Dancing with Skeletons

Dark Side. Belinda Bauer. Bantam Press. (2011)

2012-02-10T04:10:00.000-08:00

A superb crime story, as cold and griping as the bleak winter Exmoor landscape that the story is set in. Belinda Bauer has located the battered skull beneath the skin of the English village murder story. A severely disabled, elderly lady is murdered in the small village of Shipcott in midwinter. PC Jonas Holly, the village policeman is quickly sidelined by the investigative team sent to handle the case. The abrasive Detective Chief Inspector Marvel finds Jonas a considerable nuisance and deals with him as such. A second murder places everyone in the village under significant pressure and the investigative team and Jonas in particular. The plot uncoils steadily, the reveals are cunning staged and the conclusion is wholly unforgiving and satisfying.
Belinda Bauer takes the basic structure of the English village murder mystery , the way the community knows everything except what it does not wish to know, the comfort of familiarity and the suffocating closeness of knowing everyone and uses them to amplify the force of the savage story. The cast are varied and bursting with life, the smallest walk on part is so finely drawn that they insist on the readers attention, without ever upsetting the balance of the narrative. PC Jonas Holly is a great leading character, he is not a moss covered village bobby, he returned to Shipcott for a deeply serious reason, the failing health of his wife. The murders in the village are a considerable burden to him, both on a personal and a professional level. That such events could happen on his watch is pressure enough, being very publicly excluded from the investigation adds severely to it. It forces him to act to regain and retain his position within the village, the community expect something from him that he struggles to provide.
The lead investigator, DCI Marvel should be a walking cliche, an abrasive double outsider, transferred from London to the local force and an outsider to the village, he is abrasive, enraged and frustrated. He avoids all the obvious pitfalls he seems set up for and emerges as as gripping and deeply unlikable person in his own rounded right. He gets a deeply satisfying and viciously sardonic treatment from Belinda Bauer and deserves all of it, in particular the happy unfairness meted out to him at the end.
The astonishing skill with which the plot threads are woven and twisted up to the last words of the book is a joy to read. The reader is reminded that justice is a freezing cold process that does not encompass mercy in any way. This is a superb book, very strongly recommended.

The House of Silk. Anthony Horowitz. Orion Books Ltd. (2011)

2012-01-20T00:29:00.000-08:00

A superb Sherlock Holmes story, it captures the spirit of the originals and uses the required details in a fresh and very enjoyable way. While London is in the grip of a savage winter, a client comes to 221B Baker street with a strange story. He is being stalked by a scar faced man, a man he can identify, a man who is a grave threat to him and his family. Holmes is very interested in the case and agrees to investigate. As he does so he hears of the House of Silk, a mysterious,very powerful, and clearly criminal organisation. Holmes is very explicitly warned against any further inquiries in the House of Silk, which naturally encourages him to delve even deeper. Holmes and Watson find themselves in very considerable danger, from unexpected sources as the investigation unfolds. The reveals are superbly staged, Holmes is as brilliant and unexpected as he should be. The secret of the House of Silk is ugly enough to support the plot and the superb loop the story takes at its conclusion is sharp, bitter and utterly fitting.
Anthony Horowitz has accomplished a very difficult feat, he has written a true Sherlock Holmes book that Arthur Conan Doyle would never have written. From the wonderful opening that sets the stage for one story that cleverly becomes another before the satisfying resolution, the structure of the story never fails. The set pieces are staged with great flair, they effortlessly showcase Holmes' brilliance and his love of the dramatic. The cast are a nicely judged mixture of new and old, they play together with force and tremendous vigor. Mycroft Holmes features as does Inspector Lestrade and Professor Moriarty, all of them are given fresh opportunities and are far from stale replicas of the originals. In particular Inspector Lestrade is given a chance to be the competent, professional police officer he is away from Holmes' withering gaze.
The new cast members are a salty and engaging series of villains, they are careful, vindictive and powerful. The threads that bind them and the force of their motives are well shaded and sorted, they act to be a convincing threat to Holmes, something that is very difficult to do. The rules of the genre dictate that Holmes cannot fail completely in a truly serious matter, the game is largely about how he wins. In this case Anthony Horowitz give the game a subtle and very effective tweaking that does not damage or undermine it, it is a very engaging variation.
This highly engaging book is a deeply satisfying pleasure.

Rupert. 1970 Annual. Alfred Bestall Writer and Artist. Classic Media Distribution/Express Newspapers (2011)

2012-01-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Vintage nostalgia, beautifully packaged, this re-print is a a pleasure in its own right as well as for the effortless way it conjures with a never-never past. Rupert the Bear is a very long running strip in the Daily Express newspaper and a clever decision by someone has ensured that it has retained it popularity through the decades. Rupert has never changed in content nor format, the strip long ceased being old-fashioned and simply became itself. There are four large panels per page, each panel has a small caption which are are simple rhyming couplets, the lower half of the page has an extended text narrative for the action in the panels. In addition each page has a descriptive title. The simple and direct design of the pages means that the pages are neither cluttered nor crowded, they give the reader multiple options on how to read it without tripping each other up.
Rupert is a human like white bear who always wears yellow check trousers, a red jumper and a yellow check scarf, his friend, like Bill Badger, Edward Trunk are the same. They have safe but exciting adventures with inventors, magicians and bandits.
The context is a wonderful never-time, what was imagined the best possible childhood would look like early in the 20th century when the strip was launched. Looking it it today the unspoken attitudes of the creators and readers are vividly clear. There are no ethnic characters in the cast beyond a Chinese magician and his daughter, certainly no one with a dark skin. This is a very English, genteel and supremely middle class world. This is the very factor that should render it stale or vapid if not frankly offensive, yet it is the essential element that keeps it fresh and attractive. Rupert ceased having the slightest relevance or connection to the real world a long time ago, it is a museum piece in the truest sense. It is a call from another time and a window into another era. It retains it complete sincerity, a picture of the exciting, friend filled, adventurous childhood that many have dreamed of and desired.
Alfred Bestall's wonderful art is the heart of Rupert and it a joy to read, the panels are spaced widely enough on the page that each one is considered by itself as well as part of the progression of the story. Each one is carefully balanced with the need to convey the story and to stand individual attention. The details are simple and telling, they give a great physical context to the action. In particular I love the landscapes that Rupert and his friends move through, the shades of green and the variety of the ground is a delight.
The stories are nicely varied, neatly structured and engaging. Rupert is placed in enough danger or trouble to be interesting, the resolution comes from his kindness and courage, a return home to safety and friends is inevitable.
The pleasure of this book is to see again a long, golden afternoon of mystical childhood which never fades, where adventure is always around the corner just waiting for you.

Thicker Than Water. Mike Carey. Orbit Books (2009)

2012-01-10T05:40:00.000-08:00

An highly entertaining, very well structured and very dark fantasy. Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist in an England where ghosts, werewolves, zombies and demons are part of the population. Felix is taken to a crime scene where he discovers that his name was written in blood by a victim of a very savage murder. This becomes a bigger problem when Felix reveals that he knew the victim and that he had tried to kill Felix when they were children. Under suspicion for the murder Felix has to investigate to clear himself. The trail leads to the Sailsbury estate where something very nasty indeed in brewing. The trouble on the estate had attracted the attention of a violent and militant Catholic group, The Anathemata. As Felix continues to investigate the trial leads back to his own family past in Liverpool and a web of secrets and lies. The action is fast and very well set up, the reveals are superb, the cast engaging and the story thread very cleverly knotted together. The climax is savage and fitting, no one is left unpunished.
One of the great pleasures of the book is the way Mike Carey uses his premise about the supernatural invading the world and becoming a, nearly normal, part of reality and everyday life. This accommodation lets him drive the story forward as a very noir thriller with a supernatural cast without having to break the genre conventions to do so. Felix is a great leading man, he is trying to do his best and do the right thing in a world where that has lost a great deal of meaning. He is not a superhero in any sense, he does have a strong talent which causes him as much trouble as it solves for others. He is willing and able to act, make mistakes and just ultimately do what has to be done. With a supporting cast featuring a demon who lives for sex and blood and a zombie property developer, the standard police officer who is a wary ally of Felix has to work hard not be simply be a cliche. Mike Carey gives him a genuine spark of life and the relationship between the two rings true.
The opening incident of the book appears to be a freewheeling sub plot that is woven into the main plot with a cunning ferocity that is matched only by the bitter story that lies behind the activities on the Sailsbury and the murder victim. The supernatural elements are not window dressing on a excellent noir thriller, they are woven into the fabric of the story so that they give it extra bite and severity.
This is a great read, Mike Carey is a very skillful writer who has created a gripping blend of ideas that could work against each other, in fact they combine seamlessly to add weight and texture to a cold and griping story.

Outrage. Arnaldur Indridason. Anna Yates (Translation). Harvill Secker (2011)

2011-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

A gripping and slow burning crime story that slowly releases its terrible secrets. A man is found murdered in his apartment, there is no sign of a break in, the victim was wearing a t-shirt that did not appear to belong to him and there was a woman's shawl under the bed. Detective Elinborg leads the investigation which very rapidly goes nowhere. The victim was extremely secretive and there were no witnesses. When Elinborg does find a possible witness she is very unreliable. Still a line of investigation that includes the rape of a woman and the disappearance of a young woman many years before starts to emerge. A suspect is identified and the case heads for a bitter and dark conclusion.
The story is very skillfully paced and structured, the story threads lop and flow across each other until they are carefully and sharply woven together. The reveals are very well staged and the dark undercurrent come to the surface in a very satisfactory way. The investigation is orderly, logical and very determined. The final unraveling is done with considerable and quiet force.
Arnaldur Indridason does a number of unexpected things in this story, he gives the victims of sexual assault a chance to be fully rounded characters rather than be locked into victim hood. They have been battered by the appalling crime they were subjected to, they are not defined by it. This care for the person is equally evident with Detective Elinborg, she is pressed hard by her job and the demands that it makes on her. She has a credibly mixed home life with a loving husband and some strife with one of her sons. She is never the cliche of a hard worn police officer, she is doubtful and dedicated, trying to make the correct decisions. She also has a strong professional care and strength, she is open minded enough to trap an elusive and vital clue.The rest of the cast are given the same care and attention and as the coils of the plot tighten around themselves respond in credible and engaging ways.
The murder victim remains a shadow at the heart of the book until the investigation starts to stir up long hidden actions and he starts to come into dreadful focus. The final portion of the book is a triumph of storytelling as the past is dragged into the present and the dangling threads are tied up. Arnaldur Indridason has an unflinching eye for responses to evil, they way that it can be easier to look away and pretend and then how maintaining the pretense becomes and end in itself. This is a very unsettling and engrossing book, a pleasure to read. The translation is transparent, there Icelandic context is vivid and direct, there is no sense that it is being filtered in anyway.

A Certain Justice. P.D. James.Penguin Books (1997)

2011-12-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

This is a beautifully constructed and engaging crime novel. Venetia Aldridge successfully defends a man against a murder charge. She is poised for another professional advance when her daughter reveals that she has become engaged to the man Venetia has defended, a man Venetia believes to be a murderer. As Venetia tries to prevent the engagement she is found murdered in her office. Commander Adam Dalgliesh investigates the death and discovers that there are multiple suspects and motives. The plot reveals are perfectly staged and the slow, cold unwinding of the story is gripping. The final revelations are stark and satisfying.
This is a purposefully unhurried book; the set up for the murder of Venetia Aldridge is long and extensive. It creates a vivid picture of a proud, compelling and very unpleasant character. Venetia is never monstrous in her dealings, she is hard and unflinching, lacking in any human sympathy to cloak her cold brilliance. When she turns to others for help she reaps a bitter harvest, which does not spare anyone. Her male colleagues are as unsympathetic as Venetia, they have a mixture of small cowardice in them, which her presence magnifies and makes them look shabby by comparison.
P.D. James has written a wonderful modern version of a revengers tale, where the revenge, initially appearing justified becomes a greater outrage than the first offence. With a stubbornly flinty character like Venetia Aldridge, this is a very considerable feat. The plot slowly becomes clear through the investigation of the police team and the terrible consequences of revenge become clear. The cast are wonderfully realised, they are, for the most part, unlikeable, they all possess a clear vigour and individual life. They are not shadows or puppets, they move across each other with force and weight. The impact of the many crimes in the story is forceful and vivid. Written with a tightly controlled ferocity, this sharply and sourly satisfying book is a great read.

Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex Volume 1. DC Comics (2005)

2011-09-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

A collection of very entertaining Western stories with an engaging lead character, great art and a dry as dust black humour. Jonah Hex with his mutilated face and worn Confederate officer's uniform is a bounty hunter in the post Civil War West. A fast draw and a merciless hunter of outlaws he is described like this,"He was a hero to some, a villain to others;and wherever he rode, people spoke his name in whispers. He had no friends, this Jonah Hex, but he did have two companions: one was death itself...the other...the acrid smell of gun smoke." Happily the stories in the collection live up to the promise of that description.
The West that Jonah Hex rides through is a brutal and savage place, the most significant difference between Hex and those who hire and despise him is that he is honest about his actions, the others hide their murderous greed behind a thin veneer of polite society. In "Bigfoot's War" written by Michael Fleisher with art by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Hex is hired by a rancher to recover his daughter who has been kidnapped by Indians. It becomes clear that the rancher has a nasty secret and his daughter is a very unpleasant, utterly spoilt woman. The story is fast and bitter, the action is very well staged and Hex emerges as the most honest character.
What all the writers of the stories in the collection get exactly right is that Hex is never pleasant or likable, his bitter humour and bleak honesty about his own self interest would make him unbearable in any other context.
In "Showdown with the Dangling Man" written by Michael Fleisher, art by Noly Panaligan, one of the outstanding stories in the collection, Hex's indifference to others is given full rein. The beautiful art captures the vivid details of the locations and the cast, the very grim conclusion is everything it should be. This is unheroic Western storytelling at its compelling best.This collection is packed with great art, excellent writing and hard-bitten spirit of the mythical American West, a pleasure.

The Best of 2000AD. Rebellion (2008)

2011-09-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

While it is not as wide ranging as the title would suggest it does contain a big slab of very engaging and entertaining stories from the comic. The dominant themes are violence, sport, war and black comedy, all together where possible.
Harlem Heroes is one of the least violent stories, Aeroball "The Sport of Tomorrow" is a mixture of Football,Boxing, Kung Fu and Basketball played by teams equipped with jet packs. The all black Harlem Heroes are a star team until an accident kills some of the team and a new squad has to be recruited. Rebuilt with a rookie, two reserves and a forty-year old veteran they set out to win the world championship. The story breathes life into this cliched set up with vigour and energy, the art gives the action energy and aerial grace, the cast are given a chance to step out of their stereotypes a little.
Flesh is a much bolder and considerably more violent story, time travel has enabled the Trans-Time corporation to go back to the Triassic era and build a huge fishing station to farm the pre-historic seas for food for their 23rd century customers. The details of the factory and the work are superbly laid out and the plot mechanics are set up with economy and skill. It is big and loud science fiction with a sharp edge. Shako is concerned with a polar bear who has swallowed a capsule that the C.I.A. want back and they hunt after the bear. The bear responds by hunting the humans and eating them. The bear is easily the most sympathetic character in the story and the black humour is nicely pitched to give the story a lift.
Rouge Trooper, featuring a biologically engineered soldier, designed to fight in the poisonous atmosphere of Nu-Earth who has gone rouge on a private mission is the stand out war story in the collection. The art is bold, the ideas are focused and tightly written and the lead character has a strong presence. It is Judge Dredd who has emerged as the most famous character from 2000AD, there are some early stories about him, they are in a distinct second place to the extraordinary Judge Death episode. The art is stunning, the details are precise and the cast are given breath and depth. The story idea is bitingly sharp and superbly realised.
The stories the 19 different strips in this collection are distinctive, brutal and delivered with wonderful energy and a willingness to push an idea very hard, well worth reading.

Give Me Liberty. Frank Miller (Writer), Dave Gibbons (Art), Robin Smith (Colours). Penguin Books (1990)

2011-09-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

This book is a production by enormous talents using skill, craft and intelligence. Martha Washington is a child of an enclosed ghetto in a very unpleasant future America. She escapes from the ghetto via the imprisonment in a mental hospital, finding freedom when the asylum is closed due to budget cuts. Martha joins PAX, the Peace Force, who promise to wipe your record clean. Martha then finds herself at war in Brazil, fighting a renegade fast food corporation call Fat Boy. She falls foul of Lieutenant Moretti and the story of their conflict, and how Moretti’s hatred for her entwines itself through his plans for power, forms the core of the book. The bigger story is the collapse of the United States of America as environmental disasters, civil unrest, and military mistakes all combine to undermine the country. The ease with which Frank Miller manages his large cast and the way that splintering of the country is described is amazing. The book has fake newspaper and magazine articles, now a bit of a cliché, but still they give great depth to the book, adding greatly to the portrait of the society. Frank Miller also uses television newscasts, much as in The Dark Knight, I think to better effect in this book. The connection between Martha Washington’s story and the larger story is natural and unforced, they strongly reinforce each other to deliver a hugely satisfying whole.
Martha Washington herself is a great leading character. A first-rate action hero, brave, confident and very resourceful, the story treats her harshly but never disrespectfully. I think she is easily one of the best female characters in comics.
Give Me Liberty lies far away from the constrictions of copyright characters like Batman or Daredevil and far, far from the repulsive sexual politics of the Sin City sequence. The creative team of Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons are both at the top of their powers in this book; the colouring by Robin Smith is fantastic also. Dave Gibbon’s art is astonishing, very different from the formal layouts in Watchmen, it flows with the action and yet is packed with telling detail. The characters are individual and expressive, they move like humans, their faces are eloquent, and he gives the terrifying implosion of the USA real weight and substance.
A masterpiece, a powerhouse of a comic that should not be missed.

The Tenth Case. Joseph Teller. MIRA Books (2009)

2011-08-31T07:43:00.000-07:00

A highly entertaining courtroom drama that has a great cast, a smart plot and strong current of sharp humour. Jaywalker is a criminal defence lawyer who is about to be suspended for the methods he has employed to defend his clients. He is allowed to finish of ten of his current cases before the suspension comes into effect, the tenth case is a murder case. Samara Ross is accused of stabbing her husband to death, he was a billionaire and she was a waitress in Las Vegas before she became his third wife. The case against Samara gets more damming at every turn, in the face of it all Samara protests her innocence. Jaywalker commits to the case in the face of mounting evidence, determined that Samara should have the best chance she possibly can. The courtroom schemes are very well played out, the reveals are cunningly staged and the conclusion is entirely fitting and satisfactory.
Joseph Teller uses an interesting strategy in this story, he provides a very strong and visible authorial voice, so much so that it is a very significant character in the story. The effect is that the reader is being directly told the story about Jaywalker and his case with the editorial questions and opinions that would come naturally. What is impressive is that a process that could be distracting or overbearing adds greatly to the story. When required the storyteller steps back and allows the events to unfurl on their own, the switch is smoothly done and matches carefully to the requirements of the story.
Jaywalker is a great character, his headlong commitment to providing a defence for his clients, his passionate belief in the requirement to have a well prepared and thorough defence is stimulating and deeply engaging. His opponent is allowed to be a decent man who is trying to do is job as a prosecutor as competently and professionally as possible. Their courtroom actions are smart, articulate and gripping. Smara is nicely under explained, she has enough shadow to remain a question and to test Jaywalkers commitment to the limit.
This is a book with an opinion, willing to be angry and articulate without ever sacrificing one iota of tension or skimping on thoughtful plot mechanics. It is a pleasure to be buttonholed by Joseph Teller and to hear his story about Jaywalker.

