Wow. When the movie comes out (I think it is good enough for one anyway...) a LOT of people are going to freak out and wonder if is possible! They'll have to change the ending though. Kind of anti-climatic. Imagine all you oil using products suddenly not working due to contaminated oil. This includes all vehicles and many other items that use electricity which requires oil somewhere in their life. ( )

Starts slowly but gets increasingly better as it goes on. I sensed strong American patriot undertones however the book is redeemed by its realistic portrayal of an oil crisis and its decent and engaging storyline. 3.5 stars. ( )

http://blog.tharos-online.de/archives/370-R.-Scott-Reiss-Black-Monday.html (german) ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/4025 ( )

Several elements combine to make a hold on by the seat of your pants story: a oil eating microbe that disables everything that runs on oil, a scientist determined to find the antidote to this microbe, a hired assassin ready to target this scientist and his family, and a neighborhood that must fight for its survival as the world plunges into chaos around them. The scenario Reiss paints of a world without oil driven machines is truly frightening, though I doubt things would fall apart as quickly as he depicted them doing so in the book. The best part was the way he showed neighbors banding together to make it through the tough times--it made me wish we had such strong neighborhood bonds all the time. It's far fetched and highly improbable--but it makes for one exciting story. ( )