Novelist Shannon Burke earned stunning reviews for his debut book, Safelight, and now he returns with the same minimalist intensity in this arresting follow-up. Black Flies is the story of paramedic Ollie Cross and his first year on the job in mid-'90s New York. It is a ground's eye view of life on the streets: the shoot-outs, the bad cops, unhinged medics, the hopeless patients, the dark humor in bizarre circumstances, and one medic's struggle to balance his desire to help against his own growing callousness. It is the story of lives that hang in the balance, and of a single job with a misdiagnosed newborn that sends Cross and his partner into a life-changing struggle between good and evil.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 20 reviews)

Like so Many Black Flies

Shannon Burke's Black Flies: A Novel is a masterpiece of characterization and plot. Burke, a former paramedic in Harlem, New York, weaves his disjointed plot through a series of in-depth characterizations and vivid event descriptions. He traces the steps rookie Ollie Cross takes as he tries to fit in with the Station 18 crew and still hold onto his dreams of medical school, and along the way he spirals out of control, only to emerge on the other side of a black hole with his first save and a sense of purpose.

Ollie is green according to the other paramedics in his unit, simply because he wants to save lives and is gung-ho about his job. Rutkovsky is assigned as his partner, and he's a hard-nosed paramedic with a military past. LaFontaine is the department nut, while Verdis is his foil, interested in following the book and attending each patient with courtesy and care. Hatsuru is often in the background with a medical text in his hand while they await the next call or are on lunch break, and Marmol and Rivett round out the rest of the crew.

Ollie joins the paramedic unit to gain experience while he studies for the MCATs, hoping to improve his scores and get into medical school. Amidst high crime rates, homelessness, and rampant drug use in the streets of Harlem, these medical professionals strive to save the lives of people some would say are unworthy of saving. This novel examines the struggle these paramedics face daily, regarding split-second decisions that could either save drug addicts who will only end up back on the street strung out or ending their misery by refusing to treat them. The moral imperative driving these paramedics to save lives is constantly tested on the streets.

One fateful event in the novel pushes one of these paramedics over the edge, causing him to lose everything, while leaving the remaining paramedics to rationalize his decision and examine their own moral compass to determine whether that decision is something they all agree with or something that casts a shadow over all of their medical decisions and actions. In a way this decision becomes like so many black flies hovering over Ollie and the rest of the station.
October 30, 2008

a transformative read

This book was riveting not only for the scenes, which made me feel that I understood what it was like to be a Harlem medic, but also for the insights into these individuals and their grappling with what it means to be manly.

I'm a woman, but Burke helped me understand the rage, terror, sublimation and love that inspired very different reactions in the characters. While there are some harrowing scenes, and some of the medics do seem to have lost their humanity, I never felt the violence was portrayed as an invitation to voyeurism; instead, it was necessary in order to understand these men. Finally, Burke's book is about hope and our ability to rise above tragedy.
October 29, 2008

Expected much more

For all the accolades this book received I just expected so much more. I did not connect to any of the characters really. The tragic event that befalls Collie's partner - - saw it coming a mile away. Conveniently enough, I believe Collie "finds his way" just in time enough for the book to conclude about 10 pages from the end.

What I did gain from the book is a whole new appreciation for the medical care givers in the streets. I always knew topically that it had to be a rough job. Not only do they deal with death, sickness, and man's inhumanity to man on a daily basis, but they deal with it on the most horrific level possible. The book was graphic but not gratuitous in its descriptions of the things these EMS workers had to encounter. I think given the subject matter, it had to be specific in its details to make it real to the reader.

The book made me think back to the rescue workers during 9-11. The things they must have seen and had to endure during that time could have broken anyone. But even at risk to themselves, they continue to do their job, which many of them are still suffering the effects of to this day.

To see these men and women put their lives and mental health on the line daily with little to no thanks is just obscene. I hope some of that is dramatized for the sake of the novel. Unfortunately, it probably is not.
October 21, 2008

who saves the medics?

Though depicted as a novel, Black Flies is concise enough for a perfect novella. Or, as it expounds upon the experiences of a paramedic in Harlem, it is also appropriate to label the work as a series of vignettes (albeit with a clear storyline). Whatever its categorization, Black Flies is a frightening work that conveys the both the physical and psychological hardship of being a paramedic. Indeed, it's not just the suffering that medics are trained to alleviate, it is a story that ponders about who responds to the first responders.

The story revolves around Ollie Cross, newly assigned to the 18th precinct. Cross voluntarily selects the 18th to get hardcore paramedic experience while preparing to pass the MCATs he desperately needs for acceptance into medschool. The experience he receives can never be taught from any textbook.

The horror of this story is hammered from two angles. The first, more obvious horror is the death and depravity paramedics experience every single day. Rotting corpses, horrific wounds, constant exposure to disease, and the grotesque, vehement disdain, and dangerous behavior exhibited by the victims they're supposed to protect.

The other horror is the subsequent disdain, mounting disregard and grotesque behavior that paramedics can subsequently exhibit toward their victims, a gradual hardening to the grittiness and incessant malaise to which they're exposed. This story is not merely the devolution of Cross, but the way he responds to being partnered with several medics of differing moral zephyrs. There's the stoic, the maniac, the ultimate altruist; they have seen it all, and all are resigned to the degeneration of the job.

Burke explores the depths to which paramedics, affected by the stress, often decide who lives or dies. He also focuses on the irony of those expertly trained to save life are often already dead from within. Overall, the book details the darker aspects of being a paramedic as well as state of the human condition through a good story. Fascinating read.
October 02, 2008

Missed Opportunity

Potentially interesting topic, but flat, repetitive language and thin, plodding plotting. Less like a novel and more like a long textbook-inspired rendition of one possible response to stress. The narrator's redemption is weakly motivated and who cares. We feel like his girl friend, drop this loser. We hope never to meet him after med school as our doctor either.
September 16, 2008

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