The Price of Darkness. Graham Hurley. Orion Publishing Group (2008)

2011-08-28T04:17:00.001-07:00

A gripping police procedural with a very engaging cast and a sharp plot. A property developer is murdered in his house in Plymouth with brutal efficiency and a professional attention to detail. Detective Inspector Joe Faraday is assigned to head up the investigation, which is hampered by the scrupulous care with which the murder was carried out. A second murder follows, that of a Government Minister, shot to death when waiting in traffic. DI Faraday is involved in the second investigation until he is pushed out to focus only on the murder of the developer. At the same time disgraced ex-policeman Paul Winter has joined the ranks of Bazza MacKenzie ans major criminal. Winter is on an undercover operation, he finds that his position is growing more and more unclear. The murder investigations unfurl with great care, the reveals are cleverly staged and the evidence gathered in a plausible and engaging way. Winter's position with MacKenzie becomes more and more questionable. Both threads conclude in entirely satisfying ways.
Graham Hurley has written a genuine mystery story, the investigation follows leads, loops back on itself and gradually finds a focus in an gripping and thoughtful way. The cast are given the opportunity to be competent, capable and sometimes simply smart. DI Faraday is a very engaging character, with a passion for bird watching, a deaf mute son and a loving partner he is as committed, cranky and engaged with his life as a experienced professional would be. He is nicely countered by Paul Winter, a policeman who always prided himself on cutting to the heart of a case regardless of the rules and policies. Working without a safety net undercover with a man he is coming to respect Winter is facing life shaping decisions. The thread of police politics that ties the two story lines together is unobtrusively effective.
The tone of the book is low key, the action is is more in the clash of character than in physical confrontation. The depth of the cast and the great context give the action a genuine edge and danger, conversations have heavyweight consequences as much as a gunshot. This is a deceptively straightforward book, there is a great deal going on and Graham Hurley is masterfully directing and controlling the story. A treat.

Down into Darkness. David Lawrence. Penguin Books (2007)

2011-08-28T03:51:00.000-07:00

A very grim, brilliantly structured and superbly written crime story. A woman is found hanging from a tree in London, she has the words "DIRTY GIRL" written on her body. Detective Sergeant Stella Mooney is part of the team investigating the murder, it is hampered by the difficulty of identifying the woman. A second death and a second message on the body do not help clarify matters. As the team try to understand links that may only exist in the killer's mind, the return of Stella's mother to the notorious Harefield estate create problems for Stella. The events in Harefield and the killers plans starts to slowly interact as the plot cunningly develops and grips like a vice right up to the ice cold conclusion.
Matching a superbly developed cast with a cunningly constructed plot, David Lawrence creates a compelling vision of a seething, corrupt city. Stella Mooney is driven, competent and deeply committed to her job. The investigation she is involved in is run with care and attention to detail. The rest of the cast pulse with life and have a chance to develop and have lives outside the investigation that never slows the book down. The extra detail about their lives gives a greater context to their actions and gives the story depth and heft.
The most important character in the book is not human, it is the Harefield estate itself. A housing complex it is alive with criminal activity, creating opportunities and destroying lives with carefree indifference. It is a huge factory creating tainted money that swirl corrupt eddies throughout the city and further. This pulsing lawlessness is repeated in greater and lesser degrees all over the city as the story ranges across London. The context for the story is a vivid city where serious trouble is always breaking out. This hothouse atmosphere adds to the pace an force of the story. Lush, cynical and unforgiving, this is a great read.

Dynamo 5. Volume 1: Post Nuclear Family. Jay Faerber(Writer), Mahmud A. Asrar(Art),Ron Riley(Colours),Charles Pritchett(Letters). Image Comics (2009)

2011-08-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

Fresh, crisp and unexpected, a superhero comic that avoids the usual cliches and is gripping and engaging. Captain Dynamo was a multi-powered superhero, protector of Tower city and deeply unfaithful husband. After his death his wife, Maddie discovered that he had fathered five children with other women and that after his death his enemies were treating Tower City as wide open for business. Maddie locates the five children and releases one each of the Captain's powers in each of them creating the Dynamo 5 team to protect Tower city. The problems of having a bunch of teenagers who do not know each other, have superpowers and need to work together to defeat enemies considerably more experienced than they are is the heart of the story. Adding in the fact that Maddie clearly has an agenda she is not sharing and a very unhappy law enforcement agency to the mix creates a great context for the super heroics.
Jay Faerber has taken a very clever idea and done something rather wonderful with it, he has developed it into a gripping and unexpected narrative that does not cheat on the big action nor on developing the cast beyond their costumes. The team feel fresh and raw, uncertain not only because of their new powers but because they are teenagers who have had their identities shaken up in a fundamental way. They are not given a chance to cope with the revelation that they are not who they think they are before they have to trust their lives to equally uncertain strangers and a rather dangerous mother figure. The cast have a real depth and heft as individuals, the mix between their civilian and costumed lives is pitch perfect. All of this is then placed in a superbly wrought plot context drives the action in a very natural way while neatly suggesting bigger stories going on in the background.
The art by Mahmud A. Asrar is flowing and graceful, it captures the dynamism of the super heroics without ever being too super heroic. The cast look like humans in motion, the costumes avoid the sleazy coyness rife in comics and settles for costumes teenagers could possibly wear. The cast are wonderfully expressive , their faces and bodies are eloquent and they occupy the physical spaces they are in naturally and comfortably. The quieter moments are given as much care and attention as the wonderfully staged action sequences. The art brings out all the dimensions in the story. Smart superhero comics, a pleasure.

The Skull of Set. Doug Moench(Writer),Paul Gulacy(Penciler),Gary Martin(Inker),David Jackson(Letterer),Steve Mattsson(Colours). Marvel Comics(1989)

2011-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

A very entertaining and hugely enjoyable Conan story that mixes up the usual ingredients with flair and imagination. After a fight in a tavern Conan takes the job of leading the escort for a wagon of weapons heading for a strategic location in the war between Koth and Argos. Attacked by bandits Conan finds that the wagon has much more than weapons on board. Following an encounter with another group fleeing the city, the entire group lands among the ruins of a small city and under siege from both bandits and Argossean soldiers pursuing a traitor. At this point the real trouble starts and continues with great style and energy right up to a nicely judged and very satisfying conclusion.
The great pleasure of this comic is not that it tries anything new rather that it takes the familiar and makes them fresh and smart. The women are beautiful and frequently very dangerous, the demons are big, nasty and very bloodthirsty, the wizards are clever, the action is fast and furious. Best of all Conan has all the barbarian swagger, cunning, courage and wit that makes him the fabulous character that he should be. He has to solve difficult and life threatening problems by being smart as well as fast, he has to enjoy the adventure. Doug Moench delivers all of this with great craft, the dialogue is just the right shade of purple, the structure of the story is thoughtful, the plot threads are beautifully tied together.
The art is a luscious pleasure, the panel structure is used with care and skill to pace the story and to zoom in and out to considerable effect. The cast are the exact mixture between types and individuals that they should be, the aristocrat who is full of contempt for others, his beautiful, scantily clad and lonely wife, the merchant and the mysterious female priest. They move through the action with grace and clarity, their actions as much as their features are expressive and involving.
The colouring by Steve Mattsson is stunning, it is virtually a character in its own right while at the same time not drawing undue attention to itself. It is bold and striking, the colours catch the straightforward mood of the story and deepen it at every turn. Deeply satisfying and a pleasure to read.

The Fall of the West. The Death of the Roman Superpower. Adrian Goldsworthy. Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2009)

2011-08-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

Engrossing and compelling history of the long and slow decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire. In the year 476 AD the final Roman Emperor was deposed and such was his insignificance, allowed to retire off to private life and to die of natural causes. While this was the historical full stop for five centuries of the Roman Empire in the West, it was an essentially soft ending after a very long and frequently, very brutal fall.
The central process that drove the steady decline of the empire was the issue of how power was gained and transferred, steadily the road to running the empire was via civil war. This had a defining impact on the organisation of the empire and the role of the emperor within it. The key actor in deciding who would be Emperor was the army, whoever commanded or bought the loyalty of the biggest army would become emperor. This meant that each new emperor had to be greatly concerned with a usurper arising from the same route they followed, this dove a re-organisation of the empire to reduce the size of the armies to reduce the chance of revolt. This re-organisation also drive the development of an extensive non-military bureau racy and the increasing distance of the emperor for the various armies in the empire, creating room for usurpers.
This steady development lead first to multiple emperors , then the development of a Western and an Eastern Empires and finally the complete separation of the two, with the Eastern Empire going on to last for many hundreds of years after the demise of the Western one.
External forces were very significant in the decline and decay of the Western empire, Adrian Goldsworthy makes the point that there was never any genuine competitor to the Roman Empire. There was no group or kingdom that could remotely match its wealth or reach, its cultural and political dominance was colossal, the internal decay allowed external forces to take advantage of it, they did not bring it to its knees.
Adrian Goldsworthy tells a vivid and exciting story with clarity, flair and a keen sense of the absurd. He follows the evidence and limits the distance he is willing to go beyond it in search of an explanation or conclusion. At the same time he creates a convincing argument that provides a strong context for the events he describes. The enduring legacy of the Roman Empire is astonishing, the wonderfully lucid and thoughtful book is a great testament to its enduring nature.

The Emperor of Dreams. The Lost Worlds of Clark Ashton Smith. Gollancz (2002)

2011-08-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

This is a collection of superb fantasy stories by Clark Ashton Smith, carefully crafted, beautifully written and drizzled with gallows humour they are a dark pleasure. The selection is thoughtful and inspired, the stories are uniformly excellent, still there are a handful of stand-outs. The Empire of the Necromancers uses one of Clark Ashton Smith's frequent themes, necromancy, magic used to revive the dead to slavery is a sharply satisfying way. Two necromancers use their magic to revive the long dead of an ancient empire in a deserted city, the arc of the story is a joy, it concludes with utterly satisfying brutality. On the other hand The Seven Geases has a undertow of wintry humour that gives force and bite to the story of the harsh results that come from interrupting a wizard. Humour is much more lighter and more significant in the The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles which has a lot of fun with the old idea of a carefully planned robbery that does not quite go to plan. The best story in the collection, it has a depth and mournful compassion beyond the others, is Necromancy in Naat, a superbly crafted story that finishes with a melancholy fall that cuts to the heart.
The language used in these stories is very striking, Clark Ashton Smith has a marked preference for archaic and unusual versions of words, this does not disguise the meaning, it gives the stories an slight stiffness which serve them well. Atmosphere is of critical importance and the ornamental language adds greatly to it, it allows for a great range of suggestion and colour, to pile up description without overwhelming the story.
These are superbly structured short stories, they are tight and careful without ever seeming less than generous and complete. The action can be widespread or closely confined, in every case it has the required room to grow without ever wandering.The stories are bursting with telling and striking turns of phrase that set a scene or establish a character with precision and astonishing economy. Clark Ashton Smith has managed a remarkably difficult feat, he has written precisely overwrought fantasy stories and provided a luscious feast for the reader.

The Cruel Stars of the Night. Kjell Eriksson (Writer), Ebba Segerberg (Translation). Thomas Dunne Books (2007)

2011-08-07T06:53:00.000-07:00

A subtle and very engaging crime story that follows a superbly described arc of despair. In Uppsala in Sweden a woman reports that her elderly father is missing to the police and it remains unresolved. The murder of an elderly man without any clear motive has the police at a loss. A second murder of another elderly farmer drives the investigation to try and seek out any links between the two murders, a third murder does not clarify the situation. Laura Hindersten, the missing man's daughter finds that her life has reached a crisis and she struggles to find a way out her confusion. The two threads are slowly and carefully knotted together into an increasing dangerous situation that finally arrives at a tension filled and ultimately harsh and fitting conclusion.
The skill with which Kjell Eriksson ties the narrative knot of the story is breathtaking, it is done with precision and extraordinary skill. The disintegration of Laura Hindersten's life is developed with sympathy and no pity. Her mismatched parents emerge from the story with a relationship that seems almost inevitably leading to trouble for their daughter. In particular Laura's father, a stranded academic is a relentless influence on his daughter's life.
The police force, in particular Inspector Anne Lindell, struggle with three apparently motiveless murders that have enough in common to strongly suggest some submerged links waiting to be identified. The cast of police officers are given a wide context which allows them to develop as very rounded and grounded characters. The focus on Ann Lindell, a single mother, very competent professionally, full of doubt and uncertainty in her private life is a great counter point to Laura Hindersten.
Kjell Eriksson has a deep unsentimental concern for his varied cast, they are tested very severely and for the most part cope very badly with the stresses and strains they come under. They are not diminished or belittled for their poor decision making, they are allowed to make mistakes and recover enough from them to continue. This wise humanity drives the story and makes the crime plot credible and gripping. The translation by Ebba Segerberg is transparent, there is no sense that this is not written originally in English except for the utterly non Anglophone tone and spirit that pervades the book. Utterly satisfying to read and relish.

The Echo Man. Richard Montanari. William Heinemann (2011)

2011-08-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

Wonderfully assured and confident thriller, a great cast and superb construction with a solid plot. In Philadelphia a murder victim is found in a basement, he has been tortured and the body staged with care. It emerges that the basement was the location of a previous murder with striking similarities to the recent one. More murders appear that have links with unsolved previous murders. Someone appears to be avenging cold case murders with killings of their own.For detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano, both trying to manage significant personal issues of their own, the investigation leads down a dark and bloody path. When it starts to point to an episode in Kevin Bryne's past the story arcs to a superbly staged and unexpected climax.
The terrific pleasure of this book is the way Richard Montanari confidently takes control of the reader and heads off with the story. There are a lot of threads in the story, it moves around its large cast with care and skill, giving each of the characters enough time space and energy to come to life. The control of the story never wavers, the various sidelights and sub-plots are paced and placed with thoughtful expertise and add greatly to the story rather than diluting it. The reveals are cunningly staged and Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano are committed and forceful, driven by a belief in law based justice.
The main plot is wonderfully, operatically melodramatic and overblown and within the confines of the story gripping and utterly plausible. The cast are engaging enough and the momentum of the investigation great enough that the theatrical elements of the plot add to the pleasure of the story. A unmitigated joy.

The Fifth Witness. Michael Connelly. Orion Books (2011)

2011-08-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

A sheep in wolf's skin, excellent writing, a great structure and an engaging cast cannot hide the fatal failure of imagination and nerve that compromise this story. Mickey Haller is a criminal defence lawyer finding that his business has changed due to the recession. He has many more clients fighting foreclosure that criminal indictments. When one of his foreclosure clients, Lisa Trammel is charged with murdering the CEO of the bank she is fighting against, Mickey finds himself returning to criminal defence. Facing off against a tough and very capable District Attorney, Mickey has a challenging case on his hands. The story develops extremely well, the courtroom scenes are gripping and the various trial strategies used by both sides are explained in a natural and engaging way. The corkscrew conclusion is a culmination of the fatal ambiguity in the story and leaves the reader shortchanged by the whole experience.
The positive aspects to this story are many and very strong. The context for the case, the ongoing whirlwind of foreclosures that resulted from the selling of wildly unsuitable mortgages to equally unsitable customers for overpriced properties is topical and very well drawn. The way that the defence strategy is developed and implemented, the need to manage a wayward client as well as deal with the prosecution is gripping done. The cast are given space and time to make an impression and the sheer struggle involved is conveyed expertly.
The problem is that Michael Connelly does not believe in defence lawyers as a component of the legal system. He can understand that they are required, he chokes on the fact that they are defending people who did commit the crimes they are accused of, he wants them to only really defend the innocent. Assertively defending the probably guilty, that is doing the actual job of a competent criminal defence lawyer, is just a step too far for him. He allows Mickey Haller be an effective defence lawyer, then weasels at a critical moment so he can square his troubled consciences in the most appalling manner, he also uses Mickey's divorced wife and daughter as cover for this piece of shabby action. This sad squeamishness robs an otherwise excellent thriller of its force. Worth reading for the set pieces, skip the rest.

The Priest. Gerard O'Donovan. Sphere (2010)

2011-08-05T06:49:00.000-07:00

A gripping thriller with two very engaging leading characters, a vivid supporting cast and a very well structured story. When the daughter of a prominent Spanish politician is brutally assaulted in Dublin, Detective Inspector Mike Mulchay, recently returned from a posing in Spain, is reluctantly drawn into the investigation. Detective Inspector Claire Brogan of the Sex Crimes unit does not welcome his involvement in the case and the investigation develops a strong internal Garda political aspect. Siobhan Fallon is a journalist who finds the story and is determined to follow it, as well as developing a credible relationship with DI Mulchay. The story twists and turns without ever lowering the tension, the reveals are cunning staged and timed and the climax is enjoyably melodramatic, the conclusion satisfyingly sharp.
Gerard O'Donovan has got all the elements of the story woven into a very engaging whole. Mike Mulchay and Siobhan Fallon are great characters, both ambitious professionals they manage to respect each others opposing agendas enough to make an entirely credible, if a little uneasy, couple. The swirl of internal politics within the Garda is a complicating factor that is handled with tremendous skill and care. The structure of the investigation, nicely counterpointed by the media story, effectively developed, none of it feels forced to accommodate a plot point.
The supporting cast are all lively and sharply drawn, they are more than walk on parts,they provide genuine force and momentum to to book by the way they act.
A nice aspect to the book is the minimal role played directly by the villain, the focus of the story is on the horrific actions, the victims and the investigation. He is given an interesting context, he never controls the story. A great read.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped. Jacques Audiard (Director). Artifical Eye (2005)

2011-08-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is a very engaging drama that darts away from the expectations it sets up in a very satisfactory fashion. Thomas Seyer (Romain Duris) is a violent real estate broker, willing to resort to extreme methods to remove tenants from property and keeping them out. When he is offered the opportunity to audition as a concert pianist for his late mother's manager he comes into conflict with his father and his partners. His father (Niels Arestrup) is in the same business as Thomas, he wants Thomas to recover a debt he is owed by a Russian gangster, Minskov (Anton Yakovlev). Thomas's partners are unhappy with his being distracted by the music. The film juggles the two threads of the story with care, capturing Thomas's increasing frustration and impatience with his musical progress. The reveals are cleverly staged and the film builds to a savage,surprising and very satisfying conclusion.
Romain Duris is superb in the lead role, he has a ferocious charisma full of tightly wound and barely controlled energy. The conflict between the grip of the obligations of the present to his father and his partners and the possibility of a new life via music is vividly conveyed in his performance.
Niels Arestrup gives an equally outstanding performance of waning force and power, dependant on the son he loves while being a touch resentful of it. He wants Thomas to stick to the business as he needs him to help, the music is both a distraction and an unwelcome reminder of Thomas's mother. Linh Dan Pham delivers in a savagely difficult and unforgiving role with subtle dignity and care, she plays Miao Lin, the non-French speaking piano coach Thomas's hires to help him prepare for the audition.
The whole film has a taut atmosphere that never gives way, a great structure that brings the cast together in unexpected and engaging ways and delivers a great payoff, intriguing and very enjoyable.

If I Never See You Again. Niamh O'Connor. Transworld Ireland (2010)

2011-08-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

A big angry heart and a very engaging lead character and strong momentum pretty much overcome an over reliance on genre stereotypes in plotting and casting. Newly promoted Detective Inspector Jo Birmingham finds a mutilated body while completing a training exercise. After being put in charge of the investigation she realises that it has links with some other brutal murders that also involved mutilations. Ryan Freeman, a crime reporter, is also pursuing a investigation concerning his daughter's abduction and eventual return. She had been kidnapped by a leading Dublin gangster who was one of the murder victims that Jo Birmingham had identified as part of a pattern. The two lines of inquiry are nicely set up before being knotted together in a brutal and effective fashion leading to a violent climax.
The biggest weakness in this story are that other than Jo Birmingham and Ryan Freeman the cast are one dimensional cut outs designed to push the plot forward as required. Dan Mason, Jo Birmingham's ex husband and current boss can never escape his purpose as a plot device to have any hope of independent life. The surrounding cast are given a little more air but never enough to free them. The plot is slightly more boilerplate serial killer than not, it does has some force, it does not quite manage the very difficult task of breathing fresh life into an much used idea.
What lifts up Jo and Ryan is also what lifts the entire book, there is a genuinely angry heart pulsing within this book, Jo is a really angry character, the plight of victims caught up in the coils of the Irish justice system drives her. This anger propels her into life as a character, she is involved a fight with the Dept of Justice that does not appear to be heavy handed editorialising by the author. Niamh O'Connor has created a genuine voice in Jo Birmingham and her struggle and cause seem natural and unforced. For Ryan the grief for his daughter is crisp and sharp, it gives him depth and weight. Rising above its limitations this is an engaging read.

