Monday, September 28, 2015

36 Days of Halloween - 1983: Videodrome

In Cronenberg's strange body horror film, Max, a small-time tv producer specializing in extreme tv, finds a pirate channel airing non-stop streams of torture and violence. As he looks into the origins of the feed, with the intent of acquiring the program for his channel, he discovers the sinister purpose behind the shows.

This is... really, really weird stuff. Cronenberg is exploring the intersection and exploitation of sex and violence in television here. Of course, he's doing so through a film that revels in graphic violence and sadomasochistic sexuality, so how effective his exploration of the topics seems to be will largely depend on how exploitative one finds the content. As a horror movie, this is fairly effective, as long as the general weirdness doesn't distract the viewer. There's a strong sense of dread throughout, and the disturbing scenes of Max undergoing the changes after his exposure to the Videodrome are some of the most unforgettable scenes in horror cinema; the tv swallowing Max's head is iconic, recognized even by people who've never seen the film. ​



Horrifying and weird.

Friday, September 25, 2015

36 Days of Halloween - Days 1 - 3

Today is officially day four of the 36 Days of Halloween marathon, so I'm three movies in right now. I'm going to try to do mini reviews of each film as I watch it, but here's the backlog so far:

1979 - Alien The crew of the commercial ship Nostromo are brought out of stasis nine months early when the ship detects a signal of unknown origin on a previously uncharted planet. The crew sets down to investigate, unsure of what awaits them. Hint: it's an alien.

Despite being 36 years old, Alien is still an incredibly fresh movie. Without exaggeration, I can safely say that this is my favorite horror movie of all time. Ridley Scott's take on horror is brilliantly paced, packed with an incredible amount of subtle characterization that gives a real sense of who these people are, and filled with practical special effects that keep (most of) the film from looking dated, despite being nearly four decades old. I could, and many people have, write pages and pages of analysis about Alien. Needless to say, this was a really good way to start the Halloween season.

1980 - The Changeling A man grieves the loss of his wife and child in a terrible accident, and moves to the other side of the country to start a new life. When he takes over an old house that has been unused for years, he gets more than he bargained for.

This film is on Scorsese's list of scariest movies ever made, apparently. While this won't make my "scariest movies ever made" list, it did provide a suitably creepy haunted house story a little different from the norm. While there isn't much by way of outright scares, the moody atmosphere and the tragic backstory that is slowly unraveled do provide a very unsettling experience.

1981 - Dead and Buried Sheriff Dan Gillis (James Farentino) finds himself struggling to make sense of what has become of his hometown when a series of bizarre murders strike the small the town. As more people turn up dead, the bodies disappear, and Gillis has a disturbing accident, everyone becomes a suspect.

This low-budget, Twilight Zone-esque flick from the writing team behind Alien is exactly the kind of movie that begs for a dark room, an abundance of beer, and two or three friends. Despite the absurdity of the plot and modest production values, it's hard not to enjoy this one. While it's definitely on the schlocky side, there's less gore and a more misdirection in the writing than you'd expect. Definitely worth checking out (especially, again, with good friends and plenty of booze).

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

36 Days of Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite times of year. While this isn't, strictly speaking, book related, I hope you'll indulge me this time. For Halloween this year, I've decided to do 36 days of Halloween, wherein I will be watching a horror movie from each of the years I've been alive, in order, starting with 1979 and ending, the day before Halloween, with 2015. On Halloween I will, of course, be watching Halloween.


The list of films I've picked for this event is as follows:
1979 - Alien
1980 - The Changeling
1981 - Dead & Buried
1982 - Basketcase
1983 - Videodrome
1984 - Gremlins
1985 - Re-Animator
1986 - The Fly
1987 - Lost Boys
1988 - Beetlejuice
1989 - Santa Sangre
1990 - Arachnophobia
1991 - Subspecies
1992 - Candyman
1993 - Cronos
1994 - In the Mouth of Madness
1995 - Day of the Beast
1996 - Sream
1997 - Event Horizon
1998 - Ringu
1999 - Audition
2000 - Ginger Snaps
2001 - The Others
2002 - Dog Soldiers
2003 - Dead End
2004 - R Point
2005 - The Descent
2006 - Black Sheep
2007 - Trick-R-Treat
2008 - Teeth
2009 - Dead Snow
2010 - Troll Hunter
2011 - You're Next
2012 - Cabin in the Woods
2013 - We Are What We Are
2014 - A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
2015 - It Follows
Reviews as I finish them.

Review: Black Science, Vol. 3: Vanishing Point

Black Science, Vol. 3: Vanishing Point Black Science, Vol. 3: Vanishing Point by Rick Remender
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Black Science's third volume is an improvement over the second volume. This time, the group finds themselves visiting an alternate reality best described as sci-fi Rome, devestated by a plague brought to the dimension by alternate versions of themselves.

Remender and Saclera's sci-fi romp still isn't quite living up to the promise of the first volume, but it's getting closer. I really, really want to like this series more than I am, htough. The premise is outstanding, and, while I have some issues with the Scalera's artwork as it stands (why do all of the women in this book look clones with different haircuts?), I think he does a lot of really cool things. The book has a distinct look, the suit designs are really cool, and the color work is bright and eye catching. It's frustrating that the series just feels like it's only running on half steam, and especially frustrating to see Remender relying on the same plot points over and over (e.g. the dramatic twist at the end of the last volume is repeated twice in this volume).

I'm starting to find it hard to justify following this.

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Review: The Complete Multiple Warheads

The Complete Multiple Warheads The Complete Multiple Warheads by Brandon Graham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Brandon Graham's Multiple Warheads is a tough book to review. What little plot there is follows two "stories". First, there's Sexica (Sex for short) and Nikoli. Sex is an organ smuggler of some kind; she sneaks out of the city and smuggles designer organs back into the city for sale to shady characters. Nik is her boyfriend; he seems to be a shy mechanic. Also he's part werewolf, because she smuggled a werewolf penis into the city and attached it to him, and he became a werewolf (and, yes, the whole book is filled with moments like that). The other story follows a different organ smuggler as she murders her way through a series of increasingly absurd locales in search of a specific target.

Graham's writing is really... unfiltered. This is a book that revels in ribald and perverse humor, puns (and puns and puns), and the absurd. The "stories" don't really follow an arc and none of them are actually resolved. There's a definite stream-of-consciousness feel to the whole thing, as though Graham just started writing down ideas and followed them no matter where they went.

To be blunt, I wasn't really wowed by the writing, here. As it became increasingly clear that the characters weren't actually saying anything important and that a lot of it was just going to be layers upon layers of bad puns and puerile jokes, I found myself skipping over the dialog completely. That skipping the dialog didn't seem to impede my ability to read the book is... not a great sign.

The art, on the other hand, is well worth the price of admission. That's what makes this such a difficult work to evaluate. The writing may be sub-par, but Graham's layouts and designs are brilliant, if absurd. There are moments of real greatness captured in his whimsical drawings. Long shots contain landscapes packed with tiny details that reward close examination.

If you're interested in (or, at least, can get over) Graham's sense of humor (i.e. fart/shit/dick/sex jokes, puns, and more puns) and don't mind cartoon violence and a bit of nudity, this might be worth checking out. As it stands, it wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I did find myself engrossed by some of the amazing and imaginative pages.

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Monday, September 21, 2015

Review: Batman: Earth One, Vol. 2

Batman: Earth One, Vol. 2 Batman: Earth One, Vol. 2 by Geoff Johns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Batman: Earth One, Volume 2 picks up six months after the events of volume one. Alfred has been working with Bruce to train him how to be a better fighter, and some of his work is starting to pay off; the criminal underground knows he exists, and they're starting to fear him.



