, and that is honestly a very accurate comparison.

This is a one-setting book told in multiple POVs, with two narrators that both did a great job. I was rooting for the characters as they fought for survival against these otherworldly creatures. My pulse was pounding and the tension was high as I wondered the whole time how the hell they were going to get out of this.

With all of the action and terror, I did expect a little more from the ending. It was a bit ambiguous and a little lackluster after the mini heart attacks I almost had during the rest of the book. It is left open to a possible sequel if the author chose to do that, so I’m not sure if that’s the reasoning for it or not. I would definitely read the sequel if that became a reality!

Thank you to @netgalley @tornightfire and @macmillan.audio for the advanced copies of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a heck of a read and I really needed a thriller/suspense/dystopian book that was worthy of a 5 star review. I am glad this book only had a few main characters and a dog, so characters were not hard to figure out. Some other suspense books take longer to figure out the main character, which is is annoying and y9ou just want to get to the juicy bits of the story.

This book has a lot of juicy bits!! Beth is a mess of human being and does not really have her life figured out. But she ends up dog sitting in Oregon and there is a good looking stranger next door, I do not want to spoil the first meeting of Beth's encounter or how they come to rely on each other when disaster strikes.

"Sorry, humanity. You needed a Sarah Connor, or an Ellen Ripley, or even a Katniss Everdeen. You got me." - Beth's thought process.

I find this amusing and spot on when Beth said this. A reluctant heroine.

This was a fantastic dystopian/end-of-the world book and I highly recommend it. I will be getting this after publication day! Looking forward to the author's next book, if it is as good as this one.

Thanks to Netgalley, KC Jones and Macmillian Tor Forge NIghtlife for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 5/31//22

Powered through this one in a couple of hours! I loved the characters and the alternating viewpoints. Just enough backstory to keep them interesting while not taking away from the pace of the novel, which was breakneck! My heart was racing!
Only one thing though, and I don't even want to post it here. It happens at the end, a sacrifice that didn't need to end that way...

Fun thrilling read, gripping from the start, interesting characters! A must read for people who really enjoyed the movie A Quiet Place!

3.5 stars. Billed as a horror novel, I'd say this is more of a character driven sci-fi/horror blend. That being said, I really liked the characters of Beth and Mike. Beth is a total mess, but tries her best to be a badass in the face of the world ending. Mike manages to turn away from his depression and find the will to live.

It was just another day at the beach. And then the world ended.

Mike and Beth didn’t know each other existed before the night of the meteor shower. A melancholy film producer and a house sitter barely scraping by, chance made them neighbors, a bottle of champagne brought them together, and a shared need for human connection sparked something more.

After a drunken and desperate one-night-stand, the two strangers awake to discover a surprise astronomical event has left widespread destruction in its wake. But the cosmic lightshow was only a part of something much bigger, and far more terrifying. When a set of lost car keys leaves them stranded on an empty stretch of Oregon coast, when their emergency calls go unanswered and inhuman screams echo from the dunes, when the rising tide reaches for the car and unspeakable horrors close in around them, these two self-destructive souls must find in each other the strength to overcome past pain and the fight to survive a nightmare of apocalyptic scale.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a well written invasion story charged with anxiety. The two main characters are reasonably realistic, especially in their reactions to the events. And the actual events are the kind of crazy you get sucked right into with horror. There's no explanation for why things actually happen and I wasn't disappointed by that because it seemed unnecessary. The anxiety was in whether the protagonists would survive and the story worked well that way.

It turns out not every beautiful meteor shower is an actual meteor shower! It might be a wrinkle in time space continuum that drops stinky alien bowling balls on our shores and shakes our understanding of this world and other planes that we didn't get to see yet.

Human wreck of a person as her mom calls her Beth, and fallen from grace Hollywood producer Mike met on eve of this extraordinary event. Beth was housesitting to have a roof over her head and Mike was planning to end his misery. Instead, they hit it off (thanks to bottles of Dom). In the middle of the night, hoping to execute his plan Mike experienced this crazy event. Beth experienced another, yet more scary version of the same event in her sleep. Next morning was when Pandora's box was opened. Apocalypse might be here already and everyone on the West Coast of the US were oblivious to it until invisible started to do visible deeds.

What happened on the beach that Beth and Mike were stranded after casually going for a drive to see more of these "meteors" was a nightmare fuel. I would love to see this book as a movie. My imagination went little wild with the way events and things were described, so I wonder if others imagine the same! It's an interesting horror sci-fi if you are interested in this genre.