Shifting Skin. Chris Simms. Orion Books (2006)

2011-08-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

A very engaging and sharply written police procedural. Partially skinned bodies have been dumped around the Belle Vue area and Detective Inspector Jon Spicer is struggling to get a grip on the case. At the same time a battered woman felling from her home is sure she has heard a murder at the hotel she was sheltering at. She only has a card from an escort agency as proof and embarks on her own investigation when the police do not. Jon Spicer is assigned a new partner and together they start to find a trail to follow, unlicensed cosmetic surgery. The two investigations slowly start to draw together and overlap in a very satisfactory and effective climax.
Chris Simms has written a very well constructed crime story that stages it reveals with care and at the same time allows its cast to breathe and develop and deal with some very interesting issues. Rick Saville, Jon Spicers' new partner is gay and Chris Simms handles the story thread this leads to very nicely. Jon Spicer is a very macho character, it is not Rick's sexual orientation that bother him, it is his competence as a police officer. Once that is established the matter of his being gay is still relevant but minor. This allows Rick emerge as a rounded character rather than a token.
Fiona, the battered wife, slowly emerges as character, her investigation is as much as assertion of her control over her own life, long absent, as anything else. The way the threads of the story are drawn together and the horribly plausible well of hate and bile that lie behind the murders is expertly revealed. A gripping and very enjoyable story.

Ghost In The Shell:Man Machine Interface. Shirow Masamune (Writer & Artist). Dark Horse Magna (2005)

2011-07-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

Wonderful, if not quite successful, ambitious full tilt science fiction busting with big ideas, humour and fantastic art. Motoko Aramaki, a counter-terrorist net security expert works for the giant Poseidon Industrial corporation. An attack at one of the companies facilities leads to greater puzzles and elusive enemy. Motoko is as much at home travelling the information lines of the net as she is in any of her cyborg bodies. She slips from one body and information nexus to another as she tracks the threat, along the way she encounters a entity from the Channelling Agency, a mysterious official organisation. As Motoko fights physical and cyber battles she draws closer to the extraordinary secret at the heart of the events.
Shirow Masamue's reach exceeds his grasp in this story, there is a wonderful density of detail matched against a flow of big ideas that does not quite cohere in a successful way. The details start to drown out the ideas and the ideas are not quite carried off with the force required. None of which detracts from the astounding journey that the story takes. The overall concept, of humans being equipped with cyber brains that have a constant connecting with a global cyber network, the significantly increased use of cyberisation of bodies blurring the lines of what is human is superbly exploited. Motoko is a an evolved creature,her physical bodies are all cyborgs, her consciousness, in essence her humanity or her ghost, is anchored in the infrastructure of the net.
This allows Shirow Masamune to have Motoko roam the globe easily, dropping into bodies storied at various locations to engage in stunning action set pieces. A propensity for panty shots is unfortunate and jarring. The cyber action is managed with explosive artwork that means that the information network is visualised in the most engaging and astounding way. The strategy of piling on the detail, including very funny footnotes from the creator, is effective for most of the story but becomes overwhelming at the end. As the big conclusion is approached the story falters instead of flying.
As a partial failure is is wildly more successful that most comics and extravagantly more successfully than than most science fiction, in comic form or not. The willingness to embrace and exploit the possibilities if both comics and science fiction is exhilarating and joyous, not to be missed.

Out of the Past. Director: Jacques Tourneur. RKO Radio Pictures (1947)

2011-07-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

A superb film noir with a great cast, cleverly constructed plot and a bruised romantic heart. Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) answers a summons from Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas), a gambler he had done a job for and had hoped to have left behind. On the journey to see Whit, Bailey tells his girlfriend the story of how he had been a private investigator hired by Whit to find Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer), who had robbed and shot Whit. Bailey found Kathie and fell in love with her, their attempt to escape together from Whit had ended very badly and now Whit had found Bailey again. Whit wants Bailey to recover some papers for him, when Bailey finds that Kathie had returned to Whit the job starts to look dangerous. The plot coils and twists thought carefully staged reveals and double-crosses down to the grim climax and nicely ambiguous conclusion.
Robert Mitchum is superb, he has an easy charm and self-awareness about how he landed himself in the situation he finds himself in. He is devoid of self-pity, reacting with a sardonic competence and assurance to the ever increasing danger. Kirk Douglas, with his wide smile and held in rage is smooth and compelling. When the rage is finally unleashed, it is a quiet fury that has a frighteningly sincere intensity to it.
The dark heart of the film is Jane Greer, a sinuous and subtle performance, as a woman who is hell bent on surviving regardless of what she needs to do so. The men in the film are her playthings, none of them have her willingness to take any step necessary. In the last scenes of the film she emerges as truly herself, holding all the cards ands and ready to play them, the power of the moment makes her sparkle like a blood covered diamond. Men are sentimental fools who fall for her lure of romance, the price they pay for this is betrayal and death. The division between the wholesome world of small town America and the bleak urban underworld of Whit and Bailey is cunningly evoked to sharpen the shadows in the story. Unmissable.

The Darkness and The Deep. Aline Templeton. Hodder & Stoughton. (2006)

2011-07-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

Very engaging and enjoyable crime story, a smart mix of a modern police procedural and village murder story. The loss of the Knockhaven lifeboat with the three crew is a huge blow for the small village, when it is found to have been deliberately engineered it exposes the fierce tensions and struggles that are swirling through the community. Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming is aware that drug smuggling has steadily replaced fishing as the most important local industry and has to establish if the wrecking was related to it. With tensions within the investigating team complicating matters, the mixed motives and agendas of the large, superbly drawn, cast are cleverly woven together and finally lead to a very satisfactory conclusion.
Aline Templeton makes very effective use of the context, the small community with is suffering from the terminal decline of the fishing industry and everyone knows some version of everyone else’s business. As with the best of village murder stories, the community has a multitude of motives and plausible suspects, the disentangling of which is one of the pleasures of the book. The cast are given room to breathe and grow into themselves, the reveals are cunning staged and arise very naturally from the action.
The counter pointing and overlapping of the tensions within the police investigation with the villagers is very neatly structured, Marjory Fleming's domestic troubles are plausible and expertly woven into the story. The final unravelling reveals something very nasty, it anchors the brutality of the wrecking of the lifeboat with grim strength and effectively bitter action. Great crime fiction, a pleasure.

Runners, Book 1: Bad Goods. Sean Wang (Writer & Artist) Serve Man Press (2005)

2011-06-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

A superb space opera with a solid plot, great action, a superb context and a very engaging cast. Roka Nostaco and his crew are smugglers-for-hire, runners, en route to make a collection when they find that the space ship they are due to meet is under attack. They beat off the attack and rescue the ship and most of the cargo. Complications follow when that take a woman they found on the cargo ship on board and find that they have a bounty on their heads. A visit to a huge space station for repairs and rest proves to be very difficult. The action is sharp and fast, carefully balanced with information, back story and dry humour. The conclusion is satisfying and open ended enough to provide a platform for new stories.
Sean Wang has taken a very familiar template of footloose adventurers getting caught up in action that pulls at their wallets as well as their residual sense of right and wrong and gives it fresh and focused momentum. He is faithful to the genre requirements for a diverse, bickering crew, very competent in action if preferring to avoid it with a nice slice of back story to give them hard knock experience. The quality of his writing means that the requirements do not slide into cliche, the cast are lively, individual and very engaging. The situations they find themselves in are superbly set up, logically sequenced and give the cast a opportunity to shine individually and collectively.
The art is equal to the writing, it strongly expresses the story and provides a glorious space opera context. The cast are expressive and individual, the space ship hardware is given enough detail and functional thought to ground the action very firmly. The big scenes of space conflict are loud and impressive, close quarter combat is fast and intense. This is a very thoughtfully constructed comic that wearing its considerable craft lightly, it is so good it makes it look easy. A pleasure to read, re-read and savour, wonderful.

Case Histories. Kate Atkinson. Black Swan (2004)

2011-06-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

An interesting mix of a book that does not quite catch fire. Jackson Brodie, an ex-policeman now private investigator working in Cambridge becomes somewhat haphazardly involved in three case histories. The first and most significant is the disappearance of a very young girl from the garden of her home. Decades later two of her sisters find her favourite toy in their recently deceased father's desk. They hire Jackson to investigate Olivia's disappearance. The second case is the 10 year old murder of a young woman in her father's office. Theo, Laura's father is determined to understand why his daughter was killed and hires Jackson to find out. The third case involves a young woman who murdered her husband, her sister hires Jackson to find the woman's daughter. The cases snake around each other without connecting, the reveals are nicely staged and the conclusion is generous and compassionate.
This story is a character drama for crime fiction fans and a crime story for character drama fans, it balances both very well without quite developing into a forceful,unified entity. The murders at the heart of the three case studies are smart and thoughtful and they do propel the drama in an effective fashion. The long echo from the disappearance of the young girl and the murder of Theo's daughter on the survivors is acutely drawn. The criminal element is much more muted in the third case and feels somewhat unfinished,the drama is considerably sharper and significantly more unkind to the cast.
The cast are given plenty of room to breathe and develop, they do not quite come off the page. They feel constrained by the framework of the violent actions that have marked them, at the same time the investigations lacks the force and focus to drive the narrative. All of the major characters are facing profound challenges which are forcing them into changes and choices they would rather avoid. The strength of the book is the way these changes are used to reveal the cast, the wide spread of focus within the book means it does not quite get to grips enough with any one thread to really engage the reader.

Sherlock Holmes. Soul of the Dragon. Northstar Press (1995)

2011-06-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is an anthology of three short Sherlock Holmes stories within a framing sequence all written by Joe Gentile with a different artistic team on each story. All the stories are black & white. The framing sequence shows Holmes granting Watson permission to publish some more cases from his records. The first of these is "The Much Maligned Musician", art by Dave Ulanski & Bill Halliar,in which a very talented and egotistical musician commits suicide after being publicly revealed as gay. Sherlock Holmes finds that the evidence points to murder.In "Man of Medicine:Doctor of Despair", art by Alison McDonald, Sherlock Holmes becomes involved in an unusual kidnap case that uncoils nicely into something more. The final story "The Assassin's Lament", pencils by Pav Kovacic, inks by Lynda Licin, Kate McCoole and Joe Gentile starts with Dr.Watson assisting a woman and leads to murder and links with Professor Moriarty. All the stories are neatly constructed, capture Holmes and Watson effectively and give the great detective a chance to shine.
The art in the three stories varies very considerably and does not equally serve the story in each case. The art in the first story has clarity and depth, it is too rounded and clean to be entirely successful. The figure work is slightly static and feels a touch overdrawn. Dave Ulanski & Bill Halliar do have a very strong design sense and the variety of angles used in the panels is distinctive and effective.
With "Man of Medicine:Doctor of Despair" Alison McDonald's art is too flat, it illustrates the story without illuminating it. The style does nit capture the dynamic action needed by the story, it slows the narrative down too much and there is too much line work in the panels to allow them to breathe.
The art in "The Assassin's Lament" is the only one to try to actually exploit the possibilities of black & white, using the contrasts very assertively to create mood and action. The cast are the most individual and developed and the action is sharp and forceful. All told these are enjoyable stories created with interesting artistic choices and strategies which provide mixed results.

Hollywood Station. Joseph Wambaugh. Quercus (2007)

2011-06-02T06:35:00.000-07:00

Very engaging and frequently laugh out loud funny police story. A mosaic of incidents and anecdotes slowly coalesce around the story of two couples, one a set of armed robbers the other a pair of tweakers, crystal meth addicts. The very large cast is expertly shuffled and reshuffled as the story threads emerge and knot together in a brilliantly staged, brutal and very unexpected fashion. The reveals are superb, surprising, frequently funny and always perfectly judged to reveal the character in the situation.
That this book is not a meandering mess is due to Joseph Wambaugh's skill in structuring and writing the narrative. The action is episodic and apparently random, following the large cast as they pursue their legal and criminal activities across the area covered by the Hollywood Station. Joseph Wambaugh is passionately in favour of the patrol staff of the LAPD, without being in any way sentimental about them or their work. He captures exactly why a police office would start and remain in the job in spite of the extraordinarily difficult conditions they work under. The most difficulties coming from their own organisation.
The cast are memorable, vital and all demanding the readers full attention as they live life at full speed, the dialogue sparkles and crackles with energy and bite. The structure of the book captures the chaotic life of the police and their opponents and the story of disastrous collision between the armed robbers and tweakers gradually comes into focus. The criminals are given as much time and care as the police and the action arises naturally and forcefully from the characters themselves. Joseph Wambaugh's romantic and heroic vision of police work is tempered by a vivid sense of the harsh and violent reality of Hollywood, they combine to make a superb book.

Woman With Birthmark. Hakan Nesser. Laurie Thompson (Translation) Pan Books (2010)

2011-05-20T08:08:00.000-07:00

Vivid and compelling crime story that has smart structure,superb cast and powerful emotional undertow. A man is shot and investigation reveals that he had received odd phone calls prior to his murder, when a second man is murdered in the same way and having received similar calls the police struggle to find the connection and the killer. As the police investigation proceeds two other men realise the the cause of the deaths and the fact that they too are in danger, unwilling to involve the police they plan their defences. The reveals are superbly staged, the various strands of the story are brilliantly drawn together to a bitter and satisfying conclusion.
The most striking aspect to the story is the way Hakan Nesser solves the story problems in deeply satisfying and unpredictable ways.Two of the cast know they are being hunted and they know why, this does not release the tension as surprise murder becomes a deadly battle of will and wits. The police investigation is thoughtful and competent, it drives the story as a nearly random factor in the deadly duel between the hunter and the hunted.
The cast are vivid and sparkle with life, all of them are given the space to emerge as fully fledged characters, the reader becomes involved with them all. Inspector Van Veeteren has a cranky forcefulness that is entirely engaging, the woman who finally finds a life purpose in revenge is brilliant, believable and finally, truthfully unheroic. The men she hunts are discovering that actions can have consequences very much after all thought of them had gone, they struggle to understand just how utterly their lives have been torn asunder. A must read.

The Savage Sword of Conan. Volume Six. Dark Horse Comics (2009)

2011-05-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

This volume collects issues 61 to 71 of The Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian black & white magazine. It includes all the original covers as well as the various pin ups from each issue. The volume is packed with great stories and outstanding art.
The stories are written by Roy Thomas, Michael Fleisher and Bruce Jones all of who understood how to manage the story formula with skill and care. The mixture between sword and sorcery is a delicate one and requires subtle skill to bring off successfully. The ingredients are obvious, scheming politicians, kings and queens, power hungry wizards, beautiful women and lots of fighting. The hinge of the stories is that Conan with his taste for wine, women and swordplay and his instinctive dread of magic is also possessed of a sophisticated understanding of how power works. His wits and observation are as quick as his sword arm and knowing how and when to highlight one or the other is the craft in these stories. With the extended length provided by the magazine format and no requirement for issue to issue continuity the writers had the scope to mix plot and character to great effect.
The art is the most obviously striking aspect to the stories, it is as subtle and sophisticated as the stories, providing a nuanced and detailed flow for the stories that draws the reader in. My favourite artists on the stories are John Buscema and Ernie Chan, together they have a detail and texture that is unrivalled. In the "The Lurker in the Labyrinth" there is a single panel of a brawl in a tavern that shimmers with action, the details are crisp and clear, the physical reality of Conan's world is made plain. This volume is a slab of unadulterated pleasure.

Red Wolf. Liza Marklund (Writer), Neil Smith (Translator). Corgi Books (2010)

2011-05-10T04:21:00.000-07:00

A Swedish thriller with a great plot and a very engaging cast lead by a intriguing protagonist. Annika Bengtzon is a journalist, recovering from a severely traumatic event, she becomes interested in the death of a fellow reporter. The dead reporter had been working on the story of the worst terrorist incident in Sweed that had taken place years before, the same story Annika was interested in. As Anniks takes a closer look at the death she discover it may not have been accidental and that the incident at the airfield may not be ancient history. The reveals are very well staged and the conclusion is sharp and satisfying.
Annika Bengtzon is a very engaging and somewhat unsympathetic character. She is struggling to regain her equilibrium after nearly loosing her life and her work and home life are coming under pressure. She responds in unexpected and dynamic ways to her circumstances, is never willing to give up or knuckle under. She is very willing to fight dirty to protect her interests and this adds depth and force to her character.
The context of the enthusiasm of a lot of young people in the early 1970's for both Russian and Chinese communism and the unexpectedly long shadow it would cast in their lives is carefully explored. One of the nice aspects to the book is that the honest idealism of the times is not undermined by the bitter aftermath and weary hindsight. The cast are allowed to managed their own choices and the fallout from them as individuals. Liza Marklund sidesteps any stereotypes or cliches by giving her cast such strong personalities, the story is unexpected because they are happily unpredictable. There is also a very strong and pointed thread in the book about the Swedish media and the steps its owners would go to to preserve their assets, it is backed up a nice afterword by Liz Marklund which shows how skillfully she created fiction out of fact. Great fun.

Hypothermia. Arnldur Indridason (Writer), Bernard Scudder (Translator). Vintage Books (2009)

2011-05-10T03:47:00.000-07:00

A quietly effective crime story that delivers a considerable punch. Icelandic police detective Erlendur is approached by the friend of a suicide victim who has doubts about the death and he agrees to investigate it further. At the same time a thirty year old missing person case is weighing heavily on his mind. As he steadily pursues his investigations into both cases it becomes clear that there are significant questions regarding both that need to be answered. The reveals are quiet and superbly staged, the apparently irrelevant investigations into the two cases starts to reveal unexpected turns. The conclusion is as cold and gripping as the hypothermia of the title.
Arnaldur Indridason has taken an interesting route in this book, the investigations are shrouded in questions of memory and loss and how they can overshadow the the present. Erlendur is conducting the investigations as a private crusade, there is no official reason for them and the question of why he is undertaking them is nicely woven into the story. The Icelandic context is strongly drawn in the story and adds to the flavour of the book.
The structure of the narrative is clever, the suicide victim emerges as someone looking for answers all her life and seeking them in increasingly strange places. the way her search to understand her past collides with the present is subtly and effectively woven together. The missing person case stirs a dark pool of memory and long term loss with skill and a melancholy grip. Thoughtful and gripping, a great read.

The Beast Triology. The Dormant Beast/December 32nd. Enki Bilal (Writer & Artist), Taras Otus,Sasha Watson (Translation.). Humanoids/DC Comics (2004)

2011-04-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

Piping hot science fiction delivered with outstanding art, this volume is the first two chapters of The Beast Trilogy and a really compelling comic. Nike Hatzfeld is a man who can remember all of his life down to the first days after his birth. He was an orphan in war torn Sarajevo, in a damaged hospital with two other children Amir and Leyla and Nike is looking for them. He lives in a world where memory and knowledge are under violent ass ult from the Obscurantis Order who are determined to reshape the world, Nike's memory is a valuable prize for them. Leyla is a astrophysicist who is involved in investigation a stream of messages from space, Amir is a bodyguard about to start a new contract. The story is dramatic and far reaching, the reveals are superbly staged and the cast very engaging.
Enki Bilal carries of the mix of big ideas and a believable cast and context with flair and energy. The context is a future that has been battered a great deal by some series of conflicts, information is provided as the cast require it not the reader. This is neither frustrating nor confusing as the clarity and momentum of the story is so strong. The plot reveals itself steadily, nicely growing in depth and force as the unexpected twists and turns are revealed. Nike, Leyla and Amir emerge as very forceful characters, linked in subtle and sharp ways. Doctor Warhole is a superb creation, an evil genius with plans for global domination, he provides the controlled menace that drives the story.
The art is simply astounding, it has a dark and almost unfinished look to it as though Enki Bilal drew with chalk and brushed his sleeve lightly over the pages. It gives the physical context of the story a slightly unreal quality, it feels like science fiction art. The technology does not shine, it is all in use and showing it, the grit of the plot is matched by the grit of the art.
The very best thing about this story is that it could only be told properly as a comic, the interplay between story and art, the limitless budget of comics and the frozen timeline of sequential panels do more than frame the story, they allow it to be told. This story exploits the possibilities of comics in a genuinely exciting way, a star burst of controlled creativity, astonishing.