I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't blown away by Johns and Frank in volume one. It was a perfectly capable Batman story, but it didn't really feel all that different from a million other Batman origin stories that I'd read. There were a few twists on the Batman mythology, but it still felt like Batman: Year One Redux. But this? This was good. Really good. This volume does a lot more to differentiate the character from his mainstream universe counterpart, and plays around with expectations so much more than the first volume did.

I like this take on Batman a lot. He's not the godlike perfection of mainstream Batman; he's a really rich guy who has put on a costume and is trying really hard to make his city better, but is clearly in over his head in a lot of ways. He's not even close to being the World's Greatest Detective, and I love it.



Batman isn't the only character to be reworked and altered on Earth One. Gordon is the least changed of the cast of characters, but everyone else has undergone some significant and interesting changes. Harvey Dent, Riddler, and Killer Croc all make appearances in this volume. Johns' take on Killer Croc is great; it doesn't quite do for him what "Heart of Ice" did for Mr. Freeze, but it's still leaps and bounds better than Croc usually gets.



Ultimately, this is a much more human take on the Dark Knight, well worth taking a look at. While some of it probably only works because it's subverting the tropes and clichés of the original, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Johns and Frank have taken the framework of Batman and put together a really interesting twist on it. "What if Batman didn't decide to start becoming Batman until he was already an adult?" is a worthy idea of exploration, and Johns really does it justice. Now the only question is: when can expect volume three?




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Sunday, September 20, 2015

Review: We Can Build You

We Can Build You We Can Build You by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

We Can Build You, by Philip K. Dick (who I usually love) has left me feeling betrayed. It's a sham; a bald-faced lie. The cover and descriptions whisper sweet tales of android presidents and moon settlements and questions about the nature of autonomy and humanity. If you build a perfect replica of a man, is it a man?

Sadly, we'll never know, because the vast majority of this book is really about an old man becoming obsessed with the 18-year-old daughter of his business partner. It's about him refusing to see the myriad reasons why a young mentally ill woman is not the appropriate object of affection for a man who is at least old enough to be her father.

The plot creeps along in fits and starts, and the most interesting aspects of the book--namely, the androids Lincoln and Stanton--repeatedly get sidelined by Dick's focus on mental illness and on Louis "falling in love" with Pris. The whole "romance" plot is particularly egregious given that there's literally nothing about her character or her interactions with Louis that would explain or justify the kind of interest he takes in her.

A confusing mess of a story that feels like it's trying too hard to make Big Social Commentary, but focuses on dull unlikable characters. A rare miss for PKD.

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Friday, September 18, 2015

Review: Batman: Earth One, Vol. 1

Batman: Earth One, Vol. 1 Batman: Earth One, Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Batman: Earth One is yet another in a very, very, very long line of retellings of Batman's origin story. Here, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank provide a version of Batman just a little grittier and raw than the mainstream version of Batman. Gone is the father/son by proxy relationship of Alfred and Bruce; instead, Alfred is brought in to provide security for the Waynes (that doesn't go as well as you'd hope). After the murder of Thomas and Martha, Alfred stays on to teach Bruce how to defend himself. Gone is the globe trotting training montage that typically accompanies Batman's origin. Instead, Johns pretty much jumps right into a Batman: Year One style story. This is the big premier of Batman.


I'll be honest, at this point, I've read so many Batman origin stories, it's hard to be fair judging them. They're all so similar. TO Johns' credit, he does add some interesting twists to the story, beyond the lack of Rocky montage. Bullock and Gordon are both very well written and interesting characters in their own right. I particularly like Johns take on Bullock, actually. He's very different from any other version of Bullock I've seen, and yet, he's still very Bullock.

Still, for all that, it is another Batman origin. Slight twists and new takes, but still a "young Bruce Wayne witnesses his parents' murder and adopts a bat disguise to avenge their deaths" story. And, since this is his first time donning the cape, we're treated to a number of scenes of the "Batman over-estimating his own abilities" type. It's entertaining enough, but I couldn't help but feel like I'd read it before.



Visually, Frank's art straddles the modern "realistic" take on super heroes and the more traditional comic style, resulting in a very detailed style that fits the book well. This Batman is a little more human than a lot of representations, so it makes sense for Frank to provide a costume for him that looks more like real clothing. You can always see Batman's eyes, for example (instead of just white eyes), and the earliest versions of the bat suit have combat boots and seams.

If you haven't read a million other verisons of Batman's origin, this is probably a four star book. Johns' writing is crips, and Frank's artwork is detailed and kinetic. If you've read as much Batman over the years as I have, this probably doesn't have nearly as much draw. It's entertaining enough, but it doesn't really bring enough new material to the table to make it a must-read.



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Review: The Awesome

The Awesome The Awesome by Eva Darrows
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes when I'm coming back from picking up lunch, I'll browse the newly returned/waiting to be shelved cart, looking for something fun and/or silly to read. Most of the time, it ends up being something from the graphic novel shelf, but this week, it was The Awesome, by Eva Darrows. I literally knew nothing about this book when I picked it up, except that it had a giant neon green skull with vampire teeth biting down on spalshy neon pink lettering shouting "THE AWESOME" at my eyeballs.

What is The Awesome? The Awesome is 17-year-old Maggie Cunningham, who is basically what you get if you take Buffy the Vampire Slayer, remove her super powers, and give her a foul-mouthed mother who spends her days teaching her daughter the ways of the monster hunter. She's teenage Simon Belmont with badass lady Van Helsing for a mother. In short, she's The Awesome, just like this book.

This book is equal parts monster fighting and teenage girl drama, which I'm sure isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was really refreshing to read about teens who act like teens. Maggie swears, is a little uncomfortable with her own body, is a smartass even when she knows she shouldn't be, feels bad about it even when she can't bring herself to apologize, and, yes, has sexual feelings about other people her own age. Also, she kills monsters.

While this has a lot of strong parralels to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Darrows has done a good job making this her own thing. It's a hodge-podge of influences and different takes on mythologies, and it all comes together in a fun, ridiculous, pulpy stew.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Review: The Goats

The Goats The Goats by Brock Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I started reading The Goats, by Brock Cole, I kept thinking "Wow, this reminds me a lot of the YA fiction stuff I read when I was a kid." Eventually, I checked the publication date, and, sure enough, it was published in 1987. The premise: A boy and a girl, both 13, end up being ditched on a small island, with no clothes or food, by their co-campers as part of a traditional camp prank. Embarrassed, afraid, and lonely, the two kids decide to try to escape from the island, rather than wait for their tormentors to return.

There is a sense of naiveté here that I strongly associate with 80s/early 90s YA lit. Some of it is cringe-worthy—a character concerned about sleeping in the same bed as another girl because “the black girl was so big, and she’d never touched a black person’s skin”—but most of the time, I found the innocence of the two characters more charming than not. This is a story about kids who are just starting to cross the bridge into adulthood, but they’re mostly just kids. And, in a lot of ways, they’re kids like I was a kid: a little awkward, a little picked on, a little confused by why things are the way they are.

One of the best parts of The Goats is the very organic way that Cole lets the kids, Howie and Laura, become close. The gradual way that they come to not only rely on, but trust and like each other, is very well executed. There’s not really any one particular moment where you can say “Oh, hey, they’re friends now.” Instead, there’s a continuum; at one end, they’re strangers who resent and distrust each other, at the other, they’re close friends who’ve overcome a unique and intense situation.

As much as I enjoyed this book, I wonder whether today’s youth would enjoy it as much, given the lack of nostalgia it would hold for them. Are the characters just a little too innocent for today’s world? Would the lack of cell phones be too jarring to kids who are so much more checked in than my generation was?

Amusingly, when I checked this out from the library, there was a small sticky note just inside the front of the book. At least some other reader found a lot in this book to chew on, so maybe it’s not all nostalgia, after all?


