Eater

Astrophysicist Benjamin Knowlton heads up a learge research center while caring for his terminally ill ex-astronaut wife, Channing. He and his team discover a black hole moving quickly through space, devouring everything in its path, and name it the Eater. There's no danger, its orbit will miss Earth with room to spare. Then the Eater speaks. It is a life form, an intelligence built into an astrophysical field. It seems benign enough: interested in human art, culture, and intelligence, and eager to share its vast knowledge of many previously unknown alien cultures. But gradually, humans discover the terrifying truth about the singularity. Now, as the world waits, Channing volunteers to undertake a desperate gamble: a one-to-one confrontation with the Eater.
About the Author:
Gregory Benford is a professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine. His fiction has won many awards, including the Nebula Award for his novel Timescape.