The Labyrinths of Echo Book 1: The Stranger. Max Frei (Writer), Polly Gannon (Translator). Gollancz (2009)

2011-04-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

An exuberant and highly entertaining fantasy with a well thought out alternative world and a very engaging cast. Max Frei, an insomniac and self described classic loser, finds that his dreams have more substance than he imagined. In his dreams he meets Sir Juffin Hully, Most Venerable Head of the Minor Secret Investigative Force in the city of Echo. Sir Julian, recognising talents that Max does not realise he possesses, offers him a job as his Nocturnal Representative in Echo. Max travels across dimensions to Echo and takes up his post. His department investigate unusual crimes, activities that are likely to involve the illegal use of magic. Max has cases that range for mysterious deaths in a neighbours house to a haunted prison cell to a case where a cook is converted into a meal.
The book does not have an overarching plot, it is constructed as a progression of episodes that steadily reveal more about the city of Echo, Max's developing abilities and his fellow officers in the Minor Secret Investigative Force. The city of Echo is an nicely developed context, it sidesteps the frequent quasi-medieval stereotypes of a lot of fantasy, and manages to create a lively location for the action. The structure of the book means that the information about Echo is delivered steadily to the reader as Max himself finds it out, the city and its inhabitants emerge in a natural and intriguing way.
The cast are lively and hard working, Max himself is pleasantly calm and ready for adventure, he develops a willingness to become involved in his adopted home which brings the reader very much into the story. The rest of the investigators are given a chance to shine and develop across the episodes and they are strongly varied and vivid. Max's unsurprising romantic entanglement with one of his fellow investigators is given substance by the unexpected handling.
The writing is noticeably not Anglophone in origin, there is a slight formality to the book that suits it very well and marks it is coming from a different context. The episodes are cleverly constructed and enjoyable, the final one trails off a little, not so much as to injure the book, it tries a little too hard. Overall very good fun.

BLACKLANDS. Belinda Bauer. Corgi Books (2010)

2011-04-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Astonishing and utterly compelling thriller that drives relentlessly forward to a white knuckle conclusion. Steven Lamb digs holes on Exmoor looking for the grave of his uncle who had been abducted and murdered years before by a serial child killer, Arnold Avery. He does so in hope of repairing the damage done to his family by Billy's abduction. Steven finally writes to Avery in prison seeking his help in locating the grave and Avery seizes the opportunity that has come his way to have something new in his life. The story unspools in a very gripping and creepy fashion, the events have a horrible inevitability about them until the final heart squeezing conclusion.
This astonishing book manages to disguise the plot as the natural outcome of the actions and reactions of its brilliantly realised cast to their circumstances. From the very slightest of beginnings, the story moves carefully and calmly through the increasing escalation of events. There is nothing blatant about the progression of the story, it moves without many set pieces, the story is nudged along by wickedly believable actions and collisions. The increasingly uneasy atmosphere conjured up arises almost unseen and gathers paces as quietly as a descending fog on Exmoor.
Belinda Bauer has created a memorable cast and gives everyone, from the principal to the smallest walk on part, the breath of life. The ebb and flow of the story is so deeply entwined with the lives of the cast that the author's breathtaking craft in shaping the story is invisible. Arnold Avery is a triumph, a monster of terribly comprehensible proportions, never sympathetic and utterly engaging, a ruthless mixture of self-discipline and appetite, he still does not quite dominate the book. Steven Lamb, twelve years old, struggling to repair his shattered family and to survive his friends and enemies, emerges as the deep heart of the book. This book is enthralling and is simply unmissable.

Empire of Blue Water. Henry Morgan and the Pirates who Ruled the Caribbean Waves. Stephan Talty. Pocket Books (2007)

2011-04-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

A wonderfully engaging and informative study of the extraordinary career of Henry Morgan and the pirate city of Port Royal. Henry Morgan and his fellow buccaneers were the last wave of the privateers,private ships and captains with commissions from governments to attack their enemies shipping. They were not pirates, pirates were outlaws with no legal standing, privateers were recognised part of official military and naval strategy. In Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean the privateers fought a war against the Spanish Empire under their own rules, organised as the Brethren of the Coast and with their home in Port Royal, the "richest and wickedest city in the world".
Henry Morgan sailed out to Jamaica in 1654 to make his name and his fortune, the possibilities in the New World were spectacular for the brave and the willing. The Spanish Empire was mining the fabulous riches of South America and shipping them back to Europe. Its was inflexible, unimaginative and deeply autocratic, everything that the Brethren of the Coast were not, and they were to exploit the weakness of the empire in a astonishingly ruthless and effective fashion.
No one did this more effectively than Henry Morgan, the fiercely democratic and open structure of the Brethren suited his talents perfectly. His steady string of successes made his followers rich and allowed his increase the scope and reach of his raids until he his most specular raid on the city of Panama. It was his greatest success and ultimately his most profound failure, it marked the breaking point for social and political structure that allowed the privateers to flourish.
Stephan Talty tells the extraordinary story of Henry Morgan, placing him firmly into his wider historical, political and economic context. He shows how the strengths of the Brethern were closely allied to their weaknesses and how, inevitably, privateers became pirates. This is a superbly written book, Stephan Talty has a glorious story to tell and tells it with tremendous style, momentum and a keen eye for the telling detail. The blazing Henry Morgan is given a fitting stage to stride on, unmissable and unputadownable.

S.O.S. Meteors. Edgar P. Jacobs (Writer and Artist). Jerome Saincantin (Translator). Cinebook Ltd. (2009)

2011-04-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

A very well crafted science fiction adventure. Extreme weather has been plaguing Western Europe and Professor Phillip Mortimer goes to Paris to meet with his friend, Professor Labrousse, the chief French meteorologist. After his taxi crashes, the driver vanished and he nearly drowns, Mortimer finally arrives at Prof. Labrousse's house. Mortimer has some suspicions about the cause of the weather and when he finds himself a suspect in the disappearance of the taxi driver decides to investigate on his own account. Captain Francis Blake of British Military Intelligence is also on Paris on a mission and when his friend Mortimer disappears and his case seems to be related to the weather, Blake finds he has stepped on a hornets nest. The plot is very well set up, the reveals are clever, the action is excellent, the conclusion is thoroughly enjoyable.
The story is very well crafted both as an adventure and science fiction,both elements are cleverly woven together. There is a strong big idea in controlling the weather, the comic book science that underlies the plan is cleverly set up and delivered with the suitable degree of seriousness. It is also hitched nicely to a political agenda which gives it an edge over the the anticipated mad genius trope. The action is superbly choreographed, one of the great pleasures is that no one has it easy, both the heroes and the villains have to fight hard for what they want. Each has hair's breath escapes and face competent and forceful opponents, this makes the struggle considerably more interesting. The end may not be in doubt, the journey is unexpected.
The art is a joy, the detail in each panel is a pleasure, it never overcrowds the story nor slows the momentum, it gives a solid context to the action. There is a sequence involving a flight and fight over Paris rooftops in a rainstorm that is a model of pacing and clarity. The cast are full of life and energy, they are clearly individual, down to the extras, and push the story forward with vigour. There is a little bit of telling and showing in the comic, it is more of a period charm than a distraction. Great fun, first rate comic storytelling.

Frozen Tracks. Ake Edwardson. Vintage (2008)

2011-04-12T06:49:00.000-07:00

This is a gripping police procedural, a thoughtful plot and a very engaging cast. A number of small children are taken for a drive by a man they do not know and are returned unharmed. The incidents are all reported to separate police stations and the children are not upset by the experience. A number of attacks on college students is being investigated by Detective Chief Inspector Winter, all of them have been struck by an unseen assailant, one being very badly injured. When a student escapes his attacker DCI Winter begins to pick up the threads of the case. After small boy is picked up in a car and found injured, the other cases come to light and the pattern becomes visible. Gradually the two plot lines converge in the same brutal secrets. The reveals are superbly staged, the investigation is thoughtful, deliberate and effective, the resolution is grim and satisfying.
The story is superbly structured, the various strands of the story are expertly woven together and the links are cunningly forged. The professional and the personal context for the police officers is very well drawn, DCI Winter defying expectations by having a stable happy relationship that he is deeply committed to. One of his colleague's has a personal crisis which nicely explores the theme of the story.
The student victims of the assaults and the child kidnapper are nicely ambivalent, they have secrets that they are trying to both embrace and escape at the same time. It gives a welcome and melancholy flavour to the story and a naturally and effective complicating factor to the investigation. A pleasure.

The Man with No Name: Saints and Sinners. Christos Gage(Writer), Wellington Dias (Art), Bruno Hang (Colours), Dynamite Entertainment (2009)

2011-04-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

A very enjoyable sequel to the film, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" that follows the Clint Eastwood character, the Man with No Name. He is being actively hunted by both Union and Confederate soldiers for different reasons. While trying to evade both sides he is drawn into a siege of the Mission of San Antonio where he had spent some time recovering his health. The mission is under siege from a mixed group of Union and Confederate deserters and The Man with No Name joins the fray with explosive results. The story is very engaging, the back story is filled in effectively and naturally. The action is fast and smart, the story has momentum and pace, the cast are full of energy.
The comic has a very difficult task to complete, it has to pick up the threads from a brilliant film and use them to create a comic that can stand by itself. To a considerable degree it does so, Christos Gage does an excellent job of both linking the story to the film and moving beyond it. The main story stands squarely by itself as a solid western adventure. He sensibly does very little with the title character beyond what has already been established in the films. He uses the surrounding cast to really give the story some depth and push, none are passive observers or victims, they are all driving forward as hard as they can. This gives the story a great texture as they collide in interesting ways. The ending of the story is smart and does point to a way beyond the boundaries of the film.
The shortfall in this comic is the art, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with it, it is expressive and clear, it is simply too clean. One of the most notable aspects to the films is the grimy and dusty context, it is a harsh environment and it was as much a character in the films as the human cast. The art does not capture this, it is too polished, the cast look as though their clothes were laundered. This would matter less if the story was not following on so closely from the film, in future stories it will probably matter much less.
This comic is neither insulting to fans of the film nor obscure to those not familiar with it, it is a western that understands the demands of the genre and responds to them with flair and thoughtfulness. The cover gallery featuring the series covers by Richard Isanove is stunning, they grace the story the way the epic score graced the film. Thoroughly enjoyable.

The Secret Friend. Chris Mooney. Penguin Books (2008)

2011-04-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

A gripping and entertaining thriller with a twisting plot and an engaging cast. When a woman's body is found floating in Boston harbour, it becomes clear that her murder is related to the earlier murder of the daughter of a very rich and influential man. CSI Darby McCormick is assigned to the case and starts working with detective Tim Bryson. The murder kidnaps another young woman, answering the commands of the Virgin Mary to do so, to keep her captive and to be her friend. When Malcolm Fletcher, an ex-FBI profiler wanted for murder himself, appears to be taking a strong interest in the case and elaborate game of hide and seek takes place. The plot threads are developed with care and attention to detail, the reveals are very cleverly staged and the conclusion wholly satisfying.
The kidnapper is the least interesting member of the cast, Chris Mooney works very hard to spin a character out of a cliche and succeeds as far as it is possible to do. He is considerably more successful with the rest of his cast. Darby McCormick is a striking character, smart, confident and competent she is a pleasure to spend time with. Malcolm Fletcher is a wonderfully ambiguous villain,his version of justice has a dangerous attraction. It is Jonathan Hale, grieving father of the first murdered girl, who emerges as the most interesting character in the book. He is trapped in the horrible ripples of grief and his presence places a strong focus on the victims, which adds great weight and depth to the crimes.
The two victims who are given space are allowed to be considerably more than breasts and screams, they fight and struggle to escape and to maintain their independence. Chris Mooney puts his cast through the wringer, the grip of the book comes from the fact that the cast make us care about it. A great read.

The Rainbow Orchid. Volume Two. Garen Ewing (Writer and Art). Egmont (2010)

2011-04-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

This is a very engaging and highly enjoyable comic, a really well done adventure story with a strong plot and an engaging cast.Julius Chancer, Lily Lawrence and Nathaniel Crumpole fly to India in pursuit of the fabled Rainbow Orchid. They need it to win a foolish bet made by Lily Lawrence's father with the very unscrupulous Urkaz Grope. Grope has dispatched Evelyn Crow, along with some assorted thugs, to stop Julius by any means possible. The multiple threads of the plot are explored in more detail, the reveals are nicely staged and the story is advanced in a very entertaining fashion.
The art is lovely, while Garen Ewing has a very distinctive style, he has a great range with his cast, each person is distinct and their actions are clear and crisp. The level of detail is very welcome, the physical context for the action is always very well judged and gives a great depth and weight to the story. The structure of the story is excellent, the plot lines are clearly laid out, the explanations are woven into the narrative in a very natural way.
Julius Chancer is a engaging hero, impulsive and brave, he is given a credible back story and time to have some doubts. He is not a superhero and the story gains greatly from his competent humanity. Evelyn Crow is a wonderful villain, her implacable and stylish energy creates the central tension in the story. None of the others in the cast are shortchanged, everyone is given enough space and content to make an impression without crowding the story too much. Garen Ewing has managed a very difficult balancing act between action and character, speed and plot density all delivered with sparkling art, a pleasure.

Fallen Idols. Neil White. AVON (2007)

2011-03-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is a gripping thriller with a superbly structured narrative, solid plot and a very engaging cast. When someone kills two top Premier League stars in public in public, and brutally kills any witnesses as well, freelance reporter Jack Garett sees an opportunity. The top Premier star, David Watts comes from the same town as Jack, Turners Fold and Jack sees a chance to write a profile of Watts and returns home to do so. At the same time David Watts is pulled into the killings in a brutally direct way and struggles to find a way out. The reveals are brilliantly set up, the pace is fast and frequently furious, the cast vivid and sharply alive.
The narrative structure of the book is superb, the shifts between the cast are cleverly calculated to push action forward in a very effective and surprising ways. The plot moves at a great pace and none of the cast lie down under their fate. All of them struggle and attempt to exert control over a situation that they are not sure about. This active cast is tremendous, it gives the story great forward momentum and allows Neil White to switch the story frequently without loosing any narrative force.
There is a slightly clunky plot device used in the book, it does not distract from the story, it undermined a reveal without destroying it. There is a slight gap in explaining the path that lead directly to the actions that drive the plot, an under explained transition from one state of being to another for a key cast member. It is a tribute to the story that it stays long enough in the readers mind for these issues to arise at all. Sharp, very violent and compelling, a pleasure.

Spider Trap. Barry Maitland. EuroCrime (2006)

2011-03-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

A very enjoyable police procedural, with a strong plot and a very engaging cast. The discovery of two murdered girls leads by accident to the discovery of three skeletons buried on some wasteland. The investigation is headed by Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla. The investigation soon find that the old crime may have links to a very dangerous criminal, Spider Roach. Brock had encountered Roach before and realises just how difficult his potential involvement could make the investigation. An officer on loan from the Special Branch is making life complicated for Kathy Kolla. The plot unfurls very nicely, the reveals are cleverly staged, the violent set piece at the climax is slightly out of place with the rest of the book, the final conclusion is grimly effective.
This is a really well structured book, Barry Maitland gives his large cast a very significant problem and they attempt to resolve it is credible and gripping ways. Spider Roach is a malign shadow, manipulating events from the shadows and rarely taking a direct route when an indirect one gets a result. DCI Brock and DS Kolla are trying to manage an investigation within the constraints of the police force while not stepping on one of Roach's landmines. The threads of the two investigations, the two murdered girls and the skeletons, mix and overlap in interesting ways.
One of the pleasures of the book is the way the extended cast, including a local, black MP are drawn into the plot and the scale of Spider Roach's reach starts to become apparent.With such a ferocious, clever villain at the heart of the plot gives the book great momentum, Brock & Kolla have to be smart, imaginative and resourceful to deal with him. They and the book are all that and more, a pleasure.

SCAPULA. Aidan Casserly (Writer & Artist). www.aidancasserly.com (2010)

2011-03-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

This is a collection of some of the story lines from the superb web comic with one extra story exclusive to the collection. Scapula is a needy, rather pathetic and cowardly supervision attempting to gain respect from an uncaring world. One of the pleasures of the book is that it is not another superhero parody, it sparkles with an independent and very funny life. Aidan Casserly ranges across genres to develop solid and well thought stories full of very dark and cutting humour. There is no need to catch the references to enjoy the stories, the cast and the jokes stand very much in their own right. Scapula is a brilliant character, the impotent rage against his life, the whiny regrets about his failings are sharply developed so that he is funny but never tiresome. The rest of the cast are equally well developed and individual, they deal with their circumstances with tremendous, if frequently misguided energy, and draw the reader in.
The art is lovely, packed with detail which creates a superb context for the actions of the cast. The slightly cartoon look adds greatly to the action, the cast react and overreact as they should. They convey a lot through their body language, complemented by the nicely aware narration and laugh out loud dialogue. A great web comic, a great comic.

Pornography. Men Possessing Women. Andrea Dworkin. The Women's Press (1981)

2011-03-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

This brilliantly written, fiercely argued book is both invigorating and deeply dispiriting to read. Andrea Dworkin develops a powerful argument that pornography is central to men controlling women. It reduces women to being sexual slaves, publicly reinforcing their subservient position. This is placed within a wider context of sexual relations betwen men and women and how that relates to the larger society. Andrea Dworkin's close examination of a variety of pornographic books and images is dispiriting and very difficult to read, it is a catalouge of contempt, cruelty and lust for dominance. At the end of the book Andrea Dworkin writes on the toll taken on her personally by the investigations she undertook.
What makes this book invigorating is the passionate argument that Andrea Dworkin develops. There is a very strong sense of having someone place a hand on your chest and have a lucid and commited argument directly with you as the reader. It is an argument in that there is a very clear intent to persuade, not by force of detail rather by thoughtful and carefully copnstructed arguments supporting a conclusion. I disagree very strongly with a great deal of the arguments in the book and the pleasure of engaging with the arguments head on and attempting to match the passion and rigor of the arguments was exhilirating.
Andra Dworkin has written a brilliant, passionate, infuriating, depressing and amazing book, hard to read and deeply engaging, superb.

Savage Moon. Chris Simms. Orion Books (2007)

2011-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

A very engaging police procedural with a superbly constructed plot and a very well realised cast. A woman is found mauled to death on Saddleworth Moor, near Manchester. A rouge big cat is suspected and the evidence supports the idea. When a man is killed in a similar fashion at a gay rendezvous, DI Jon Spicer is assigned to the case. While the investigation does reveal a lot about the lives of the victims, there is no apparent connection between them nor any evidence that it was murder. The plot develops strongly as the investigation continues and the threads begin to tie together in a grim and very effective fashion, leading to a surprising and hard hitting conclusion.
In addition to the excellent plot Chris Simms has taken two threadbare genre staples and given them a very welcome breath of life. DI Spicer has a domestic problem, his wife is a new mother and does not appear to be coping well. The issue and impact of post natal depression is handled with care, the struggle to manage domestic and professional demands with a male character in the vise is deftly done. In addition Spicer has conflicts with superiors at work, this too is handled well, organisational pressures, ambition and differing agendas are the context rather than stupidity. The mix of the two is very well drawn together as well as the escalating pressure of the investigation.
Chris Simms pulls of a major reveal that has the potential to unbalance the book and topple the reader out of the story with elegant skill. A lengthy exposition is given a clever context and tension that neatly tie it to the story and feels natural. This is a very well written novel that pushes the boundaries of the genre while scrupulously respecting them,a pleasure.

Inside the Mind of BTK. John Douglas & Johnny Dodd. Josssey-Bass (2008)

2011-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Between 1974 and 1991 Dennis Rader killed ten people in Wichita, Kansas and created public terror and fear as the serial killer knows as BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill). He was arrested in 2005 following a superbly executed police effort to finally trap him.
John Douglas, who was an agent with the FBI and ran the criminal profiling section, first encountered BTK in 1979 when he created a profile for the Wichita police.
Dennis Rader got overwhelming gratification from having power over other people,tying them up and killing them was the sole meaningful actions in his life. Everything else that he did was a shallow facade designed to ensure he could continue to follow his desires in safety.
There is no specific event in Dennis Rader's life that appears to have pushed him in the direction of becoming a serial killer. He had a compulsive desire to tie himself up and a turbulent desire to have power over someone else and to inflict extremes of pain and terror on them before killing them. John Douglas & Johnny Dodd, using Rader's own extensive notes and diaries, trace the development of his murderous desires.The emergence of BTK followed Rader's desire to be credited in full for his crimes, he wrote to the newspapers and identified himself as BTK with enough detail about his first murder to be credible. From there he maintained a efforts to maintain his profile and relished the fear and panic he was causing. It was vanity that eventually lead to his arrest, he started to issue public communications again after reading a an article that a journalist was writing a book about BTK, who had been dormant for years at this point.
In this book Rader emerges as a man so narrowly focused on himself that other people were just props to his desires, shallow and a coward. John Douglas never imagines Rader as other than he is, a dangerous, deeply unattractive predator. The story of his crimes is deeply sad, the victims are treated with care and respect. The investigation that finally trapped Rader is simply astonishing. This is a gripping, thoughtful, angry and very well written book.