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Monday, September 14, 2015

Review: Punk Rock Jesus Deluxe Edition

Punk Rock Jesus Deluxe Edition Punk Rock Jesus Deluxe Edition by Sean Gordon Murphy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sean Gordon Murphy is quickly becoming one of my favorite comic book guys. His work on Joe the Barbarian is outstanding, and it's hard to imagine American Vampire without him. Punk Rock Jesus is the only thing I've read where he did both the writing and art, but I'd like to see more from him.

The premise is simple enough: A major media conglomeration decides to put together the ultimate reality show in the form of the second coming of Christ. Who has time to wait for the Lord's return, though? Instead, they claim to have cloned the savior from blood found on the shroud of Turin. In a culture obsessed with celebrity, television, and religion, this makes for the ultimate ratings grab. But what happens with the Lord decides he's had enough and sets out to tear down what his corporate masters have built up?

If you're looking for subtlety, a book called Punk Rock Jesus is probably not the best place to look. That said, if you're interested in a well paced story full of interesting characters and more than a little social criticism and satire, you could do a lot worse. Murphy is scathingly critical of the culture of celebrity media obsession that has taken over, but provides a much more balanced and sympathetic view of faith than you'd expect from the cover. The criticism here isn't about individual faith, but of the dangers that come from forcing faith on other people or allowing one person's faith to dictate other people's lives; messages that feel particularly topical right now.

Murphy has a kinetic, highly stylized approach to his art; I'm sure the black and white illustrations won't be to everyone's taste, but I thought they worked extremely well, here. There's clearly some anime/manga influence to his work, but it's a hybrid style that has a strong personal signature.

I picked this up on an impulse after recognizing Murphy's name, and, I must admit, this was surprisingly good; so much better than I thought it would be.

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Review: Revival, Vol. 5 : Gathering Of Waters

Revival, Vol. 5 : Gathering Of Waters Revival, Vol. 5 : Gathering Of Waters by Tim Seeley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After a brief dip in the fourth volume, Revival kicks it back into gear with a fantastic fifth volume. Tim Seeley and Mike Norton continue their "rural noir" exploration in great style.

I was a little worried after it felt like the fourth volume was starting to stall things that Revival was going to be spinning its wheels a bit; I'm happy to be proven so very wrong. Seeley and Norton are firing on all cylinders, now. They've taken a genre that has been done to death, and they're breathing new life into it, and taking it in unexpected new directions. It's hard to imagine that I'd be talking about how excited I am to be reading an ongoing series about zombies in the tail end of 2015, but there it is. Seeley is really engaging with a lot of interesting ideas, and I'm genuinely excited to see where it goes. This is probably the best "new" book I've read so far this year (new to me, at least).

Once again, Norton turns in excellent work on the art. The biggest black mark in this collection, sadly, falls on his shoulders. Near the end of the collection, at a particularly pivotal moment, there are four pages that appear to have been done by a fill-in artist, and it really mars an otherwise amazing collection. The fill-in artist lacks any of Norton's subtlety, and the characters take on a far more cartoonish appearance. Given the importance of the scene, it's a particularly glaring change.

Other than that, though, this is pretty amazing work. If you're not reading this yet, you damn well ought to be.



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Review: God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 1: The Head That Wouldn't Die!

God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 1: The Head That Wouldn't Die! God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 1: The Head That Wouldn't Die! by Ryan Browne
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

God Hates Astronauts, by Ryan Browne, is a little bit like a mid-2000s Adult Swim show. There's a lot of "random" humor, graphic violence, and swearing. There are deformed cowboys riding seahorses, a character based on Family Matters cop, Carl Winslow, with gorilla arms, etc. There's a lot of stuff going on, and a clear "throw everything to the wall and see what sticks" aesthetic. Except that the wall appears to have been made of glue. If this is the stuff that stuck, one can't help but wonder what didn't.

This is definitely a case where I'm the wrong target for this book, but where i imagine that, in the right hands, this book would absolutely kill it. I would guess that this hits all the right notes for fans of shows like Super Jail, later Ren & Stimpy, or who are still watching Aquateen Hunger Force. It's raw, unfiltered, absurd jokes and violence slapped over a veil-thin plot.

Not my cup of tea, but a fine meal for someone.

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Saturday, September 12, 2015

Review: Colere Noire Tpb

Colere Noire Tpb Colere Noire Tpb by Thierry Smolderen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In Colere Noire, Marielle, a recently divorced woman living with her teen son, and Stella, an enigmatic South American visiting with her husband, are strangers doing their daily shopping when the senseless violence of a grocery store robbery leaves their loved ones dead. The pain and anger that follows, and their desire for justice, creates a bond that forever links the two women, despite their very different life experiences. When the police prove to be ineffective at helping bring the killer to justice, the two women begin to plot revenge on the man who pulled the trigger.

Thierry Smolderen seems to be interested in exploring the minds and relationships of women in this middle of the road crime comic, but, ultimately, falls into the tired cliche of making two ostensibly straight women suddenly gay for each other for the benefit of the fan service. The criminals are largely forgettable, except for the primary antagonist, which doesn't help. The crime itself does have a somewhat interesting motivation, but that's not enough to save what is otherwise a fairly mediocre work.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Review: Jonny Double

Jonny Double Jonny Double by Brian Azzarello
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This pre-100 Bullets work from Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso pulls obscure DC beatnik private eye Jonny Double and puts him into a typical noir detective set-up. A bunch of restless twenty-somethings out looking for thrills think they've come up with a clever get-richer-quick scheme: steal the money from an inactive bank account belonging to the now-deceased Al Capone. Jonny, who is being paid to watch over the daughter of a wealthy client, gets pulled into the scheme. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and when it hits the fan, Jonny has to figure out who he can trust, and who wants to put a knife in his back.

As a huge fan of 100 Bullets, I wanted to love this a lot more than I actually did. The plot, from Azzarello, is solid enough, but relies on a series of coincidences that end up feeling a little bit like a cheat. As the saying goes, it's ok to use coincidence to get characters in to trouble, but it's cheating to use coincidences to get them out. Unfortunately, a lot of the plot of Jonny Double relies on coincidences, both to get him in and out of trouble, which makes the final act a little unsatisfying.

Risso's art is all orange and blue and heavy shadow. Risso's work is perfect for urban crime fiction, and this is no exception. His work often has a cinematic quality, with scenes playing out in unusual angles and the point of view shifting between characters. One of Risso's trademarks seems to be the big panel showing a wide scene with smaller, close-up, panels laid over it.

While Risso's art is generally well laid out and really matches--or sets--the mood of the story, there's a scene (the nightclub scene) where the Risso and Azzarello have too many things happening at once, and too much of the action is happening off the page, so that it's really hard to tell exactly what is really happening. Over the course of three pages, two characters are seriously injured, but it's not clear at all who did it, despite most of the action happening in a heavily occupied bathroom.

If you're looking for a decent noir mystery, or looking for a work that could easily be a 100 Bullets side story, this is a good option. While the conclusion relies too heavily on chance for my taste, and the club scene is hard to parse, the book does show Azzarello's command of urban crime fiction. Even the smallest bit characters are given a real sense of being, and Azzarello puts a lot of tiny details into the story that really shine through as slice-of-life moments.

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Review: Revival, Vol. 4: Escape to Wisconsin

Revival, Vol. 4: Escape to Wisconsin Revival, Vol. 4: Escape to Wisconsin by Tim Seeley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The mystery of the revived and the murder of Em continues in volume four of Revival. I've praised Seeley and Norton repeatedly, and most of that praise carries on here. This volume continues to explore a number of important sub-plots happening throughout the first three volumes. The biggest problem with this volume are two things: a crossover with Chew that doesn't really further the plot at all (and could have easily been part of a regular story not involving Chew; I know I'm pretty much the only person who doesn't love Chew, but, well, I really don't like it), and a weird and somewhat jarring interlude between Em and a reviver introduced in this book.