High Noon. 13 of the Best Wild West Picture Library Stories Ever. Steve Holland (Editor). Prion (2008)

2011-02-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

An interesting and nostalgic collection of stories from a period when Westerns were part of the entertainment mainstream. The stories feature such established Western heroes as Daniel Boone and Kit Carson as well as creating their own such as the cowboy foreman, The Kansas Kid and the sheriff Buck Jones. The stories are very straightforward with crooked politicians, rustlers, overbearing soldiers stirring up the local Indian tribes and an assortment of crooks. To a large extent the stories read like episodes of the popular Western serials on television at the time they were published, like "The High Chaparral" or "The Virginian". It is notable that no writers or artists are credited in the volume.
The format of the stories, usually two large panels per page forces a uniform, rather slow, pace to the stories which takes a little getting used to. The artists take full advantage of the extra space to include considerable detail in the stories, the slower pace allows the details to be relished. There is a fair amount of variety with the art styles so there clearly was no house style for the publications.
The writing is a little clunky at times, it can repeat the action of the panel, telling and showing at the same time. It also is a bit more text heavy than contemporary comics and this also slows the pace of the comic. The stories are solid Western adventures, they do not challenge or play with the genre, they are very low on cliches also. It is a good fun collection, the stories are not memorable enough in themselves to survive with some support from nostalgia, the art fares better than the writing.

A Postillion Struck by Lightning. Dirk Bogarde. Phoenix (1977)

2011-02-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

A charming and engaging autobiography of childhood and young adulthood. Dirk Bogarde structures the book in two parts, the first recounts his time in the Garden of Eden, the second his expulsion from it and his progress in a harsher world. The Garden of Eden is rural Sussex where he could wander in the countryside with his sister largely free from adult supervision and interference. The big events are a visit from a relation a few years older who is a burden as she does not enjoy rural life and the campaign to win a canary at a local fair.
The expulsion from Eden was started when another child was born and the issue of Dirk Bogarde's persistent educational failures became pressing. Dirk was sent to Glasgow to stay with middle-aged childless relatives, to study at a technical school there. This was a savage dislocation from his previous life, he did not fit in at school, continued to fail and was a mystery and a concern to his relatives. Finally returning home and trying to evade his fathers efforts to guide him to a place with "The Times" newspaper, Dirk tried to start a career in acting. This is what he really wanted to do with his life as his account of his starting years just as the shadow of the Second World War started to darken.
While Dirk Bogarde is the narrator in this book, it is not centrally about him, the charm and warmth of the book lies in the wonderful cast of family, friends and aquantinces that crowd through the pages. His assertion that he never wished to be a star, rather be an honest and respected actor is borne out in the way he does not hog the limelight. The descriptions of rural Sussex, Glasgow and pre-war London are vivid and the details are sharp and telling. The writing is vivid and direct, he is hardest on himself. This is a hugely enjoyable book, a pleasure to read.

Alpha Vol 3. The List. Mythic (Writer), Y. Jigounov (Art), Jerome Saincantin (Translation). Cinebook Ltd (2010)

2011-02-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

Fast paced and very enjoyable spy thriller. A high-ranking secret police officer flees the collapse of East Germany with a list of US citizens who had covert dealings with the communist regime. When he offers the list to the CIA in exchange for relocation to the US and safety for his family, the list attracts the attention of a number of competing groups. An Israeli team as well as one of the people named on the list are desperate to get the information and the CIA team, headed by Alpha have a considerable struggle on their hands. The action is superbly paced, the reveals are clever and sharp, the resolution has bite.
To a large extent plot and action dominate over character in the story, not exclusively as the cast are given enough definition to make the action engaging. The plot is very well structured, the action makes sense and the pace is cleverly managed. The cast and their various contexts are introduced in a effective and compressed fashion that sets them up for the turns of the story very well. They never feel like they are plot bound, they are responding to events and trying to get ahead of them with credible vigour.
The art has to carry a great deal of the story and does so beautifully. The panels are nicely designed to vary the pace and to put a lot of information on the page in an unfussy and effective way. The human cast are strongly individual, their body language and expressions pick up the nuances of the story. A first rate story and a great comic.

The House Sitter. Peter Lovesey. Time Warner Books (2003)

2011-02-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

A very engaging and cleverly plotted crime story. A woman is found murdered on a beach, full of people not paying any attention to each other. The case becomes complex when the victim is identified as a top police profiler who had been working on a highly sensitive case for the National Crime Faculty. The question of whether the profiler was killed by the person she was hunting is one of the cleverly woven plot strands in the story. The complications of joint enquires, especially when one of the parties is reluctant to share information is nicely played out. The reveals are very well staged, the action is thoughtful and brisk and the conclusion sharp and very satisfying.
The dual pleasures of this book are the plot and the cast, the structure of the plot is first rate, the motives are clever and credible, they unfold in logical and surprising ways that move the story with subtle force. The cast are not slaves to the plot, they spring to strong and considered life, Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond in particular is hugely engaging. A competent , professional police officer, forceful without being a bully, fond of his own way and right often enough to warrant it. Sharing an investigation is not natural to him and to do so on two counts pushes his diplomatic skills to their limits.
Henrietta Mallin who is leading the investigation into the murdered profiler is smart, competent and tough, she is not at all overshadowed by Peter Diamond. The politics of a high profile case are nicely drawn in, the tension between the various police agencies is made clear. Most enjoyably, one character who appears at first to be a satirical swipe develops into a funny and genuine person, with much more self aware sharpness than might have been expected. This is a very clever and highly entertaining book.

The Chronicles of Solomon Kane. Dark Horse Books (2009)

2011-02-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

This volumes collects the six issues of The Sword of Solomon Kane (1985/1986) and two issues of Marvel Premiere (1976) originally published by Marvel Comics. The Marvel Premiere issues were written by Roy Thomas, all six of The Sword of Solomon Kane were written by Ralph Macchio.
One of the enduring pleasures of comics is seeing the different approaches creative teams take to the same story. The two Marvel Premiere issue and the first issue of The Sword of Solomon Kane adapt the Robert E. Howard story, "Red Shadows" in strikingly different ways while sticking to the same central story. Roy Thomas writes a two part story, with art from Howard Chaykin, colours by Dan Jackson and letters by Jom Novak, neatly splits the story into its two halves. Howard Ckaykin's art is sharp and angular, carefully paced with panel layouts driving the pacing. The writing is lush and overgrown, a delight to read and matching the drama of the art.
Ralph Machhio with art from Steve Carr & Bret Blevins, colours by Dan Jackson and letters by Steve Dutro compresses the story to a single issue and the art has softer edges and greater depth. Solomon Kane is a more human figure, Howard Chaykin delivers him as stripped down to the fierce drives that push him on, Steve Carr & Bret Blevins, show a deeply focused and committed man. Both capture the driven action and the determined pursuit of the story, weave in the supernatural elements with skill and deliver the conclusion with the savage judgement and force it needs.
The stand out story from the rest of The Sword of Solomon Kane issues is an original story , "the Prophet" with art by Mike Mignola & Al Williamson, letters by Steve Dutro and colours by Dan Jackson. Solomon Kane, a Christian fundamentalist with an unshakable belief that he is doing his god's business encounters a Muslim who has the same sense of divine mission. The encounter is superbly staged, with trails of treachery coiling around both. The conclusion is grimly satisfying, if it tilts to Solomon Kane it does not play down the price that is paid by those implementing a divine project.
The other stories "And Faith, Undying..." is another original story with art by Bret Blevins, colours by Dan Jackson and letters by Steve Dutro is a sharp story of faith, friendship and werewolves. "Blades of the Brotherhood" art by Bret Blevins and Al Williamson, colours by Dan Jackson, letters by Steve Dutro sees Solomon Kane back in England and entangled with ruthless pirates. Both "Hills of Blood" art by John Bogdanove and Al Williamson and "Wing in the Night" with art by John Ridgway and Al Williamson, colours on both by Steve Dutro and letters by Dan Jackson, are set in Africa. This is the mystical Africa of the pulp stories of Robert E. Howard and the stories make the most of it. This is an excellent collection of highly enjoyable stories, that do justice to the original Howard stories and critically to the wonderful character of Solomon Kane himself.

Robin Hood. Ridley Scott (Director) Universal Pictures (2010)

2011-02-10T11:47:00.000-08:00

A brilliant action film, with a solid story and superb acting from a stunning cast. Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) returns to England to deliver a crown to new king and a message from a dying man to his family. In Nottingham he encounters the man's wife (Cate Blanchett) and is persuaded to impersonate the dead man for a few days. He is drawn into the life at Nottingham as well as national concerns as French soldiers ravage the country in a prelude to an invasion. The ensuing struggle becomes one for freedom from English tyranny as well as French invaders. The story is very well structured and balanced, the set pieces are outstanding and the cast are outstanding.
This is not the classic Robin Hood story arc, it is concerned with how Robin Hood came to be. The story threads are crisp and clear, they weave together very nicely to deliver a strong narrative that firmly sets up Robin hood, the outlaw legend. The film is a joy to watch, the action set pieces are amazing The mixture of close up action and soaring views bring you right into the fighting and provide a understandable context. There is exactly the right balance struck between the necessary dirt to give the feel for the times and the romantic sense of the legend in the making. The story bears the political aspects easily and effectively, they are natural to the story of Robin Hood and are given their correct place here.
Russell Crowe is simply magnificent, he carries off the ferociously competent man of action with a understated macho assertiveness, allied to a subtle and engaging sense of the man looking for a home and his roots. Cate Blanchett is formidable as Lady Marion, married for a week before her husband leaves for 10 years never to return, she has the steely core and expressive charm required. There is a genuine screen chemistry between the two that feels like a meeting of equals that gives the romance real depth and strength.
A hero is defined as much by their enemies as by their actions and in Oscar Isaac's King John, Robin Hood has a suitably formidable and capable enemy. This is a silkily venomous performance, King John is a sincerely dangerous man. This film is a triumph, a joy to watch.

Don't look Back. Karin Fossum. Felicity David (Translator) Harcourt Books (2002)

2011-02-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

A very engaging police procedural murder mystery set in a small Norwegian village. A girl is found on the edge of a lake, it is established that she has been murdered. The girl was well liked within the small village she came from and no obvious motives are apparent for the crime. Inspector Sejer quietly and steadily probes the life of the victim and the lives of those who knew her to find out who killed the girl and why. The pace is deliberate, the investigation is pursued in a logical, thoughtful fashion as the repercussions of the death are felt by the people who knew Annie. The reveals are carefully staged and the conclusion is surprising, credible and satisfying.
The large and engaging cast are well developed and strongly individual, they respond to the crime and the investigation in interesting ways.Inspector Sejer is quietly determined, conscious of the impact of the crime and needful of the need to press forward to find the truth. The twin narratives that moves from the investigation to the rest of the cast that knew Annie in some way is handled with care and subtly, the force of the investigation is as disconcerting as the crime itself.
The central mystery that drives the plot is very carefully constructed, it drives the story with a quiet force. Without overwhelming the cast it provides an effective context for their actions and the investigation. the victim is very clearly a presence in the story, her death gives her a greater presence in the lives of the cast. Karin Fossum weaves a very enjoyably tangled web about her cast that happily ensnares the reader as well. A pleasure.

Low Moon. Jason (Writer & Artist). Kim Thompson (Translation). Fantagraphics Books (2009)

2011-02-03T07:22:00.000-08:00

This collection of stories features very strong story ideas, deadpan delivery and sharply bitter outcomes combining to from a great set of comics. "Emily says Hello" is a tale of revenge, murder and sexual favours. What is left out is as important as what is included and as you read the story the absences draw you into the narrative as you imagine the back story for yourself."Low Moon" is a brilliant re-imagining of "High Noon" with a game of chess rather than a gunfight at the heart of the story. "&" is a twin track narrative about the lengths people will go to achieve their goals and the slippery nature of such goals. "Proto Film Noir" plays off "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in the story of a drifter and a woman who murder the woman's husband with very unexpected results. "You are Here" which about an alien abduction and its consequences is the strongest story in the collection, while still very harsh it gives it cast more depth and feeling.
The initially most striking aspect to the stories is the art, all the cast are anthropomorphic, with dog and bird like heads on human shaped bodies. The body language and facial expressions are very expressive and they are as far as possible from "funny animal" drawings. The use of a regular four panel grid for all the stories means that the layout offers no cues about the narrative, this deadpan delivery draws the reader in as you have to decide for yourself what the emotional speed of the story is.
The colouring is restricted and flat which sits comfortably with the layouts, the cool tones are easy to read and flow beautifully. With so little direct support from either the art, the layout or the colouring the writing has to work extremely hard to be effective. The ideas have the necessary strength and apparent simplicity to fit with the structure and are executed with such spare and detailed exactness that they shine. The stories have a crisp momentum that is a pleasure to read, the content is sharp and bitter, the skill in the writing is such that they are a pleasure to read. This is an extraordinary comic, it exploits unexpected minimalist possibilities superb effect.

Arctic Chill. Arnaldur Indridason. Bernard Scudder & Victoria Cribb (Translators). Vintage Books (2005)

2011-02-02T03:24:00.000-08:00

A compelling police procedural set in Iceland. A young boy is found stabbed to death in the playground of his housing complex. The son of a Thai immigrant, the question as to whether it was racially motivated dominate the investigation. Detective Erlendur and his colleagues, Sigurdur Oli and Elinborg pursue the investigation with care and thoroughness. Erlendur has a second case, that of a missing woman and the lonely dying of his police mentor on his mind as well. The reveals are very well staged, the investigation is thoughtful and very well structured, the conclusion is sharp, unexpected and horribly credible.
In the same way that a racially motivated murder colours the investigation it poses a significant problem for the story also. Arnaldur Indridason has to find a way to complex and social and political issue dramatically convincing without reducing it to blandness or polemic. For the most part he succeeds, while some of the cast are essentially mouthpieces required to provide a point of view, they are in the distinct minority. The non-police cast are given points of view and personalities that work on all levels.
The sub-plots provide a nice counter point to the main story and they give the cast some dramatic elbow room to develop more as characters and to provide a greater depth of context for the story. The setting in integral to the whole story, Reykjavik and Iceland itself are key aspects to the story. The writing is low key, Erlendur and Sigurdur Oli emerge as very engaging principals, they have interesting and unstreotypical private lives that gives them depth and weight. Deeply satisfying, a pleasure to read.

The Oath. Michael Jecks. Simon & Schuster. (2010)

2011-01-30T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is a very enjoyable period crime and adventure story with a wide narrative sweep that cleverly comes to focus on a horrific crime. In 1326 in England Edward II is fleeing from his estranged wife, Isabella. Edward's power has been fatally undermined by his relationship with and the actions of his favourite, Sir Hugh le Despenser. Isabella, along with her son Edward and her lover, Sir Roger Mortimer are sweeping across the country and winning the fight with the minimum force and bloodshed. At the same time in Bristol, a family is slaughtered, including an infant and the man accused of it flees. Simon Puttock and his family are caught up in the struggle and find themselves in Bristol with the Queen's army approaching. Sir Baldwin de Furnshill is caught up also and finds himself with the King's rapidly diminishing retinue. The story ties the various threads, from Edward's fall, the siege of Bristol, the murders together into a compelling narrative. The reveals are cleverly stage and the balance between the story elements superbly maintained.
Michael Jecks brings the reader inside the events with a wonderfully realised cast and a willingness to take his time to build up the story. The pathetic figure of Edward II running for his life and kingdom as his wife triumphantly pursues him is deeply confused by how events have run beyond his control. The other historical figures are more lightly sketched in which works very well as the fictional cast are given a chance to shine. The question of loyalty, what it means and what are its limits are explored in a very subtle and effective fashion. They are absolutely central to the story.
The crime plot is not shortchanged, it is cleverly constructed and comes to the fore just as it should and is savage and credible. It sits within its context very well, arising naturally from the demands of the time and the structures of the society.Michael Jecks has the confidence and talent to take the long road in this story and is entirely justified in doing so, this is great fun, packed with memorable characters and sharp observations, a pleasure.

Shadows of Sounds. Alex Gray. Allison & Busby Ltd. (2005)

2011-01-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

A low key, very enjoyable police procedural. A member of the City of Glasgow's orchestra is murdered in his dressing room just prior to a performance. Detective Chief Inspector Lorimer finds that an abundance of possible suspects complicates the case and makes it hard to close in on the relevant ones. As the investigation proceeds it becomes clear that the victim was involved in a number of overlapping relationships as well as some other shady activities. A second murder complicates the case and the threads of the investigation become steadily more tangled. The reveals are nicely staged, the investigation is thoughtful and logical, the cast are developed well and the conclusion is satisfying.
Alex Gray avoids the most common situations and circumstances that are used in the genre, the lead detective is both sober and married, the police officers are competent professionals who behave with restraint and good sense. The rest of the cast are treated with the same respect, they emerge as people who have complicated lives and are all the more engaging for it. There is one relatively major character whose presence is not actively tied into the story, his presence is not obtrusive or distracting just a little puzzling in the end.
The story is very well structured, the knot at the centre is a nice one and the way that it ties the cast together is engagingly played out. A significant act of considered kindness, not entirely unselfish in its motives, is handled very well and leads to unexpected and credible conclusion. Alex Gray is not at all shy about the hurt and damage that people are willing to inflict on each other, her calm writing makes it more forceful. A good fun read.

The Woman from Bratislava. Leif Davidsen. Barbara J. Haveland (Translator) EuroCrime (2001)

2011-01-25T04:26:00.000-08:00

An engaging and leisurely Danish political thriller that manages a big cast and ideas with care and skill. Teddy Pedersen, a Danish academic with a out of date specialisation in the Soviet Union, meet a woman who claims to be his half sister, sharing a father Teddy had thought was dead. When Teddy's full sister is arrested on spying charges, Teddy's family history appears to be the key to a widespread conspiracy that involves the emerging Eastern bloc countries as the brutal conflicts in the disintegrating Yugoslavia. The plot coils around very nicely, the reveals are carefully staged, the cast are vivid and context and implications of the appalling wars in the Balkans are superbly described.
This is as story that advances through the movement of the cast rather than action set pieces, the most important character is the one who is present the least, the woman from Bratislava herself. She is a dominating presence as the cast follow in her wake and try to locate her for various reasons. Her shadowy presence gives the book a surprising force as the cast try to understand her and each glimpse of her usual simply adding to her mystery rather than revealing her. This allows Leif Davidson to move his large cast with great freedom, the different narrative strands weave tighter to create a complex web of family, loyalty and the enormous political pressures the war created.
Leif Davidsen traces the links between individual choices and broader political and historical events with skill, they provide a sharp and mordantly cynical view of how justice is defined and served. The tension between individual actions and beliefs and greater social forces creates an well orchestrated tension in the book and gives the unexpected conclusion extra bite. Clever and unsentimental, this is a story with an angry heart that makes it well worth reading.

Domu. A Child's Dream. Katsuhiro Otomo. Dana Lewis, Tornen Smith (Translators). Dark Horse Comics (1996)

2011-01-21T07:35:00.000-08:00

Highly entertaining and enjoyable story about a hidden battle taking place in a high rise housing estate in Tokyo. At the Tsutsumi Housing Complex there is an abnormally high number of deaths, suicides and accidental deaths, the pattern is puzzling and concerning the police. A family with a young girl move into the complex, the girl has well developed psychic powers and she quickly encounters the savagely malicious Mr Uchida, an elderly man who is behind the mysterious deaths. In parallel to the police investigation, the girl and the old man engage in an escalating battle for control over the estate. The story escalates in a superbly controlled fashion, the forces unleashed are captured with wonderful care, the quiet climax packs a mighty and very satisfying punch.
At the heart of this story is the Tsutsumi Housing Complex and the people who live there. Katsuhiro Otomo takes the time to make the context for the story be as solid and complete as possible, the way the action cuts across the lives of the residents gains weight and power from the way they have been given chance to establish themselves. The same is true for the police investigation, the team doing the investigation are varied and thoughtful.
Mr Uchida, is a brilliant creation, spiteful and greedy, he relishes his power over the inhabitants of the housing estate while being effectively invisible to most of them. His gleeful enjoyment of his actions and control is captured and makes his memorable. Etsuko, his opponent is very determined with a solid sense of what is right and wrong as well as being a entirely credible small girl.
The art is a joy, it is detailed and captures the small scenes as well as the huge explosions that wrack the complex. The cast are all clearly individual, their body language as well as their expressions are are clear. One of the multiple pleasure of the book is how Japanese it is, it is enjoyable to read a different cultural context. This is a great comic, gripping story, superb art combined into a harmonious whole, a pleasure.

True Grit. Charles Portis. Bloomsbury. (1968)

2011-01-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

A superbly written and griping Western adventure story. Frank Ross is killed by Tom Chaney and his fourteen year old daughter, Mattie comes to Fort Smith,Arkansas to recover his body and ensure that Tom Chaney is punished for his crime. Finding that the local law enforcement are not likely to take any action, Mattie hires Marshal Rooster Cogburn to track Chaney in the Indian Terrority he has fled to. A Texas Ranger, La Boeuf is pursuing Chaney also. Cogburn and La Boeuf are united in their determination to not include Mattie in the chase, Mattie is significantly more determined that she should. The pursuit is harsh and bloody, the action is superbly staged and the climax is outstanding.
The writing is breathtaking, Mattie is narrating the story as an elderly woman, she is brilliantly evoked both as her fourteen year old self and as a mature woman, you can feel her breath on the page. She is stubborn, hard headed and straightforward. The way the story is told allows the rest of the cast emerge with a startling clarity, even as they are being viewed through Mattie's eyes. She is unfazed by the events she is involved in, she has a duty to perform and a solid sense of what she wants which provides her with tremendous strength.
Rooster Cogburn is great Western character, he is not a hero while being heroic, he is a man you would want to have by your side in a tight spot. La Boeuf is a talker, fond of boasting about himself and his home state, in the end he is also brave and decisive. The dialogue is unexpectedly and entirely credibly formal and somewhat high flown, it captures the charachters of the cast with precision and clarity.
This is an astounding book and an unmitigated joy to read, not to be missed.

Dark Blood. Stuart MacBride. HarperCollins (2010)

2011-01-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

This is a gripping, savage, brutal and very darkly funny thriller with a superbly realised cast and a great setting. Richard Knox, a violent sexual predator, is released from prison and being housed in Aberdeen. DS Logan McRae is involved with the protection of Richard Knox, aided by Detective Superintendent Danby from Nothumbria, the man who had arrested Knox years earlier. Complicating matters are the efforts by an Edinburgh gangster to set up in Aberdeen, counterfeit goods and money and a thief robbing jewelry shops with a sawn-off sledgehammer. The reveals are staged with care and relish, the cast are all active and engaging, the plot gets darker with each turn and it leads to a horrifying conclusion.
Everything in this story works well, the setting, Aberdeen in the snowy depths on winter, acts as the bleak backdrop to the even bleaker activities of the cast. Logan McRae is is a downward spiral, personally and professionally and his efforts to regain a hold om his life push nicely against the currents of the story. The plot is big and very well constructed, the main story weaves and twists alongside a number of smaller threads, neither detract for each other and they combine to give a vivid picture of the criminal activity within the city.
Bursting out of the book is Detective Inspector Steel, a foul mouthed force of nature who provides a great deal of the book tar black humour. The whole cast are given a vivid life and their active determination gives the story tremendous energy and momentum. This violent, unpredictable and very funny book is a great read, written with great care and skill, top flight crime fiction.

Descartes. The Life of Rene Descartes and Its place in his Times. A.C.Grayling. Pocket Books (2005)

2011-01-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

This is a gripping biography of the iconic French philosopher, Rene Descartes which places his life and work firmly into the context of his own times as well as showing how his work remains relevant for modern times. Descartes was both fortunate and unfortunate to live in violently exciting times, the clash within the Christian faith between the Catholic Church and the various Protestant churches savagely intensified the strategic and political underpinning of the Thirty Years War. Descartes may have had more involvement in the early events of this war, A.C.Grayling makes a persuasive case that Descartes did undercover work for the Jesuits. This created the situation where Descartes would have been opposed to French interests in the war which may well explain his hurried departure from France and his long sojourn in the Netherlands.
One of the very striking aspect of the era was that scientific thinking based on observation and experiment was emerging and challenging the orthodox religious view of the world. This was a potentially fatal route to take, Descartes is one of the people who found a way to safely separate the two so science could be freed from the charge of heresy and the possibility of being burned at the stake. A.C.Grayling conveys the tremendous pressure that Descartes was under to be true to his passionately held religious beliefs and the equally passionate desire he had to pursue understanding and knowledge. The book explains the originality and urgency of Descartes though in a way that is comprehensible and exciting to a lay reader without ever reducing them to parody. The character of Descartes comes to life very strongly and this gives the ideas clarity and force.
Descartes was a prickly and proud man, he was constantly trying to ensue that his ideas got into circulation without distortion and at the same time not cause offence. A.C.Grayling conveys the excitement of the whole process and brings out the wonderfully human man behind the phrase" I think, therefore I am" and shows why the ideas surrounding that phrase are still thrilling and exciting today.

The Dylan Dog Case Files. Tiziano Sclavi (Writer), Bojanna Dozic, Hazim Kazic, Violeta Jurkovic (Translators). Dark Horse Books (2009)

2011-01-11T05:08:00.000-08:00

This is a collection of seven stories about Dylan Dog, Nightmare Investigator. Dylan Dog is an ex-policeman, living in a wonderfully eccentric version of London with his Groucho Marx look alike assistant, Felix. The cases he takes on range from the very straightforward to the fantastically playful. The most straightforward and weakest of the stories is "The Return of the Monster" art by Luigi Piccatto. Sixteen years after a massacre the murderer escapes from the secure hospital where he was being held and the survivor of the event fears he is coming to kill her. It is played too straight to be successful, the art is clear and graphic, it serves the story without enhancing it.
The rest of the stories have a greater willingness to take up the challenge implied in the job description "Nightmare Investigator". "Dawn of the Living Dead" and it companion story "Morganna", both with art by Angelo Stano have entertaining twists on zombies. "Dawn of the Living Dead" is rather more straightforward, a woman kills her husband in self defence, except that her husband was already dead when he attacked her. The investigation is good fun with an new version on why the zombies have risen. "Morganna" is one of the best stories in the book, it plays with the reader and uses the fact that it is a comic to great effect. The art in both stories adds greatly to the story, it brings out the depth and humour of the writing very well.
"Memories from the Invisible World" and "After Midnight" with art by Giampiero Casertano are both crime stories that have cleverly stages reveals and narrative structures that lift them up. "Memories from the Invisible World" features someone who has been noticed so little he becomes invisible as well as a plot about a serial killer. The plot is constructed with care and the reveals are sharp, the cast are given a chance to come to life and the conclusion is harsh and sad. "After Midnight" is a clever riff on the dangers of being locked out of your house, without any cash while there is a killer crossing your tracks. The art in each case has a layer of detail that anchor the stories.
"Johnny Freak" , art by Andrea Venturi is another of the best stories in the collection. A legless boy escapes from a burning building and the mystery of who he is attracts Dylan Dog. The story develops in a very unexpected fashion, the art is strongly expressive and brings out all the tones in the story. "Zed" with art by Bruno Brindisi is the most playful story in the collection, both in terms of storyline and plot. Dylan's girlfriend vanishes and he tries to find her. He finds that she has gone to another dimension called Zed and he follows her. The art and the panel layouts take full advantage of the possibilities of a new dimension and the story itself does the same.
This collection is full of the unexpected, a very different flavour to Anglophone comics, great fun.

Hellboy. Oddest Jobs. Christopher Golden.(Editor). Dark Horse Books. (2008)

2011-01-09T09:25:00.001-08:00

This is a collection of short stories by a wide variety of authors featuring Hellboy, the stories are uniformly excellent with a couple that stand out. Setting the scene and the standard for the remainder is "Jiving with Shadows and Dragons and Long, Black Trains" by Joe R. Lansdale. Towns in Arizona are being visited by a long black train and all the inhabitants are swept up by black dragons. Hellboy and the Reverend Jim Jeff investigate and find that frustration and obsession are powerful forces. The action is clever and forceful, the sliding viewpoints give the story depth and flavour, it packs a mighty punch.
"In Cupboards and Bookshelves" by Gary A. Braunbeck, Hellboy is asked to take on a job which involve harsh choices. It is very far from the usual Hellboy stories while capturing something essential about who Hellboy is. It is written with care and skill and leaves sad echos with the reader. "Second Honeymoon" by John Skipp & Cody Goodfellow is the closest in spirit and action to the Hellboy stories in the comics. A eco terrorist group decide to save Earth from humanity by releasing some of the Titans from Greek mythology. The action is both absurd and with a genuine emotional depth.
The two stories that stood out, even from such an excellent selection are "Repossession" by Barbara Hambly and "A Room of One's Own" by China Mieville. "Repossession" develops in a most unexpected fashion from a classic Hellboy opening. As the Aswan dam in Egypt is being built, lots of spirits are being disturbed and Hellboy is on the trail of a man who trades in such things. The story moves seamlessly to become about oppression and possession, how they intersect and how they infect the living. "A Room of One's Own" is a wonderfully playful story about the entirely unexpected dangers of interior decorating. From the title onward it plays with references to other stories that are cunning woven into a very clever knot as well as carrying off a more serious intent. Overall a great collection, a pleasure to read.

The Affair of the Necklace. Edgar P. Jacobs. Jerome Saincantin (Translator). Cinebook (2010)

2011-01-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

An engaging and enjoyable crime and action story. A necklace one owned by Marie Antoinette has been restored and the owner plans to donate it to Queen Elizabeth, much to the disgust and annoyance of the French public. Francis Blake and Philip Mortimer are in Paris to testify at a hearing for the arch criminal Olrik. Olrik escapes from custody and launches a bold attempt to steal the necklace. Blake and Mortimer attempt to stop Olrik and it emerges that that there are other parties interested in the necklace also. The plot is nicely set up, the reveals are smart and the action is fast and loud.
The most surprising aspect to this comic is how well it works, the attention to detail and the sheer craft that have gone into it lift it up. The story is very straightforward the pleasure lies in how it is told. The cast are given space to breathe and establish themselves as individual voices rather than puppets of a plot. The triangle between Blake, Mortimer and Olrik is used to give some bite and force to the story, they are old opponents and their encounters have the edge of enmity.
The art is there to serve the story and does not draw attention to itself. Still the multiple details do catch the readers eye and add greatly to the depth of the story, they anchor it firmly in a time and place.
The comic is old-fashioned but far from dusty, the action uses pace instead of gore to drive ahead, the villain is nicely cold blooded and ruthless all the same. Great fun.

Agincourt. The King, The Campaign, The Battle. Juliet Barker. Abacus (2005)

2011-01-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

A comprehensive and gripping account of the context and action at the iconic battle. Juliet Barker does a wonderful job of placing the major player firmly into their context so that the actions on both sides prior to the battle are clear. The battle itself is described with tremendous clarity. In particular Henry V emerges as a man with a mission, the overwhelming purpose of his actions is made clear, it gives force to his astonishing leadership.
As the son of a usurper, Henry V had a lifelong need to establish himself as the true and righteous King of England and England's French possessions. His father has not lived up to his promise and Henry was determined to do so. He had a superb strategic grasp of the administrative requirements of royalty and imposed his will on England, becoming the undisputed king in his own country. From there Henry felt that he had a god given mission to recover and maintain the English dominions in France and launched a long term campaign to do so. The invasion of France that culminated in the battle of Agincourt was the final phase of the campaign, it was waged with cunning diplomacy and thoughtful preparation first.
Henry went to very considerable lengths to prove the justice of his cause, he carefully pushed his case so that French allies would not join against him when he invaded. His preparations for the invasion were meticulous and careful, this was not a quick adventure, this was a national effort in a just and necessary military action. Henry was greatly and continuously assisted by the savage internal divisions with France, there was a long running and brutal conflict within the French elite that would bear disastrous results at the battle.
At the battle itself, the English, in spite of having a much smaller force that had been weakened by a horrific march through France, inflicted a murderous defeat on the French. While the crucial roles of geography, weather and the English archers are given due weight it is the difference in leadership between both sides that was the key factor. Henry marshaled his forces with fierce skill and personal courage, the French had no effective leadership and squandered their resources. This is a superb telling of an extraordinary event, a pleasure to read.

Cold in the Earth. Aline Templeton. Hodder (2005)

2010-12-30T05:22:00.000-08:00

A compelling and engaging crime story with a great cast, brilliantly realised location and a tightly wound plot. Following the death of her mother Laura Sonfeldt decides to investigate the disappearance of her older sister fifteen years previously. In Galloway in Scotland, a remote farming community is hammered by the outbreak of foot and mouth in their sheep and cattle herds as well as the discovery of a skeleton. Detective Marjory Flemming has to investigate the case as well as keep public order in a community splintering under the impact of the mass slaughter of the flocks of animals. The threads of the plot are carefully woven together, the reveals are brilliantly staged, and the climax packs a considerable punch.
The context for the plot is superbly done, an isolated community under savage pressure that is attacking the focus of its identity, a farming community being forced to watch its stock be destroyed. Marjory Flemming, a police officer, a farmer and a farmer's wife is stretched across the fault lines and forced to make damaging choices. She is smart, resilient and dedicated playing a poor hand with force and thoughtfulness. Laura Sonfeldt, trying to recover her bearing in life after the death of her mother develops strongly throughout the story.
There is a glorious supporting cast who are all vying for the readers attention, they are full of life and vigour, none are stereotypes or shortchanged by Aline Templeton. A pleasure.

Hellboy. Masks and Monsters. Dark Horse Books (2010)

2010-12-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

Two very enjoyable cross over stories featuring Hellboy, Batman, Starman and Ghost. The first story, Batman/Hellboy/Starman written by James Robinson, art by Mike Mignola, colours by Matt Hollingsworth and lettered by Willie Schubert is a Hellboy story with a different cast.In Gotham City, Ted Knight, the original Starman is kidnapped by a mysterious group. This draws the attention of Batman and Hellboy and they combine to discover that it is a secret Nazi group that have kidnapped Ted Knight and taken him to their South American base. While Batman has problems in Gotham to deal with, the current Starman, Ted Knight's son, fly out to rescue him. The story unfolds wonderfully, with a great Hellboy Nazi/Elder God plot bubbling away, plenty of smart dialogue and action. The reveals are clever, the art is glorious and the whole package tremendous fun.
The second story Ghost/Hellboy written by Mike Mignola,pencilled by Scott Benefiel, inked by Jasen Rodriguez, coloured by Pamela Rambo, lettered by Sean Konot takes a different tack. Ghost is the vengeful spirit of reporter Elisa Cameron, who deals out death to criminals. Ghost enters a netherworld and in pursuit of peace of heart pulls Hellboy into a netherworld ruled by a wearing a metal mask. The reveals are sharp and unexpected, the action is excellent and the conclusion sour and satisfying.
The contrast between the two stories is interesting, James Robinson writes a very straightforward Hellboy story, in essence substituting Batman and Starman for some of the regular Hellboy cast. Their presence does not fundamentally make any difference to the dynamic of the story. The presence of Ghost in the other story is central to whole structure and tone of the story, she is much more significant. To an extent it is a Ghost story with Hellboy as the guest star, one who does have a vital part to play. It is very noticeable how Mike Mignola takes Ghost, who is a signal example of the sleazy coyness that infects comics, and gives her a personality that is bigger than her breasts. She is very much a character, a clear individual voice that plays strongly against Hellboy and drives the story. A very enjoyable collection with more punch than may be anticipated.

The Surgeon of Crowthorne. Simon Winchester. Penguin Books. (1999)

2010-12-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

The astonishing story of one of the most important contributors to the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is gripping and constantly surprising. The Oxford English Dictionary was a stereotypical Victorian project, it was intended to project the power and majesty of English, the language of Empire. More than simply providing a source of explanation, it was intended to be a biography of the language, capturing the current as well as deceased aspects of the language with a confident sweep and authority. The structure of the dictionary would include both a definition of the word as well as quotations that tried to show how the word had entered the language, shifted in meaning and possible passed out of usage. It was an extraordinary project, one that breathes the steely assurance of the English Victorians.
Simon Winchester traces the general development of dictionaries as well as the extraordinary development of the OED itself. In particular he examines the lives of two men, James Murray who was the most important editor of the first edition of the OED and Dr. William Minor who would become one of the most important contributors. James Murry, the son of a Scottish farmer, rose due to his intellectual force and determination to being appointed as the editor of the OED. He proved to be exactly the right person for the job, combining a range of organisational skill, willpower and lively, deeply informed curiosity needed to push the process forward.
William Minor was a convicted murderer who was confined to Broadmoor, a hospital for the criminally insane. Minor was an American, a doctor in the Union Army who had been at the front line of the horrifying battle of the Wilderness. From Broadmoor he contributed an invaluable series of quotations for the dictionary and was recognised for his contributions in the introduction to the first volume.
Simon Winchester tells the intertwined story of the OED, James Murray and Dr. Minor with skill and care. It is a riveting story. What lifts the book to unexpected heights is that George Merrett, the man Dr. Minor murdered, is not lost in the shadows of the story. He is recognised as being more than a a footnote to a larger narrative and this honest remembrance gives the book an unexpected depth.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service Vol 10. Eiji Otsuka (Writer), Housui Yamazaki (Art) Toshifumi Yoshida (Translator) Dark Horse Magna (2010)

2010-12-02T08:04:00.000-08:00

A superb mix of gore and black humour with a brilliant story premise and a engaging and very well defined cast. The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service are a group of people who locate corpses and deliver them according to the corpse's last wishes. The first story in the collection presents a problem to the Kurosagi team, corpses appear to be disappearing and when they do find one they do not want to assist it. They find that they are not the only ones looking for corpses and when they encounter a policeman with a very particular interest in them a deeply sad and gripping story unfolds. The second story takes a Japanese legend about the murder of a guest and gives it a very modern and grimly funny makeover. The final story ties up a television programme featuring a "psychic" and look at the background of one of the team. The mix of satire, comedy, gore and character is astonishing.
The most striking aspect to the collection is the variety of the stories, they use the same premise and team and manage to follow very different directions in each case. Eiji Otsuka has a talent for mixing up genre requirements with the unexpected and entirely appropriate, the comedy and gore sit very comfortably with the strongly emotional currents within the stories. The cast are given room to shine over the effects. The clean lines and detail of the art by Housui Yamazaki are a pleasure to read. The corpses have a satisfying grimness to them, their injuries are explicit, their rage is clear.
An outstanding aspect to the book is the final section, "Disjecta Membra" by the editor Greg Horn. Not only does it include a very informative essay about Japanese written characters, it is a glossary of the sound effects and other items within the comic. They are funny, surprising and hugely enjoyable, very much like the stories themselves. A great read.

The Terracotta Dog. Andrea Camilleri. Stephen Sartarelli (Translator) Picador (2002)

2010-11-30T04:40:00.000-08:00

A wonderfully atmospheric crime story set in Sicily with a clever plot, an engaging cast and a superb leading character. Inspector Salvo Montalbano has a most unexpected meeting with a leading Mafioso which ultimately leads to a hidden cave which proves to have multiple secrets. A pair of lovers, embracing in death, was laid to rest there fifty years before, with a large terracotta dog keeping watch over them. The story twists and turns as the inspector tries to unravel the mysteries of the cave. The reveals are cunningly staged, the cast are bursting with life and vigour and the conclusion is heartfelt and very satisfying.
The major character in the story is Sicily itself in all its contradictory glory. The extraordinary sense of place that Andrea Camilleri is able to conjure up without it ever becoming a travelogue is vital. The context provides the stage for the wonderful strutting cast to play upon, they are so strongly at home that the action feels completely natural. The epidemic corruption and the accommodations to it as well as the struggle against it saturate the story without ever obscuring it.
Inspector Montalbano is as much a pleasure to read about as it would be a terror to work with. He is clever, forceful, terrified of public speaking and utterly dogged. He is a great mix and emerges with force and clarity, the rest of the cast are to a lesser or greater extent in his shadow, they all are demanding to be noticed too. It is the determined vitality of the cast that gives the book its weight and grip. This is a great story brilliantly told.