This volume just doesn't have as much meat as the previous volumes, and much of it feels just a little uneven. Dana's trip to NYC is perhaps the highlight of the volume, as it helps develop her relationship with her son and ties up a loose end from early in the series, but most of the rest of the story arcs contained here just don't measure up to earlier volumes.

Still, Revival at its lowest point so far is still far better than a lot of other works.

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Review: Black Science, Vol. 2: Welcome, Nowhere

Black Science, Vol. 2: Welcome, Nowhere Black Science, Vol. 2: Welcome, Nowhere by Rick Remender
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Black Science is an ambitious work. The whole Quantum Leap/Sliders/Star Gate combo, flying through parallel universes, trying to get home, possibly running into alternate versions of themselves, all while surviving on very alien versions of Earth... this is big complicated pulpy sci-fi goodness. It really should be an easy sell, as well. So why is this volume such a mess?

The artwork, by Scalera, White, and Spicer is certainly partially responsible. While there are plenty of really inspired and interesting visuals here--see, for instance, the opening splash page depicting an alien Colosseum and fish drawn chariot--too much of the book is really muddy and hard to decipher. Action sequences, in particular, read very poorly. While the designs themselves are visually appealing, the backgrounds are often indistinct smudges and blobs, and the color palate relies heavily on dark blues, greens, purples, and browns.

Remender also has the unfortunate habit of jumping around wildly, making following the story--which would, frankly, be pretty difficult anyway, given that we're dealing with multiple versions of the characters traveling through parallel realities--more difficult than it needs to be. I'm not sure that focusing on Pia and Nate for so much of the story was a wise narrative move. Pia and Nate are two of the weakest characters in this volume. Pia, in particular, spends far too much of the story being bitter and whiny to be enjoyable. I understand that she's supposed to be dealing with the fallout of the last volume's events, but you'd think that running for your lives on an alien reality might provide a little bit more perspective than she seems to have about her priorities. Maybe while fleeing from psychic centipede monsters isn't the best time to have the "our dad is a jerk" conversation?

Still, even with those complaints, there's still a solid core of total awesomeness here. Remender is losing some good will here, but there's enough crunch sci-fi goodness for me to give volume 3 a chance. Get it together, Remender. You've got a great set-up, now do good things with it.

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Review: Revival, Vol. 3: A Faraway Place

Revival, Vol. 3: A Faraway Place Revival, Vol. 3: A Faraway Place by Tim Seeley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Volume 3 of Tim Seeley and Mike Norton's rural noir continues the high quality of the earlier volumes and pushing the story in interesting directions.

After the explosive violence of the last issue, Em and Dana are forced into an uneasy truce, although both continue to hide secrets from the other. Em refuses to help Dana solve the mystery of Em's death, and Dana is starting to close in on her prime suspect. Meanwhile, tensions continue to mount as the quarantine drags on and the farmers have their livestock taken from them for testing. On top of all that, there are finally some clues as to the nature of the ghosts/visitors that wander the areas outside of town.

There's a lot going on in this volume, but that's not a bad thing. There's always a danger in serialized works that things will drag on too long and that the answers never really come. Seeley does a great job providing some answers (or at least hinting at some of them) while providing even more questions to press the story forward. The book provides satisfying plot progression on both of the main plots--who killed Em? What's the deal with everyone coming back from the dead?--even though that progression mostly serves to create more questions.

There's not much to say about the artwork that I haven't said already; Norton's art is a pleasure. I particularly enjoy the range of expressions he's able to give different characters. All of them have distinct appearances and express a full range of emotions. Excellent work.

While there's always the threat that a serialized work will stagnate and tread water, it's refreshing to see that Seeley and Norton have avoided that pitfall so far. If you enjoyed the first two volumes, I can't imagine anything that would prevent you from enjoying this one.

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Review: A Line of Blood: A Novel

A Line of Blood: A Novel A Line of Blood: A Novel by Ben McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was an Advanced Reader Copy generously provided to the library in exchange for a fair review.

A Line of Blood, the debut novel from Ben McPherson, is a dark look at the hidden side of relationships, and the lies we not only tell others, but ourselves. Alex and Millicent Mercer live in a small London neighborhood with their son, Max. For Alex, this life is everything he could have hoped for; his family--his little tribe--provide him with everything he wants in life. When Max and Alex find their neighbor dead in his bathtub, Alex is forced to confront the tough truth that his life is not as picture perfect as it seemed to be, and that his sense of himself isn't as honest as he'd like to believe.

This is an excellent debut from McPherson. While the basic premise has certainly been done before--"strange death uncovers dark family secrets" is well trod ground by now--McPherson's prose breathes real life into the world of this troubled family. The story is told entirely from Alex's perspective, which brilliantly lets us see, not only how he views his family, but how he views himself. This creates a wonderful tension, as McPherson so adroitly captures those moments where the person we tell ourselves we are comes into conflict with the things we do when we're really being ourselves. It's particularly impressive that Alex never comes across as cliche or unreal. His pain, anger, confusion feel very honest. McPherson perfectly captures not only the obvious thoughts and actions of a person in pain, but many of the subtly, harder to spot reactions.

Alex's relationship with his wife is brutally, brilliantly tragic. McPherson manages to impress upon the reader both the love they have for each other and the anger and resentment. Throughout the book, both characters do profoundly hurtful things and experience intense suffering, but McPherson allows each character to react and act, without falling into the trap of villainizing either of them. Both of them come across as people doing they best they can in life, but who have made intense, serious mistakes.

The weakest element of the story is the portrayal of Max. While there are times where Max was endearing, charming, and amusing, there were as many times where I had a hard time believing that this was a real child, or believing the ways that the adults around him were reacting to his behavior. In a book where the other main characters felt so real, and where I was sucked so completely into the drama of their lives, the flatness of Max was jarring.

Still, this was a tremendously engaging read, and I look forward to seeing what else McPherson comes out with. A Line of Blood is a thrilling trip to a dark place, and if it isn't completely unpredictable, it's still a tremendously well executed take on a familiar theme. The believable and moving exploration of Alex and Millicent's relationship, and the strains that the discoveries takes on it, more than make up for the weaker execution of Max.



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Review: Panic Walks Alone

Panic Walks Alone Panic Walks Alone by William L. Rivera
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When an insurance executive, Paul Langley, at West Coast Life Insurance Company is murdered in his office, the police are baffled. As far as they're concerned, it was "wrong place, wrong time," but the head of the Board of Directors isn't so sure. Convinced that someone on the Board hated Langley enough to want him dead, Jan Oosting calls in Turo Bironico, an investigative consultant, to look over the dead man's work and find out who on the board may have done in Langley.

While Turo digs around, trying to figure out who might have had it in for Langley, he finds his personal life thrown out of balance by his deepening relationship with Sue Driscoll, personal assistant to an up and coming politician. Both of them are strong and independent, and neither of them are sure how to handle the complexities of their relationship and the demands that relationship is starting to make on their professional lives.

Panic Walks Alone, by William L. Rivera, is a little bit of a mixed bag. The A plot, involving the murdered executive, is a neatly crafted who-dunnit. There are ample suspects, each with their own suspicious quirks and potential motives. Despite being published in '76, there's a strong pulp sensibility to the whole case; there are multiple murders, threats, daring escapes, gun fights, and some two-fisted action to keep the pace clipping along. For a guy who is more at home in a board room than a barroom, Turo handles himself with the kind of right hook and daring-do that would make the hardest of hard-boiled detectives nod in appreciation.