The Zimmerman Telegram. Barbara Tuchman. Papermac (1958)

2010-11-26T08:23:00.000-08:00

This is the extraordinary story behind the event that finally propelled the USA into the First World War. The event was a telegram from the German Foreign Secretary to the German Ambassador in Mexico sent via the German Ambassador in the USA on the17 January 1917. The telegram announced that unrestricted submarine warfare would be recommenced and much more significantly Germany would support and attack by Mexico on the USA. Barbara Tuchman provides both the wider context for the plans announced in the telegram and the impact it had as well as the amazing story of how it was intercepted, decoded and finally revealed.
At the heart of the story about how the telegram was found and used is the essential problem that any spying activity has to confront, how to use the information that has been discovered without revealing the process used to uncover it. This was particularly acute in this case as the British had cracked the German codes early in the war and the Germans never knew and this provided a steady stream on critical intelligence. Any risk to this had to avoided, yet the information in the telegram was recognised as the key to getting the USA into the war which was the only chance the Allies had to survive let alone win the war.
The German plan was based on both sound strategy and wishful thinking, unrestricted submarine warfare would quickly and efficiently bring England to economic ruin and military standstill. This strategy was recognised as being very likely to bring the USA into the war, the wishful thinking was that a domestic war front could be opened with Mexico that would distract the USA from Europe. As Barbara Tuchman makes clear it was not an entirely implausible plan, it fatally misjudged the situation due to the overwhelming need for it to be true.
The espionage aspect to this story is beyond the wildest realms of spy fiction, fiction is constrained by the need to be credible and the actual events are absurd in the extreme. In particular the events surrounding the acquiring of a releasable version of the telegram in Mexico are jaw dropping.
The whole book is superbly written, the gripping story in given force and clarity and the whole context of the war provided in just the required level of detail. Unmissable.

The Princess of Burundi. Kjell Eriksson. (Translated by Ebba Segerberg). Thomas Dunne Books (2006)

2010-11-24T10:32:00.000-08:00

A low key, engrossing and sad story of a crime and its consequences. A man is reported missing and is found tortured and murdered in a park in a park. While his brother has a long criminal history the victim has been settled for a long time. At the same time Vincent Halm is planning on revenge on those who bullied him in school. The police investigation unfolds with care and attention to detail as the impact of the crime is revealed on the large cast. The setting for the story, in a Swedish city in winter is brilliantly conveyed and the large, and largely depressed cast struggle with their lives and the results of the murder. The reveals are nicely done, the conclusion is thoughtful and unforgiving.
Kjell Eriksson does not hurry the story along, it meanders along the intersecting lives of the cast all of whom seem to be having some sort of a crisis in their lives, either as a result of the murder or made worse by it. It is very striking that this cumulative weight of misery does not render the book unreadable, the cast are self aware rather than self centred. They are trying to manage their lives and this gives enough momentum to make them engaging rather than tiresome.
The police investigation and Vincent Halm's quest for revenge form the spine of the story and both are skillfully developed, they provide the context for the cast and consistently provide enough action to propel the narrative forward. The book takes the opportunities provided by the genre to travel quite widely, the author respects the genre enough to ensure that it is a very thoughtful crime story too.
This story has a quiet compelling force and a willingness to invest in its cast that make it a strongly flavoured pleasure.

The Tainted Relic. The Medieval Murderers. Simon & Schuster UK (2005)

2010-11-22T05:38:00.000-08:00

This is a very engaging and enjoyable anthology of linked stories that start in 1100 at the sack of Jerusalem and finish five hundred years later in London, all the stories are linked by the tainted relic of the title. The stories are all very enjoyable with a couple standing out.
The opening story by Simon Beaufort sets the scene, at the sack of Jerusalem, a relic is cursed by its murdered guardian. Whoever touches the relic will die a gruesome death as soon as the relic leaves their possession. The tension between the value of such a relic, said to be part of the True Cross and the danger of possessing it drive the plots of the following stories. The force of both of these elements are nicely captured in the story as the relic is moved from Jerusalem. It appears in England, in the possession of a man heading to Glastonbury to sell it, he is murdered and robbed before he can do so. Bernard Knight writes how Crowner John, one of the newly created coroners, investigates the crime. The story has a vivid cast and a strong plot, the relic is central and is used to provide a sharp focus for the cast, the politics and personal tensions of the era are strongly drawn.
A decapitated monk in Oxford in 1269 is the start for a search by William Falconer to uncover the truth in a story by Ian Morson. The story is very well constructed, a big cast are introduced effectively, story threads are cleverly woven and sharp humour is welcome.
In 1323 in Exeter, a number of murders seem to have links to the relic and Michael Jecks' Sir Baldwin has a problem in making sense of what has happened. This is one of the two best stories in the book, the plot is very cleverly constructed, the reveals excellent, the cast are forceful and engaging. Michael Jecks manages the constriction of space with ease. The following story set thirty years later in Cambridge , written by Susanna Gregory is the other stand out story. It is a remarkable piece of compression, the story feels much more expansive than it is, the cast are superb and the plot gripping.
The final story by Philip Gooden and set in London is clever and amusing. It features the most unusual and effective court witness I have read about and and very neatly resolves a question about the relic. An epilogue set in 2005 provides a very sharp final sting for this excellent collection.
As with any period stories the detail in the stories is crucial and in all cases it is woven into the context of the stories with skill and care. The strong plots allow the cast to move through their various locations and times with confidence and the reader gets to enjoy the story and the scenery with equal pleasure. Great fun.

Prince Valiant. Volume 1: 1937 - 1938. Hal Foster. Fantagraphics Books (2009)

2010-11-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

A stunning outsize production that presents the first year of the Prince Valiant pages in the vibrant colours that Hal Foster intended. Prince Valiant, the son of an exiled king who lives on an island in a marsh in England, leaves home after his mother's death and heads for the mainland. After encounter with Sir Launcelot, Valiant decides to go to Camelot and become a knight. He become a sqire to Sir Gawain and launches himself on a series of adventures that include battling Morgan Le Fey and Viking pirates. The stories are superbly staged, the details are beautifully portrayed, the action is fierce and compelling and the cast are busting with life and energy.
The art dominates this book, it is extraordinary. There is a very rapid development from the initial pages as Hal Foster hits his stride and his flowing mix of panels, art and captions. The art is detailed and dramatic,the panels are full but never crowded. The varying size of the panels is used to strong effect to drive the story forward. The colouring is one of the most striking features, it is used to very dramatic effect to give depth and detail to the context.
The stories themselves are suitably dramatic and romantic, high adventures that have enough twists and turns to maintain the tension and suspense. The stories read very well in a collected volume, they do not trip over each other nor does the small recap at the start of each page get in the way. Hal Foster was willing to assume that he had the attention of his audience from week to week and concentrated on forward motion.
The large format of the volume allows the story room to be read to the full and the art room to breathe. This is comics archeology at its best,using technology to present comics in a way they deserve. Wonderful.

The Railway Detective. Edward Marston. Allison & Busby Ltd. (2004)

2010-11-09T12:41:00.000-08:00

This is an engaging and enjoyable period crime story. In 1851 the London to Birmingham mail train is robbed in a very carefully executed operation. In addition to robbing the train, it is also derailed. Detective Robert Colbeck is in charge of the investigation and he quickly comes to appreciate the intelligence and ferocity of his opponents. As he steadily uncovers the wider plan at foot he finds that the closer he gets the greater danger he and those about him are in. The reveals are neatly staged, the plot is thoughtful, the cast are lively.
The story does not quite ignite as it should, there is a restraint in the book that keeps the tone and action just too low key. Robert Colbeck is thoughtful and credible, a man who has nice shades of character. He is a dedicated police office who is just ahead of existing police policy. The villains are well detailed and the motives are mixed and natural. The friction between the police and the criminals never produces heat, there is not enough thrills.
The period details are lightly woven into the book and serve the story well. The disruptive impact of the railways on English society is captured with skill. The large cast are all given clear voices and the space to make an impression. Edward Marston treats his cast with considerable sympathy and the story benefits greatly from it. The major strength of the book is the way the cast draw in the reader and bring the context to warm life. This a good fun book, it needs a slightly sharper edge.

Mr. Holmes & Dr. Watson. Their Strangest Cases. Mark Ellis (Editor). Transfuzion Publishing (2010)

2010-11-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

This volume reprints newspaper strips that ran for a short period in the 1950s, and which were written and illustrated by Edith Meiser, Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky, Frank Giacoia, carefully reconstructed by Melissa Martin-Ellis. There are two original stories and two adaptations in the volume, the two original stories are by far the better. The adaptation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" is frankly terrible, its sole value is as a curiosity.
The first story "The Adventure of the Thumbless Man" is a first rate adventure. The murder at the docks of the newly appointed Governor of Jamaica leads Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson on to smuggling,piracy and very great danger. The art is lovely, the context is drawn with skill and care and the story has strength and grip. Sherlock Holmes shows his full range in the story.
The second story "Black Kill's Ghost" is even better, it has Sherlock Holmes battling against the vengeful ghost of a pirate. The story is full throttle melodrama and benefits hugely from it. It has all the elements of a Victorian pot boiler, a dispute over a house, a damsel in distress, a bloodthirsty ancestor come back to seek revenge and best of all the observant, scientific Mr Sherlock Holmes. Great pacing and striking art give the story additional punch.
The third story, an adaptation of "The Sussex Vampire", suffers from trying to be too faithful to the original, a greater willingness to reshape the story would have been better. Still the art is very nice.
The first two stories are more than enough reason to get this book, along with the informative essays by Martin Ellis. They may not be the strangest adventures, they are exciting and gripping ones done with care and energy. A pleasure.

Land of the Blind. Jess Walter. Coronet Books. (2003)

2010-11-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

An interesting book that uses the form of a police procedural to tell a story that does not really fit into the genre. It does not quite succeed, it is an honorable failure. Caroline Mabry is a Spokane detective in the middle of a distinct career slump. She is on duty when a down and out is brought in, then man wishes to make a confession, Caroline lets him do so. His confession is of a murder and as it develops Caroline find herself investigating it. The two narratives overlap, the confession and the investigation, the action is low key, the reveals slight, the climax is subdued.
The most significant problem with the book is the underlying lack of momentum,the crime that is the subject of the confession and investigation is of secondary importance to the two lead characters. Both are attempting to deal with lives that have slipped away from them. The confession becomes a biography that attempts to provide the context and explanation for the man's life, addressed to the detective, it becomes an elaborate shaggy dog story. The investigation provides Caroline with a means to recover her sense of purpose. The lack of intensity in the book lowers the stakes for everyone.
There appears to have been a murder, a violent death at least, it proves to be a slippery topic and never actually central to the story. The unreliable narrative of the confession is punctuated by the investigation and a greater picture emerges. All told the form does not support the intent of the story, the cast are engaging enough to follow down to the end, it has an unsubstantial flavour.

Our Little Secret. Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie. Berkley Books (2010)

2010-11-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

An engrossing and frequently very surprising account of a murder in New Hampshire in 1985 and the twenty year delay before the murderer was arrested and brought to trial.
In November 1985, Eric Windhurst shot a man he had never met because he believed that the man was a child abuser who had sexually molested a girl he knew. The twenty years that elapsed between the crime and his arrest were not due to his ability to stay quiet and lay low, they owe much more to a unspoken consensus that the victim, Danny Paquette had it coming.
The very nature of the crime made it very difficult to investigate from the start, Danny Paquette was killed by a single shot from a considerable distance, a level of skill that created a persistent concern of an unlucky accidental shot. The brutal simplicity of the crime also meant that unless those directly involved confessed there was no way that they could be convicted.
Kevin Flynn and Rebecca Lavoie tell an extraordinary story with great restraint, skill and detail. By its very nature the people in the story all have a stake in the story and are more or less unreliable. The authors do not stand in judgement, they are more concerned to have as complete a story as possible. The person who is treated the most sympathetically is one of the most unlikely, Danny Paquette's brother Victor. Victor fought for twenty years to bring his brother's killer to justice, he is a man of very rough edges and ultimately the reminder that murder frequently has multiple living victims.
The most interesting aspect to the story is the unenforced silence so many people maintained for so long. Eric did tell a lot of people about the murder, they chose not to tell the police. How the crime came to be solved is as unexpected as the way it was hidden. This is a great story, skillfully told.

The Anubis Slayings. Paul Doherty. Headline Book Publishing (2000)

2010-11-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent crime story with a vividly realised setting and a superbly crafted plot. In Egypt the female Pharaoh, Hatusu, had defeated King Tushratta of Mitanni and was organising a peace treaty to seal her victory. In the temple of Anubis, the jackal headed god,murder and the theft of a very valuable and sacred jewel place the negotiations under strain. Hatsu calls on the judge Amerotke to solve the crimes. The story unfolds with great pace and, the threads of the plot are very cleverly woven together, the reveals are brilliantly staged and the final unravelling is a sharp pleasure.
Ancient Egypt is brought to credible life with deceptive ease and telling detail.There is no slabs of information that interrupt the flow of the story, the context is revealed in a natural and light handed way. The emphasis is on the cast and the way that they interact with each other. The leading players are developed very strongly, Hatusu emerges as a powerful and supremely confident leader. Her will to achieve and retain power does not define her, she is a complex and engaging woman. Amerotke is thoughtful and very capable, nicely he is not an Egyptian Sherlock Holmes, he is astute and observant. The rest of the cast are all given room to breathe and the story gains strongly from the layers that each cast member brings with them.
Underneath the wonderful clothing of Ancient Egypt a cunningly constructed plot drives the action. It is credibly tied to the cast and the context, the plot mechanics are lightly laid down and the cast drive the action themselves. The shifting reveals give the cast new chances to reveal themselves and they do so. Utterly engaging, smart and very satisfying, a pleasure.

Hellboy. The Crooked Man and Others. Dark Horse Books (2010)

2010-10-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

A great collection of short Hellboy stories, all written by Mike Mignola with art by different artists, Dave Stewart does the colouring for all the stories and Clem Robins the lettering. A nicely varied collection that all have the strong ideas and clever inventiveness that are typical of Hellboy stories.
The title story, The Crooked Man, has striking art from Richard Corben and a wonderful setting in the Appalachian mountains. In 1958 and Hellboy meets Tom Ferrell who has returned to the area after twenty years. They travel together to find a local witch and when they do they find themselves entangled with The Crooked Man, a man returned from Hell to do evil in the area. The plot is straightforward, the details of the narrative are superb. There is a siege of a church by The Crooked Man as his band of witches that is horrifying and astonishing in how it creates a logical and utterly unexpected assault. The conclusion is sourly satisfying. Richard Corben's art draws the atmosphere tightly around the story, the locations are grim and hard, the cast look like they belong and the The Crooked Man himself is grasping and malignant.
"They That Go Down to the Sea in Ships" co written by Joshua Dysart has art by Jason Shawn Alexander is a great pirate ghost story. Blackbeard was decapitated and his body tossed overboard. When the skull is stolen from an antique store the story of a very strange reunion unfolds. The threads of the story are very nicely woven together and the conclusion is superbly staged. The art is dark toned and dramatic, it captures the flavour of the story perfectly, mixing the romance and fierce reality of pirates in just the right way.
"In the Chapel of Moloch" has art by Mike Mignola and is a nice little story, it is a very distilled Hellboy story. The way that the supernatural lays hold of someone, who the supernatural force is are both done with economy and outstanding skill. How a hidden history of the world is suggested is a joy, the sheer mater-of-fact way Hellboy acts are all reminders of why Hellboy is such a pleasure to read.
The final story "The Mole" with art by Duncan Fegredo answers a most interesting question, if Hellboy had a nightmare what might it be like? Creating a credible dream for a creature like Hellboy, whose business is dealing with nightmares is a tricky task and this story does it with a sharp wit. For once having someone realise that it was a dream is not an easy exit from a narrative trap, it extends the character instead.
A really enjoyable collection requiring no knowledge of Hellboy continuity to read with pleasure.

The Preacher. Camilla Lackberg.Steven T. Murray(Translator). HarperCollins (2004)

2010-10-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

A simple and superbly orchestrated plot and a large, active and engaging cast make for a gripping and hugely enjoyable thriller. In the small Swedish town of Fjallbacka, the discovery of the body of a young woman and the two skeletons marks the start of a very difficult case for Detective Patrik Hedstrom. While the case draws in a local and bitterly divided family, the Hults, the lack of clues makes progress agonisingly slow. When a second young woman disappears the the pressure on everyone involved grows to dangerous levels. The reveals are cunningly staged and the cast are given plenty of time and space to establish themselves. The conclusion is fiercely sad and fitting.
The shifting viewpoints among the large cast that allow the reader to see each cast member from their own point of view and from that of others creates a rich and varied context for the mystery at the heart of the story. The cast have independent lives beyond the mechanics of the mystery and as they reveal themselves the grip of the story intensifies. The actions of the cast as they respond to the crimes and to other pressures in their lives gives the crimes a depth and proportion. The increasing levels of collateral damage created by the old and new crimes is steadily revealed as the cast are forced to confront their own actions.
One of the very enjoyable aspects to the book is that the strongest feature of the police investigation is simple, unrelenting persistence. The obstacles the investigation encounter are incompetence and indifference much more than any clever criminality. The messy lives of the cast are sympathetically dealt with, with flashes of sharp humour that are a pleasure to read. A big generous story that is subtly disciplined and controlled, a great read.

The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects. Mike Mignola, Katie Mignola , Dave Stewart, Clem Robbins,Pat Brosseau, Dark Horse Books (2010)

2010-10-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

A great collection of very funny stories that are also wonderfully imaginative adventures, quite brilliants comics too.The first story features one of the most remarkable action heroes I have ever encountered,Screw-On Head is an agent for Abraham Lincoln. A mysterious document fragment has been stolen from by Emperor Zombie, it possibly shows the whereabouts of a jewel that gives monstrous power to whoever possess it. Screw-On Head heads out to prevent disaster, encounters Emperor Zombie and his evil assistants, a demon intending to destroy the world and manages to be funny, thrilling and amazing. The story conclusion is terrific.
The second story is a clever and sharp version of Jack and the Beanstalk that takes the elements and shakes them up in a most unexpected way. The third story "The Magician and the Snake" is by Mike Mignola and his young daughter Katie. The background is provided in the notes at the back. This is a touching and heartfelt story of friendship and magic.
"The Witch and her Soul" is an extended joke, the set up is very well paced and the punchline is funny, unexpected and exactly right. "The Prisoner of Mars" is my favourite, if only because it is by far the cleverest and the funniest riff on H.G.Wells "War of the Worlds" it has been my pleasure to read. It is packed with great ideas, absurd gags and one of the very best endings I have ever read.
The great pleasure of the book is the way that these slight stories are treated with such care and attention to detail. The art is uniformly a pleasure to look at, Dave Stewart's colours subtly support the stories and give them a glowing life. The lettering by Clem Robbins and Pat Brosseau is both unobtrusive and strongly expressive.
When a comic has no intent beyond straightforward entertainment and does so with the confidence, craft and sparkling talent that this one does, it shines. A reminder of the tremendous pleasure to be had from reading a comic.

9. Shane Acker (Director). Focus Features (2009)

2010-10-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Brilliantly animated, imaginative story of a post-human world. After a brutal conflict between humanity and insurgent machines, humanity is wiped out. A small creature made from sacking, a zip and some electro-mechanical bits comes to consciousness and sets out to explore the devastated world. Number 9(Elijah Wood) finds another, number 2(Martin Landau) who gives him a voice and when number 2 is kidnapped by a skeletal mechanical cat, a mission. This mission brings him into direct conflict with some others, in particular number 1(Christopher Plummer) who wants to avoid trouble or conflict. 9 leaves with number 5(John C. Reilly) and after being rescued by number 7(Jennifer Connelly), inadvertently resurrects the chief machine. A struggle for survival and the future of the world follows.
Packed with stunning visuals, frequently clever ideas, brilliantly staged action sequences, great characters and a nice touch of bittersweet optimism the film is a treat.The ruined city where the action takes places is astonishingly realised, the ruins and the wreckage are depicted with care and attention, the details give it depth and solidity. They deliberately hark back to the ruins and battlefields of the First World War, the machines have an antique futuristic look that works very well.
The cast of dolls are lively and distinctively individual, the voice talent is superbly matched to the animation to imbued them with real personality. Christopher Plummer gives number 1, the cautious seeker after safety a querulous and honest determination, Jennifer Connelly as the action hero number 7, wearing a bird's skull and never willing to back down for anyone is superb.
That the film shows how a electro-mechanical animated puppet would get high in a credible and funny way as well as creating a genuinely nightmarish mechanical caterpillar and these are just two of the many delights is wonderful. Thoughtful, with the minimum levels of sentimentality, a pleasure.