The B plot, however, is a little bit undercooked. A lot of Turo's relationship woes come across as an anti-feminist polemic; the frequency and heavy-handedness of the diatribes feels very out of place in an otherwise light work. The portrayal of "enlightened" women is grossly unfair; the relationship between Sue and Turo has been developing slowly over the course of months, and the major tension in the relationship comes from Sue's desire to keep working on the political campaign; she worries that she won't be able to work and have a serious relationship at the same time (this, despite the fact that neither she nor turo have any desire for kids). Turo spends large chunks of the book considering ending things with Sue because he worries they've become too close to each other, but he becomes enraged to the point of violence by the idea that she might end their relationship. This, after he sleeps with at least two other women in the span of a week. Luckily, the B plot only comprises a small portion of the book.

Overall, a fun mid-range pulp that ends up being weighed down needlessly by petty jabs at ideaology.



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Review: Blindsight

Blindsight Blindsight by Peter Watts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blindsight, by Peter Watts, is one of a long line of "first contact" stories. Like many of the books before it, this one concerns mankind discovering that we're not alone in the vastness of space, then sending out a crew to meet our intersteller neighbors for the first time. Here, Siri Keeton and a crew of misfits are selected to head out to intercept an approaching alien vessel. Each of them is a specialist in some way, and all of them stretch the limits of what we think of as "human."

There's a lot of really interesting things happening in Blindsight; it's the sort of dense science fiction that invites repeated readings. While the book is nominally a "first contact" story, it's also an interesting examination of what it means to be human and a challange to traditional notions of consciousness. Can you be intelligent but unaware of yourself as an individual?

Watts packs a lot of interesting material into a mid-length novel. The future-tech he explores feels not only plausible, but likely. So much of our society is evolving towards a hybrid online/offline existence, the idea that some people would opt to remove themselves from the meat world completely to exist solely as digital avatars in an online world seems almost inevitable. Speaking of inevitable: Watts' does an excellent job exploring some of the tension between being the best in your field and retaining your humanity in a world where cybernetics can allow people to experience and interact with the world in ways that our biology makes impossible. How much of your physical body would you be willing to cut out and let go of to stay top in your field?

The writing is tense and, at times, claustrophobic. Siri's narration always tries to hold a certain distance and impartialty, and Watts uses this to great success. As the investigations into the alien craft begin to deepen, the limits of Siri's experiences and awareness help to keep the mood tense and emphasize the vast gulf between what is happening and what is actually understood.

As I mentioned earlier, though, this is a really dense book. There's a lot of science to parse, from a lot of different fields. Watts does a good job providing contextual clues and some basic primers on some of the fields, but I did find myself turning to the Internet for clues at times. This isn't a bad thing, but some readers may find the level of detail a little overwhelming.

Overall, this is a taut, well constructed novel exploring some fascinating topics. The tense, at times deeply unsettling and disturbing, atmosphere, combined with an unusual and interesting take on "first contact" make for a thrilling, if challening, read. This might not be the best choice for a reader looking for light science fiction, but for fans of the genre looking for something with teeth, this is well worth checking out.

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Review: Foxglove Summer

Foxglove Summer Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Foxglove Summer is the fifth of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London/Peter Grant series (think: police procedural with magic). Aaronovitch's novel continues his trend of producing immensely satisfying and highly entertaining, if slightly flawed, reads.

This time, Grant finds himself out in the country following up on a former colleague of Nightengale's, and ends up helping look for two missing girls who disappeared at the same time. Weirdness ensues, and Grant finds himself up to his neck in magical muckity muck.

This entry doesn't do much to push forward Faceless Man plot that was exploding at the end of Broken Homes, but the case that Grant is tackling this time around provides Aaronovitch an opportunity to take him out of the comfort of the London streets and push him out into the unfamiliar territory of the more rural surrounding areas. The juxtaposition of city and country offers a chance to explore differing policing styles and ways that the respective communities respond to problems. As far as "fish out of water" plots go, this is pretty good.

Aaronvitch's writing is sharp and funny. Grant continues to be the sort of character I'd love to stop and have a pint with, even if he can be a little bit oblivious at times. There's a great deal going on all the time, and I really appreciate that Aaronovitch provides multiple angles of approach for the problems that Grant is facing. It's very satisfying to have the mystery unfolding and to slowly discover, along with Grant, which pieces are actually part of the puzzle, and which are just red herrings. Most of the pieces are there, but, as in real life, the can seem to be making several different pictures at once. It's only as the case is coming to a close that the final pieces reveal what was really going on.

While I really enjoyed Foxglove Summer, the conclusion does feel rather rushed, and the deus ex machina could have used a little more explanation (to prevent it form being one). I also would have liked to have seen the FM plot pushed forward a lot more (especially in light of the last book!). I can understand the value in giving Grant a chance to breathe a bit, and take in what happened, but it does feel a little anticlimactic, given how much the status quo was shaken up in the last book.

Still, despite a few minor flaws, Foxglove Summer is an excellent entry in a great series.


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Review: Broken Homes

Broken Homes Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Broken Homes, the fourth of the Rivers of London/Peter Grant novels, by Ben Aaronovitch, continues to impress as much as the first three novels in the series. For newcomers, DC Peter Grant is a special sort of copper; he and the rest of the crew at the Folly (all 3 of them... four if you count the dog) investigate the really weird stuff that happens around London. Not just "guy in a bear suit playing keytar" weird, more like "half-man/half-bear guy rampaging through the subway" weird. Their latest case starts with a car accident. Not especially strange by itself, but the fact that there's evidence that a cadaver might have walked away on its own raises some eyebrows. When another body turns up later, cooked from the inside, the Folly is dragged into an investigation that bears all the marks of their nemesis, the Faceless Man.

Broken Homes starts off slower than the earlier books; Grant isn't quite as snarky this time around, and there's a lot of legwork involved in tracking down the information about the deaths he's investigating. It comes across as just a little drier, perhaps, than the first three books. Still engaging, but not as fast paced.

If the early parts of the book are a comfortable ride through the scenic valleys, the third act explodes like a fighter jet rocketing through the sky. Aaronvitch has already shown that he's willing to push his characters around a bit, and this book is no exception. The stakes are getting higher with each book, and a final showdown between the Folly and the Faceless Man can't be far off.

Broken Homes is a really terrific read that perfectly blends mystery and magic with just the right dose of humor. The result is a well crafted mystery full of charming characters that I've really grown attached to (always a dangerous thing!). The best thing I can say for it is that it has me eagerly anticipating the moment I can crack open the next book.

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Review: A Coffin for Dimitrios

A Coffin for Dimitrios A Coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Coffin for Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler, is an intriguing story about a mystery writer, a dead crook, and a cross-country search for truth. Charles Latimer, an author of British mysteries, is vacationing abroad, when he meets a high ranking Turkish police officer. Their conversation about the differences between reality and fiction eventually leads to Latimer seeing the body of the recently deceased Dimitrios. Dimitrios was a career criminal of the worst sort, peddling in drugs, murder, extortion, and assassination. Yet, for all that he is implicated in countless crimes, very little is actually known about the mysterious criminal. So begins Latimer's adventure, searching for the story behind the mystery.

A Coffin for Dimitrios is well crafted; Ambler slowly doles out more and more information about Dimitrios as Latimer digs deeper into the history of the enigmatic criminal. While some aspects of his past come as no real shock, there are still plenty of surprising twists and side trips to keep the story moving in interesting directions. Each time Latimer uncovers a new lead or a new piece of evidence, Ambler provides a flashback vignette of the event, from the perspective of someone involved. The assorted criminals and spies that Dimitrios was associated with mean that each of these are interesting short stories in their own right.

As you might expect from a book with an author for a protagonist, there are quite a few moments where Latimer muses about writing or about the differences between narrative and historical account. A Coffin for Dimitrios plays around with and subverts some of the genre conventions, which makes some of Latimer's observations ironic in hindsight.

For readers less familiar with the politics and history of the Balkins, a quick refresher might enhance the reading, but such knowledge isn't necessary to enjoy this well crafted mystery.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable, slow-burning mystery with an interesting cast of characters and enough political intrigue and double crossing to keep things exciting.



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Review: Beast In View

Beast In View Beast In View by Margaret Millar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beast in View, by Margaret Millar, is a somewhat entertaining thriller that suffers a bit from the ravages of age. The central plot, involving a young woman receiving threatening calls from someone she knew when she was younger, has been done many times since this was written, and the eventual outcome is obvious fairly quickly, although there are some attempts by Millar to conceal the nature of the antagonist, most readers won't have any trouble deducing the nature of the conflict fairly quickly.

The characters themselves are a little on the thin side, but Millar does pack a lot of atmosphere into a small package. Even after I was sure I knew what was coming, I continued to read, just for the pulpy writing. I'm not sure I could recommend seeking this out, but I wouldn't tell anyone to avoid it, either.


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Review: An Unsuitable Job For A Woman

An Unsuitable Job For A Woman An Unsuitable Job For A Woman by P.D. James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An Unsuitable Job For a Woman, by P.D. James, provides a brilliant introduction to private detective Cordelia Gray. Cordelia's mentor and partner, a former cop (who seems to have been short on talent but long on decent advice and platitudes), leaves Cordelia his share of their struggling agency and his worldly possessions. On the day that he kills himself, a wealthy client comes calling with a job offer. Cordelia takes the case and sets out to investigate why the son of a famous scientist might have taken his own life.

Cordelia is a pretty interesting character, and the small hints James parcels out about her life are intriguing. She's clever and quick, and perhaps just the right amount of cynical. Her unusual past gives her a very different perspective than her contemporaries, but makes her a plucky and engaging protagonist.

While the plot does, at times, stretch suspension of disbelief a bit--the speed with which she forms a friendship with and is accepted by a group of students, for example, or the motivations of several of the antagonists, for another--it does move at a quick pace. James does an excellent job keeping Cordelia busy on the case. Cordelia is kind enough to keep the reader informed of her methods and observations, so that even casual readers shouldn't have much trouble following her conclusions and seeing how the case is unfolding.

Cordelia isn't quite as hard-boiled as Spade or Marlowe, but she's close, and, in a genre that can sometimes feel overloaded with testosterone and fists, she's a welcome addition to the stable of detectives.

A shifting plot that takes time to properly unfold, a plucky and thoroughly competent female lead, and a solid ending that feels tremendously satisfying make this highly recommended for fans of hard-boiled fiction looking for a change of pace.

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Review: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, by Edwin A. Abbott, is an interesting, if somewhat dry, novel. In it, we're introduced to the citizens of Flatland, a world of two dimensions. There, geometric shapes live out their lives, oblivious to the existence of the third dimension. One day, a sphere intrudes upon the narrator's life, and forces him to confront the reality of the third dimension. This simple act opens up new avenues of thought and possibility, but puts him at odds with his government, which strictly forbids even discussing the possibility of a third dimension.

Abbott's text is heavy handed satire. His scathing indictments of various aspects of Victorian society are numerous and blunt. Women are denied even minimal education and are treated as complete dullards incapable of controlling their emotions, while the men in Flatland learn to doublespeak around them to prevent raising their ire, lest the women skewer them, killing them. Society is ruled by closed minded clerics who base a person's value on the number of sides they have. The closer to a true circle a citizen of Flatland is, the more perfect and valuable they are.

While the book is overflowing with blunt social commentary, the real meat is in the exploration of dimensions. The book provides a simple and effective allegory to illustrate how difficult-nigh impossible-it is to describe dimensions above/beyond the ones we are accustomed to seeing. The exploration of Pointland, Flatland, and Spaceland, and the accompanying dialog between the sphere and the square, are easily the best part of Flatland. As a criticism of closed minded thinking and hypocritical science, it's quite effective.

A somewhat dry, overly didactic first half but a very engaging and illuminating second make this a somewhat uneven, but mostly enjoyable read.

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Review: Kimmie66

Kimmie66 Kimmie66 by Aaron Alexovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How much do we know about the people in our lives, when the people in our lives are online personas? That's the central question in Aaron Alexovich's Kimmie66.

The story itself is simple enough: In the distant future, Kimmie66 sends a note to her friend, Telly, saying that she plans to kill herself. The problem: Telly and Kimmie66 have never met in meatspace; they've only ever interacted online. Telly starts to worry about what might have happened, and how she can help her friend, when things start to get weird.

Alexovich wrote and drew this short work, published under the sadly short lived Minx banner. His visual style, easily recognized by fans of his work on Invader Zim, is sort of quirky sci-fi cyberpunk cute. The characters are very exaggerated and cartoonish, which may distract some readers, but I enjoyed the playfulness of his artwork. It works very well for a story set in such a strange future (also, for a story that largely takes place in a digital world).

The plot does raise some interesting philosophical questions about trust and identity, and it's hard not to wonder how different Kimmie's life might have been if she had more friends offline, instead of all online. That said, Alexovich doesn't preach, and there's not a sense that he thinks there's anything wrong with having an online community. Also of note, he doesn't seek to minimize the pain/anger/hurt that people experience from online relationships.

While the book does raise interesting questions, it did feel like there was a certain level of disconnect or dissonance between the style and the content. The dialog and visuals instantly call to mind Invader Zim or other relatively light fare, but the content of the story felt like it wanted a little more restraint and perhaps a more serious tone overall. The book is addressing real issues that have serious life consequences, and the humorous visual tone ends up conflicting with that goal. That said, this is still an interesting, if too light, read.

The issues Telly is dealing with will likely resonate with teens and young adults, making this a good fit for a YA collection. Because this book does deal with suicide and death rather frankly, younger kids may find some of the content disturbing.


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Review: Whispers Underground

Whispers Underground Whispers Underground by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(Note: I accidentally read this before reading Moon Over Soho, which is supposed to come before it. Oops. At first, I just thought Aaronovitch was dropping little bits about cases that fell between Midnight Riot and this deliberately for effect, to show that Grant is a little more experienced now. It took a while for me to put it together that I'd accidentally skipped a book. Oh well!)

Whispers Underground continues the adventures of Peter Grant and his supernatural adventures working for the British police services. The A plot here involves tracking down the murderer of an American living in London who was found after being stabbed on the tracks of the subway system. The B plot involves the team trying to track down improperly trained magicians who may be working with the faceless man (who, as noted above, I don't actually know anything much about, since he turned up in the second book, which I foolishly skipped).

Aaronovitch continues to impress me, here. Whispers Underground unravels like an onion, peeled back layer by layer as Grant and the other members of the Folly follow the clues and interview people. Aaronovitch does an excellent job weaving subtle clues and hints about what is coming through background characters or through conversations that, at first blush, seem mostly there to develop characters or provide flavor to the world. It's a clever way to use some of the world building elements to help push the story and solve the mystery.

More than clever, the book is fun. Aaronovitch's dialog is, at times, laugh out loud funny. The cast are genuinely funny, and Aaronovitch manages to avoid the trap of making all of the characters sound the same. While the younger characters do tend towards the glib, they still largely have unique voices.

I'm definitely glad to have continued with this series, and I look forward to moving backward to check out Moon Over Soho.



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Review: Masks & Mobsters, Vol. 1

Masks & Mobsters, Vol. 1 Masks & Mobsters, Vol. 1 by Joshua Williamson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Masks & Mobsters is a collection of short, loosely connected stories set in sometime around the 1930s or '40s, in a time when costumed super heroes are just starting to show up. Obviously, for the organized crime families, this is an... unpleasant development. While the families have paid their protection money, making them largely immune from real punishment at the hands of the police or the courts, the bosses still don't like having costumed brutes smashing up their organization's operations. After one hero puts a powerful boss in the slammer, the families vow revenge. Someone is clearly leaking information to the costumed creeps, and they want to know who. But, when an enforcer for the family manages to gun down one of the most famous heroes in the city, war breaks out between the masks and the mobsters.