Affairs of the Heart. Patrick Wade. William Heinemann Ltd (1985)

2010-09-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

Beautiful art and a savage humour create a glorious collection of cartons about love, sex and relationships. The cartons nicely sidestep the frequent cliches of domineering or overly enhanced women and submissive or sorry looking men. The cast look like humans and there is a strong sense of personality about them that adds force and depth to the punchlines. The writing is very vivid and matches with the art to create a pitch perfect balance. A rather faded looking man on the phone to a retailer complaining that he had ordered a Victoria Principal blow-up doll, on the bed behind rests a Margret Thatcher doll. What gives the multiple punchlines in the cartoon a real lift is that it has been done without malice, the man is not treated as a social inadequate, he is allowed be an annoyed customer first.
While the cartoons that have straightforward punchlines are excellent, the best cartoons in this collection are the ones which hint at a greater context outside of the moment in time spotlighted by the cartoon. A man caught is an absurdly compromising position calling out to his wife that he "can explain almost everything." That almost is the stamp of greatness, it allows the reader into the situation in the most vivid and direct way and gives the situation a life beyond the page.
A cartoon called "The Conversation Piece" is bitingly funny, the body language of the cast is eloquent. It also highlights one of Patrick Wright's astonishing skills, he can draw clothes than drape and fold naturally, suggesting the body underneath in fluid and subtle way. This masterful collection is a joy, funny and observant, biting without cruelty, astonishing.

Solomon Kane . Michael J. Bassett (Director) Epic Tales Ltd (2009)

2010-09-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

Superb and enthralling adventure film, anchored by a brilliant central performance, great action and superb storytelling. Solomon Kane (James Purefoy) a reformed pirate is trying to avoid violence in order to keep clear of the devil. He encounters a Puritan family planning on emigrating to America and they find themselves travelling though a devastated landscape. The family are attacked and Kane finds that he has to resume his violent ways to rescue the daughter. The action on the way to the thrilling conclusion is superbly staged, the cast are full of life and the supernatural elements are handled with flair.
The film tells the story of how Solomon Kane became the extraordinary character he is in the stories by Robert E. Howard. There is noting very original in the story of a man forced back to violence to do good, it all lies in the the telling. The film has the strength of mind to take itself and the story seriously, there is no winking at the audience. This gives the film a terrific force and allows the cast to bring their characters to vivid life. The budget has been well spent on the glorious locations and the great sets, the context for the story felt solid and severe.
James Purefoy is simply outstanding as Solomon Kane, convincing in every aspect of the story, the moment when he becomes the terrible Puritan avenger of the Howard stories is signalled with beautiful grace. Pete Postlethwaite as the father of the family Kane encounters on the road is a warm and credible. The villains are exactly as melodramatic as they should be, lead by the masked Overlord (Samuel Roukin), they still have a genuine menace and relish for mayhem.
This is a model of how to make a fantasy film adventure, it mixes the elements with care and attention to detail, catching the spirit of the stories with breathtaking skill. This film is an undiluted pleasure.

The Necropolis Railway. Andrew Martin. Faber and Faber Ltd. (2002)

2010-09-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is an enjoyably, slow burning period thriller which serves up lashings of atmosphere and a cleverly crafted plot. Jim Stringer has always wanted to work on the railways and in 1903 he is given the chance to move to London to do so. He is assigned to work on the service to Brookwod Cemetery run on behalf on the London Necropolis and National Mausoleum Company. The rest of the crew on the service are hostile and Jim finds that he is replacing someone who mysteriously disappeared. The story is unhurried, Jim Stringer is no fool, he is new to London and Waterloo railway station. The story unfurls carefully with a great cunningly staged reveals that hide more than they expose. The conclusion is clever and unexpected.
The momentum is slow in this story, the story takes it time to develop into something tangible. The atmospheric period details are allow to take centre stage and Jim Stringer is a credible lead player. The story takes it pace from his narrative as he finds his way through the overwhelming confusion of his new job, London and the unexpected reactions of those he meets. The arcane details of working on a steam railway are provided with a light hand and the cast are very much at home in their context.
The large cast are very well drawn, the hierarchies in the working life of the railways is cleverly used. There is a nicely subdued romance that arises naturally and easily. The central mystery emerges slowly, like a train emerging from a steam cloud, it neatly ties up the strands in the story and is strongly rooted in the cast and their activities. Low key and beguiling.

Drinking at the Movies. Julia Wertz. Three Rivers Press (2010)

2010-09-19T08:53:00.000-07:00

Covering the period from Spring 2007 to Winter 2008 this book chronicles, in an highly entertaining and engagingly unreliable way, Julia Wertz's move from San Francisco to New York and what befell her there. Julia has a series of jobs, none of which end well, lives in a series of unsatisfactory apartments, drinks a significant amount, is involved in some family crises and gains some small purchase on a creative living. There is no large event or turning point in the story, it is concerned with small and ordinary details. In Julia Werttz's hands this unpromising material is transformed into a wonderful one person performance, from the brilliantly staged opening to the clever ending this story has been shaped and managed with care, attention and huge talent.
Julia Wertz has a deeply enviable ability to turn an incident into an entertaining and engaging story. This book is not a memoir nor a diary, it is a cunningly shaped work of art, designed for an audience. Julia Wertz has grasped the essential fact that it is the story that counts, not the storyteller. She hides herself behind her graphic avatar, who is given enough depth and colour to be a good companion and sets about converting experience into performance.
The story deliberately casts her graphic persona in a disreputable light, prone to poor decision making, drinking too much, swearing like an Irishman and more than a bit feckless. This neatly removes the obvious signs of ego from the story and the self-depreciating humour gives the book a nice flavour. What it also does is to hide the sheer determination, hard work and discipline actually needed to create a book like this.
The art is the equal of the storytelling, simple and clear, it hides its skill and depth in plain sight. The details in the book are all relevant and carefully chosen, the emotional states of the cast are easy to read and provide real depth to the stories. Julia Wertz has a distinctive creative voice and it is a great pleasure to spend time in her company.

Trophy Hunt. C.J.Box. Berkley Prime Crime. (2004)

2010-09-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

Superb crime story with a vivid cast and a beautiful setting in rural Wyoming. The Town of Saddlestring in Wyoming is having a minor boom thanes to the development of Coal Bed Methane drilling. It is also undergoing a rash of animal mutilations that are being attributed to a wandering grizzly bear. Joe Pickett, the local game warden is not convinced and when two men are found mutilated in a similar fashion finds himself plunged into a gripping and very tightly wound plot. The reveals are brilliantly staged, the action is thoughtful as well as sharp and brutal, the conclusion is superbly set up and utterly satisfying.
This story is a masterful example of plot mechanics, the action is cunningly set up, the plot developments are neatly dovetailed. The plot never feels like it is driving the cast, the action arises from the cast in a very natural and unforced way. The motives are credible and the swirls of animosity and friendship that tie the cast together are strongly drawn. One of the major strengths of the book is the large cast, this gives C.J.Box a chance to expand the action and strong context for the cast. Joe Pickett and his wife Maybeth are at the heart of the book, their relationship is full of hard work and movement that makes it real. The beautiful Wyoming countryside is a star cast member, the descriptions are vivid and memorable, the attractions of the area are strongly felt. There is a very nice and very well handled supernatural element in the book, it hovers at the fringes and adds a slight and welcome aspect of the unexplained to the story. The knot at the heart of the action is brutal, bitter and intense, the villains are credibly baleful. As part of a series, continuity is cleverly referenced without ever being required. A page turning, gripping pleasure.

B.P.R.D. War on Frogs. Mike Mignola, John Arcudi (Writers). Dark Horse Books (2010)

2010-09-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

This is a very enjoyable collection of stories that call back to various parts of the B.P.R.D. continuity. Roger the Homunculus makes a welcome return, in a story that returns the B.P.R.D. to the Ground Zero of the series, Cavendish Hall. The story follows up a loose end and ties it up with care. The art by Herb Trimpe and Guy Davis is suitably subdued until the action drives it forward. The second story also with art by Guy Davis features another lost cast member, Captain Benjamin Daimio. It is a sharp story about the layers of meaning the desire for a new world can contain. Given the path that Captain Daimio was to follow, it is a very nice use of continuity. The art by John Severin on an Alien-like story of a hunt on a deserted submarine is beautiful, it captures the tension, fear, stress and finally the stone cold courage of the B.R.R.D. team.
The story of Johann Kraus's tangle with ghostly frogs is wonderfully served by the art of Peter Snejbjerg with colours by Bjarne Hansen. The out of body sequence is a tour de force superbly capturing the story ideas. The final story with art by Karl Moline is brilliantly structured, it reveals itself neatly and with real feeling.
The final story is my favourite in the collection, it uses an oblique angle on the haunting of Liz Sherman to great effect. Using another strong and capable female as the central character gives it a welcome lift.
The quality of the stories overall is very high and none feel like fillers nor are they irrelevant to the overall B.R.R.D. narrative. They add depth and force to the massive struggle talking place in the main story. They show the individual cost of the war with the frogs at one end and the scale of the war by focusing on the sheer ferocity of small encounters. The stories use continuity without being trapped by it, they are straightforward enough to be comprehensible to a new reader, for anyone who has been following the series they are a clever, thoughtful pleasure.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Kevin Reynolds (Director). Touchstone Pictures (2002)

2010-09-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

A superb swashbuckler,great performances drive a classic story with vigour, wit and passion. Edmond Dantes(Jim Caviezel) is falsely accused and imprisoned in the fearsome Chateau d'If, an island fortress. Here he is brutally treated by the wonderfully sardonic warden, Armand Dorleac(Michael Wincott)and encounters another prisoner, Abbé Faria(Richard Harris). The Abbe agrees to teach Edmond in return for his help in digging an escape tunnel. Dantes does finally escape with the secret to a fabulous treasure and returns to France as the mysterious Count of Monte Cristo. He follows his plan to revenge himself upon his accusers and his ex-fiancee. The action is superbly staged, the plot drives at a great pace and the conclusion deeply satisfying.
While Jim Caviezel is better at being the innocent Edmond rather than the driven count he is still worth watching, the real star of the film is Guy Pearce as Fernand Mondego,a man consumed by bitter envy at the way Dantes can enjoy his humble life. Guy Pearce glows with a resentment that creates the emotional context for the film, he is simply astonishing. His final confrontation with the returned Dantes is brilliant, it has a depth of passion and rage that are electrifying.
Richard Harris as the Abbe is clearly enjoying himself and his humour is grimly enjoyable. Michael Wincott is a joy as the mordantly sarcastic warden, he has a relish for his activities that is amusing and horrifying. Dagmara Dominczyk as Mercedès Iguanada, Dantes fiancee who marries Fernand Mondego believing Dantes is dead, is more than a romantic toy. She reveals a very welcome strength and depth of character.
This is a hugely enjoyable film, it takes the classic adventure story and cleverly distills it into crisp romantic tale, a pleasure.

Blacksad. Juan Diaz Canales (Writer), Juanjo Guarnido (Art), Anthya Flores, Patricia Rivera (Translation). Dark Horse Books (2010)

2010-08-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

Outstanding collection of stories about a brilliantly re-imagined pulp version of 1950's America. John Blacksad, a private investigator, becomes involved with the death of a former lover, a nasty outbreak of white supremacist activity and with the tangled politics of nuclear paranoia and anti-communism. The stories are sharp and crisp, the action is hard and furious, the reveals are brilliantly staged. The atmosphere is noir, nearly everyone is on the make or trying to be, wealth, power and greed drive the plots. The cast are superb, a collection of losers trying to be winners and winners trying to prevent anyone else from winning, a sprinkling of those trying to do the right thing, even if they are no longer sure what it is.
Initially the most striking thing about the stories is that the cast are all human shaped animals, this only serves to emphasise the humanity of the cast. They are not animals pretending to be humans, they are humans parading their animal possibilities.
The astonishing art by Juanjo Guarnido creates a large and expressive cast, rarely has body language been so eloquent, the facial expressions are a joy. The panels are full of details that serve to add depth to the story, they create a entirely convincing context for the actions of the cast.
The trappings of the pulp stories and the noir films are so easy to imitate that they verge on the meaningless, Juan Diaz Canales has captured the bruised romance that underlies the originals. The struggle not to be overwhelmed by the nihilism that florishs with overrunning greed is central, to believe that there is a point to trying to do the right thing. There is a savage price to be paid for this and it is extracted in full in these stories. Everyone is compromised in some way, how they respond to it is at the heart of their actions.
These are stories with a real heartbeat, they draw in the reader and make the reader care abbout the cast. The mysterious spark of creativity is buring brightly in this wonderful book, a triumph.

Trail of Blood. S.J. Rozan. Ebury Press (2010)

2010-08-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is a very enjoyable and superbly structured crime story. Lydia Chin, a Chinese-American private investigator, is hired to locate some jewelry stolen in China and smuggled to the US. The items belonged to an European Jew who fled to Shanghai to escape the Nazis. As Lydia and her partner investigate the history of the family who owned the jewels and their whereabouts in New York, both stories twist and turn. The reveals are very well staged, the layering of the stories from the past and the present is done with sure, subtle skill and the conclusion is surprising and deeply satisfying.
S.J.Rozan has accomplished a considerable feat with this book, she has escaped the traditional restrictions of the genre and created a credible, optimistic, funny and tough female lead. Lydia Chin is very engaging, neither bitter nor battered, she is smart, fallible and open. Lydia has family concerns rather than family problems, is actually, genuinely friendly with a police officer and is stubbornly persistent. There is no shortage of unpleasant people in the book and the plot is steeped in violence and betrayal, the human element shines through.
The Chinese context to the story, both in pre-war Shanghai and New York's Chinatown is fruitfully woven into the story. The lasting power of traditional values and forms is explored in a very natural way, they are integral to the story. The history of the Jewish refugees to Shanghai is surprising and handled with considerable care, the dreadful impact of the war on Shanghai is revealed. The whole cast come to life with quiet assertiveness and the coils of the plot are sharpened strongly by their actions. A treat.

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon. Roy William Neill (Director) Universal (1943)

2010-08-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

An enjoyable adventure that picks up very considerably in the second half. Sherlock Holmes is involved in a plan to smuggle a scientist out of Switzerland and away from the the grasp of the Gestapo. The scientist, Dr. Tobel. has developed a bomb sight that is of great accuracy and therefore value to the Germans and the British. Dr Tobel makes plans to control the manufacture of the bomb sight and then is kidnapped. Sherlock Holmes has to rescue him from the grip of Professor James Moriarty, the action is great fun, the clues are clever and the resolution very satisfying.
The opening sections of the film are weighed down by the propaganda aspects to the story, they are too much to the foreground. After Dt Tobel(William Post Jr.) is kidnapped and Professor James Moriarty(Lionel Atwill) enters the story the film picks up greatly. The personal battle between Sherlock Holmes(Basil Rathbone) and Moriarty is made clear and this give the film a considerable tension and dramatic edge.
The use of the Dancing Men code is a fun aspect to the story and the action sequences are wonderfully melodramatic. Basil Rathbone is a excellent, he has the vigour and barely contained annoyance at the limitations of others captured nicely. Lionell Atwill is superb, his mixture of enjoyment of the challenge represented by Holmes and the desire to be rid of him make their scenes together crackle. The struggle between them is one where victory is proof of intellectual superiority. A very enjoyable film.

Witchfinder. In the Service of Angels. Mike Mignola (Writer), Ben Stenbeck (Art), Dave Stewart (Colours), Clem Robbins (Letters) Dark Horse (2010)

2010-08-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

A superb adventure story about Queen Victoria's special agent fighting the occult, Sir Edward Grey. After a number of very suspicious deaths, Edward Grey learns of an expedition to Egypt which uncovered a lost city and a odd set of bones. The members of the expedition were the first victims of a creature which returned to England with them, it becomes increasingly more murderous as Grey attempts to track, trap and kill it. The story is superbly well done, the reveals are very well paced, the cast are very engaging and the conclusion satisfyingly grim.
Mike Mignola has taken a background character from his Hellboy stories and given him a story of his own. The same care and craft that goes into the Hellboy stories is evident here. The central plot is carefully garnished with a wonderful cast and array of ideas, suggestions and lurking conspiracies. These give the story a strong context and sense of time before and after the action described in the story. Edward Grey is a melancholy character, competent yet somewhat out of his depth and aware of it. He moves through the layers of London without ever really fitting in anywhere, this awkwardness opens up the story and allows the human element never be dominated by the supernatural.
Ben Stenbeck's art is a joy, it is full of suggestion, shadows and corners abound where there is probably something going on. London, high and low is given a nice solidity that creates a vivid stage for the supernatural activities. The cast are drawn with great vigour and animation. They fill their spaces with spirit and manage to be ordinary and vivid at the same time. Dave Stewart uses a muted palette of colours to extraordinary effect, the colours rest within the art to provide additional depth and force. Clem Robbins lettering manages to be invisible and decorative at the same time, it blends in with the rest of the book and is unerringly easy to read. This is a great comic, produced by a hugely talented team of creators, an undiluted pleasure.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Niels Arden Oplev (Director). Momentum Pictures 2010

2010-08-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

A gripping and superbly acted thriller that has a light varnish of social and political advocacy over a brutally enjoyable plot. Disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist(Michael Nyqvist) is asked to investigate the decades old disappearance of the member of a powerful industrial dynasty. He encounters Lisbeth Salander(Noomi Rapace) a semi-socialised hacker and they continue the investigation together. The story develops nicely with horrific secrets and crimes being uncovered. The action is superbly staged, the reveals are cleverly done and the plot resolved neatly.
This film is saturated with sexual violence, there are three explicit rape scenes which are far more concerned with force and power than sex, the plot is explicitly concerned with sexual violence. It does lack the subtle victimisation of the female cast that so often accompanies such violence, the female cast are notably independent and capable.
This really is two stories loosely tied together, there is the investigation of the disappearance and the murderous secrets that lie behind it. This is a grimly efficient thriller that makes the most of a not terribly original plot with superb acting, terrific pacing and brilliantly engineered tension. The second story is that of Lisbeth Salander, Noomi Rapace is astonishing as the she shows the carefully guarded venerability and steely strength of the character. The most significant gap in the film is the link between both stories, it is explicitly raised and then ignored in the film.
What the film lacks in cohesion it more than makes up for in engaging drama, vivid storytelling and a simmering rage at the abuse of power. Strongly recommended.

Living on a Prayer. Sheila Quigley. Arrow Books. (2006)

2010-08-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is a very enjoyable crime story with a savagely bleak undertow. A teenager is found hanging at a local scenic spot, the assumption is suicide. Neither the boy's mother nor Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt are convinced, if for very different reasons. Richard's friends, a group of teenagers, each one with significant family problems appear to know considerably more than they are willing to say. A man is brutally assaulted and a group called the Blessing Guides have established themselves in the area. The story moves quietly, the extensive cast is given plenty of space to move, there is as much attention given to the lives of the cast as to the action. The reveals are cleverly staged, the action is sharp and nasty, it arises very naturally from the actions and personalities of the cast.
Sheila Quigley has developed a considerable reoccurring cast and uses them very well to frame the central plot. The people living in the Salthills estate, few working , most on some form of benefit are all involved to some extent with marginally legal or simply illegal activities in an effort to have enough to raise their families. Sheila Quigley clearly has both great affection and sympathy for them, without ever being blind to their weaknesses. This gives the story a tremendous context, the plot has real and visible consequences and implications for the cast.
One of the most striking aspects to the story is the way that the astonishingly grim plot is carefully covered by the warmth of the writing. The villains are credible in their callous greed and callous manipulation of wounded teenagers. They depth of their brutality is revealed clearly, without any hyperbole. It sneaks up on the reader making the full realisation of what is going on all the more effective.
The central romance is also handled with flair and quiet humour, there are enough complications to generate tension and the writing is good enough to make it enjoyable rather than cringe inducing. A gripping read.