This volume is a little uneven, but generally a lot of fun. Fans of the pulp era should get a kick out of this reimagining of that time period. Even the weakest stories in this volume (one that is a spoof of the child adventurer stories, and another that is a riff on the Christmas Carol) still entertain, and the strongest stories here make me hope for a second volume. The artwork, black and white throughout, is quite capable, and some of the long shots, showing off the city as people run across rooftops or fly off into the distance, are just fantastic.

I'm not sure how much broad appeal this has, but for fans of that lovely pulp era, this is a loving homage well worth checking out.

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Review: Revival, Vol. 1: You're Among Friends

Revival, Vol. 1: You're Among Friends Revival, Vol. 1: You're Among Friends by Tim Seeley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Revival, Volume 1: You're Among Friends by Tim Seeley is an intriguing book that shows a lot of promise. The basic premise: in a small Wisconsin town several dozen corpses return to life at the same time. They're not like Hollywood movie zombies, though. They're just... risen. For the most part, they're just like they were before they died. Some of them just want to return to work. Others want to know why they've been brought back. Both the risen and their friends/families have to figure out what to make of this miracle and figure out how to go on with their lives amidst the intrigue and publicity this brings to their town.

The first volume lays the premise, introduces the cast of characters, and sets up a couple of different mysteries/plot points that, presumably, function as the major arcs for at least the first few volumes. The artwork is well done (although, be warned, frequently graphic), and Norton does an excellent job giving each character a distinct visual look.

The book does jump around a lot, so many of the "chapters" end up being only a page or two long in places, which might be a little distracting to some readers, but, overall, this shows a lot of promise, and I hope that later volumes are as well written as this.

An interesting sci-fi/horror vibe in the grain of an extended Twilight Zone episode make this a strong recommendation for comic fans looking for something outside of the typical tights and capes stuff, or people who want to see a new take on old ideas.

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Review: The Thief

The Thief The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Thief from Fuminori Nakamura is an existential roadtrip through the psyche of a master pickpocket as he faces his own mortality and questions his life choices in the aftermath of a job that didn't quite go as planned.

This felt a little bit like reading the love child of Richard Stark and Camus. Several very well plotted and executed "action" show off the narrator's criminal abilities, but Nakamura gives a lot more space to the narrator's emotional crisis than to his trade craft. As with any post-modern work, there are threads that never really come to a close, and many of the events of the book feel more like dream sequences or hallucinations than lived experiences, but that's clearly intentional.

Not quite my cup of tea, but a fast, engaging read all the same.

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Review: Wildcats 3.0: Year Two

Wildcats 3.0: Year Two Wildcats 3.0: Year Two by Joe Casey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Joe Casey's reboot of the Wildcats franchise started off with a bang in Year One, but, unfortunately, seems to run out of steam near the end of this volume. This volume picks up immediately at the end of the last volume, and the larger arcs that have been developing continue for a while. There's plenty of strong build-up, but the final act's focus is such a shift in tone and content from the corporate/political intrigue that Casey was carefully crafting that it's hard not to feel let down.

The action sequences are still amazing, and the cast of characters is eclectic and fun, but what started off as a book about a really cool concept (what happens when super heroes stop being "super heroes" and start changing the world?) finishes up exactly like the books it was reacting to (i.e. lots of big dumb heroes punching the crap out of each other).

Not a bad book, by any means, but one that doesn't live up to the promise of the first book.

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Review: Wildcats 3.0: Year One

Wildcats 3.0: Year One Wildcats 3.0: Year One by Joe Casey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Joe Casey's reboot of the Wildcats franchise is an excellent execution of a premise that modern comic book fans are probably at least a little familiar with: what if super-heroes stopped spending their time punching each other in the face and tried to actually make the world a better place.

In Year One, Jack Marlowe and Grifter, of the original team, along with newcomer Agent Wax, put together the Halo Corporation, which promises to fix what ails the world. More specifically, they're selling batteries. That never run out of energy.

This volume sets up a strong foundation for future stories as Casey introduces a varied cast of characters and sets up their conflicts. In this capes meets corporate world, alliances are tenuous and it's never completely clear who has ulterior motives and what they might be.

For fans looking for a story that goes beyond the usual "heroes foiling a bad guy's plan by kicking his brain in" routine, this offers a nice transition. Plenty of old-school action layered on top of a political/business thriller makes this a solid read.

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Review: Fell, Volume 1: Feral City

Fell, Volume 1: Feral City Fell, Volume 1: Feral City by Warren Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fell, a sadly incomplete comic series from Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith, has only received one small collected edition. The original run (which is, I think, technically ongoing?) found nine issues released over the course of three years. The first eight are collected here.

Fell is really interesting; set in a strange, run-down city plagued by crime, Detective Fell sets out to solve cases and make the world a little better. Each issue tackles a single case to completion (in only 16 pages!), but there are dribs and drabs of deeper mysteries that, sadly, remain unsolved. Why is Fell exiled to Snowtown? What's the deal with the nun? Why is Snowtown such a craphole? Alas, with the last issue coming out five years ago, we're unlikely to get those answers anytime soon.

That said, what Ellis and Templesmith finished is well worth reading. Detective Fell is a strong lead to hang the book on; his desire to do right by his city feels very genuine, even as he's forced to make difficult decisions. There are some genuinely funny moments, as well as some really touching moments (and, of course, more than a few wtf moments).

If you're looking for a crime comic (a genre that is, thankfully, expanding), Fell is a solid choice.

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Review: Midnight Riot

Midnight Riot Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Midnight Riot takes everything I was unhappy about in my last foray into the world of supernatural crime novels (urban fantasy, apparently?), and fixes it. Set in a London where the supernatural world exists in the fringes of our own, more mundane, world, Midnight Riot follows PC Peter Grant through his first real cases. The A plot, from which the book takes its American title, involves a murderer taking inspiration from Mr. Punch, while the B plot, from which the book takes its British title, involves Grant trying to find a way to force the God and Goddess of the Thames make peace with each other, to avoid a supernatural gang war.

If, like me, you were interested in the Dresden Files but found yourself a little put off by the main character, this might be a good alternative. Peter Grant is one of those characters that you read about and think "why aren't we friends?" Then you remember "Oh, right. Because he's fictional." Where I found Dresden a little bit of a creep, Grant feels likable (despite both of them being awkward around women they're interested in).

Solid world building, an interesting (and likable) antagonist, and an creative take on various supernatural tropes makes this a really fun read. I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

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Review: Storm Front

Storm Front Storm Front by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Storm Front, the first book in Dresden Files series, is a title I've been meaning to pick up for some time. It's been suggested to me numerous times, and "wizard detective" is a natural fit for my interests, just a little behind "robot detective."

One of the best things about Butcher's creation is the careful world building he's done here. There seems to be a lot of thought and planning into how magic works in this world, and I like that Butcher sets up the rules in a way that the reader understands them. This isn't Harry Potter magic where you mutter some words and stuff just happens.

One of the worst things about this book is that Harry Dresden is kind of a prat. This seems to be a deliberate choice on Butcher's part, and while I can appreciate what he's doing (I think. Harry is at least partially this way because he's spent his life buried in books and studying magic, so he hasn't really had the best socialization), it's a little grating after a while.

I suspect that at least part of my reaction to Harry is colored by social forces that weren't as prevalent in 2000 as they are in 2015 (Harry's constant comments about chivalry and his hat-tipping "m'lady" attitude absolutely reek of the stereotype "gamer geek sexism" that has been argued about non-stop for the last year or two).

The plot is relatively straight-forward, and most readers will figure out the answers to the plot questions quite a bit before Harry does, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

This is a solid enough first entry that I'll probably try some of the later books, but I'm not sure that this is the right series for me. The action and detective parts are solid and engaging, and I appreciate the world building, but I'm having trouble liking Harry Dresden as a character.


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Review: Delusion: A Novel of Suspense

Delusion: A Novel of Suspense Delusion: A Novel of Suspense by Peter Abrahams
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Alvin DuPree was sent to prison on the testimony of Nell Jarreau, who witnessed the murder of her young boyfriend. Two decades later, evidence turns up in the wake of a horrible flood that exonerates Dupree. Nell is forced to confront the horrifying possibility that she sent an innocent man to prison while trying to unravel what really happened that dark night, twenty years ago.

Peter Abrahams' Delusion is a flawed book falling squarely in the camp "beach reads". One of the biggest faults of the novel is one of ambition, as Abrahams simply tries to fit too much into a book that isn't long enough to do it justice. The multiple layers of conspiracy, recently released con who has spent more of his life in jail than out, racial tension in the deep south, wealth disparities within a tense community, crumbling family dynamic, possible police corruption, various tortured pasts, and flood disaster commentary make for a lot of content for a book that comes in under 300 pages. It's inevitable that some of these end up short changed. Unfortunately, some of the most interesting elements are the ones that get the least attention.

The main plot--is DuPree innocent or not, and if he is, what really happened--is pretty standard "suspense novel" fare. Most readers will probably have figured it out long before poor clueless Nell does (note to the author: please stop having your protagonist repeatedly tell the reader that she isn't smart enough to figure the plot out). The strained relationship with a child subplot felt overwrought and extraneous--I would much rather have had more content about the relationship between Clay (Nell's husband/chief of police) and his former partner.

The cast of characters is a very mixed bag. DuPree is the most interesting character, and the one I think gets short-changed the most by Abrahams. His narrative arc should have been the most compelling aspect, but, by the end of the book, he's largely thrown away. Nell, despite being the protagonist, is too much of a milquetoast to be particularly enjoyable, and her husband is mostly a block of wood moving from scene to scene. The reporter and a number of the secondary characters felt far more fleshed out and interesting than most of the main cast.

Ultimately, the thin, predictable plot (including the unsatisfying end to DuPree's part); the largely forgettable characters; and the overstretched themes make this one a pass.

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Review: The Hunter

The Hunter The Hunter by Richard Stark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Parker series, by Richard Stark (one of prolific writer Donald Westlake's many pennames) was one of my first introductions to neo-noir/modern crime fiction. And what an introduction! This is a brutally fast read; Parker is stone cold and laser focused as he moves like a force of nature towards his goal. Unfortunately for Mal Resnick, Parker's goal is to get his hands on Mal. Specifically, around Mal's lying, double-crossing neck.

This isn't the sort of book you're remember for it's colorful language or catchy descriptions. Stark's writing matches his penname; there's not a wasted paragraph in the book. The writing is deliberately sparse and focused on the action. Parker moves through the plot with so much momentum, the reader can't help but get caught up in the wake of destruction he leaves behind. The real beauty of the Hunter (and the rest of the Parker series) is seeing how Parker's mind works. He's a craftsman whose trade is crime, and it's always intriguing to see how he approaches his job.

The Hunter is a brief glimpse into the dark and dirty world of the criminal underground seen through the eyes of the consummate tradesman. The blistering pace, fascinating cast of characters, and the careful plotting make this a must-read for fans of crime fiction.

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Review: Camille

Camille Camille by Pierre Lemaitre
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Camille is a fitting end to Lamaitre's Verhoeven triology. Once again, Detective Camille Verhoeven finds himself drawn into a case that is intensely personal. When the first woman he's dated since his wife's death is brutally attacked during a daring jewelry store heist and one of the robbers makes an attempt on her life, Verhoeven lies to his supervisor to get himself assigned to the case. With echoes of the past crashing in on him and the ripples of his dishonesty threatening his job, Verhoeven is driven to protect this new love not matter what it costs him.

Lemaitre's conclusion to the Verhoeven series is delicately crafted. Each layer of the case is folded carefully upon the next. As with the previous books, Lamaitre employs a dual narrative, this time letting the reader see directly into the antagonist’s mind as he cuts a bloody path through Verhoeven's life. The tension of their cat and mouse game is heightened by the ever increasing uncertainty about which one of them is actually the cat. The case itself grows satisfyingly complicated as the clues and misdirections emerge in dribs and drabs.

Camille hooks you with the explosive opening, but then settles in for a slow build. The simmer builds as Lamaitre ratchets up the tension with each passing chapter, until that final, desperate, moment when everything has to come to a head.

A tortured protagonist fighting his past, a brutally methodical criminal with unknown motives, and a gripping plot that gradually peels back like the layers of an onion make this a compelling read.


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Review: Desolation Jones: Made in England

Desolation Jones: Made in England Desolation Jones: Made in England by Warren Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Desolation Jones: Made in England is a cocktail mixing one part sunshine noir with two parts Warren Ellis gonzo-sauce. Jones, a former spook for the British MI6 turned biological experiment turned low security prisoner in LA (where all former secret service agents are put out to pasture), is tasked with tracking down the private pornography stash (Hitler's home movies) that were stolen from a retired general. Misunderstandings occur when one of the general's daughters thinks that Jones has been tasked with tracking down the middle daughter who has run away from home.

If you've read Ellis before, you have a good idea what to expect--cynical but badass protagonist who hangs out with too-cool chick, a world full of twisted people into some weird things, and an off-kilter world that erupts into violence with alarming frequency.

Ellis' take on the private dick is darkly comedic, at times touching, and utterly intriguing. Of all the crimes in this book (and there are many), the biggest, in this reader's opinion, is that Ellis never bothered to write a second volume.

A solid plot with all the right twists, an interesting cast of characters, a lead with a promise work together to make this a strong read, although an uneven final act prevents it from hitting the five star mark.

For fans of Warren Ellis and hardboiled detectives, this is highly recommended.

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Review: Made to Kill: A Novel

Made to Kill: A Novel Made to Kill: A Novel by Adam Christopher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

This book was practically created just for me. A robot private eye in the Marlowe style, working in Hollywood during the height of the Cold War? Could it be any cooler? Raymond Electromatic is the archetypal private dick... only, you know... he's a robot. He's got a quick wit, a keen eye, and fists of steel (and bronze and titanium). Adam Christopher's voice here is pure Raymond Chandler. Even attempting to replicate Chandler's amazing voice is a bold effort, but Christopher pulls it off with aplomb.

The only criticism I could levy at Christopher is that there's almost *too much* going on here. Having Ray moonlighting in another field felt a little tacked on, but that's a small criticism in an otherwise outstanding book.

A clever take on the noir genre. Highly recommended.

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Review: Trust No One

Trust No One Trust No One by Paul Cleave
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an Advanced Reader Copy provided to the library by the Ataria books.

Paul Cleave's Trust No One is a real treat. Jerry Grey, the real name of author, Henry Cutter, suffers from early onset Alzheimer's. As his memories fade and bleed into each other, his ability to differentiate between the Real World and his fictional creations breaks down. Jerry begins to confess to the crimes his characters committed. While his caretakers, friends, and family try to convince him that it's all in his head, Jerry Grey always said "write what you know."

The most powerful aspect of Cleave's novel is the shifting and elusive nature of Jerry's narrative. As his memories fade in and out, his perspective on the narrative changes. In less capable hands, it could quickly become tired, but Cleave manages to pull it off expertly. The central mystery--did he or didn't he?--might not keep every reader guessing to the end, but the fascinating, disorientating exploration of Jerry's rapidly degenerating memories is worth the trip alone.

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