Book Review- Assassin’s Code

When I was a kid I was drawn to horror stories because essentially they were about men and women going into the dark to face monsters, being tested, and walking away victorious. The older I got the more I understood and appreciated the fact that some monsters are all too human and all too often battling these monsters would change people. They were battles worth fighting, but fighting and winning them comes with a cost. When I find a story that can combine that youthful feeling of excitement with the grit and realism of stories that mean something and matter I devour that story. When you find an author who delivers those types of stories on a regular basis you find yourself eagerly awaiting that author’s next book. Jonathan Maberry is just such an author.

In the previous three novels of his Joe Ledger series he’s given readers exciting tales of highly trained soldiers that battle human and man made scientific monsters and the price they pay for doing that duty. In his latest novel, “Assassin’s Code,” the fourth in the Ledger series, Maberry takes his soldiers one step further into the darkness as they come up against mythic and possible supernatural monsters. The result is the best novel in the series so far.

“Assassin’s Code” kicks off in media res and dumps both readers and Joe Ledger into a tense situation. Ledger and his fellow soldiers in Echo Team are in Iran looking for an escape route after accomplishing a successful mission to free some American hikers that the Iranian government has taken hostage. While Ledger is laying low a high ranking member of Iranian Intelligence ambushes him and forces him into a clandestine meeting where he delivers some shocking news; an unknown enemy has rigged several oil fields with nuclear bombs. Ledger and his team must discover who this enemy is and stop the bombs from being detonated before it’s too late.

From there the novel takes off like a rocket. The pacing in “Assassin’s Code” is breath taking. Pacing is something Maberry has always been good at, but I think this is his most exhilaratingly paced novel yet. The main action of the story occurs over the course of only about two days and much of those days are spent running with Joe Ledger as he tries to stay away from a horde of enemies, or with the command and support staff of the Department of Military Sciences, the clandestine organization Leger works for, as they try to decipher the clues to the mystery of what they’re facing. There are some flashbacks that take place months, and even centuries earlier but they are useful and shocking revelations that only heighten the enjoyment of the story.

Speaking of revelations, now we come to spoiler territory. Let’s see if I can dance around it. The primary enemies that Ledger, Echo Team, and the DMS face in “Assassin’s Code” are an ancient order of assassins known as the Red Order. Much of the novel is spent trying to determine what the members of the Red Order are and if they are products of the supernatural or some weird offshoot of science. Maberry does an excellent job handling the revelations surrounding the Red Order. With the ending of the last Ledger book, “The King of Plagues” and some of the developments in this one, especially those surrounding a returning villain from “The King of the Plagues,” it feels like Maberry is guiding his readers into the deep end of the supernatural pool. He’s doing it in the same expert way John Connelly did with his Charlie Parker series of novels. It’s exciting to see.

Since we’re on the topic of the supernatural fans of Maberry’s “Pine Deep” trilogy of novels will appreciate a fun little Easter Egg that links the trilogy to the Ledger novels. It’s the second of such links (the first being a fun short story titled “Material Witness” that is available for download.) I look forward to a later meeting by the survivors of the Pine Deep novels and the members of the DMS.

Character wise, “Assassins Code” is a great mix of old and new cast members. As usual, Maberry gives readers plenty of time inside the scarred, but noble psyche of his protagonist, Joe Ledger. He also gives us some more clues into the past of the most intriguing supporting character in the Ledger series, the enigmatic Mister Church. Echo Team doesn’t get as much time in this installment as previous novels, but you do get to know their three newest members a little more; Khalid Shaheed, Lydia Ruiz, and most importantly my favorite the sniper of few words, John Smith. You also get some time with some reoccurring villains (no spoilers here either!) One becomes a bigger character you love to hate, one has a surprising transformation, and one becomes even more frightening and mysterious.

In terms of new characters we’re given a host of intriguing ones in the form of two rival organizations. The first is a team of all female warriors and assassins known as Arklight, who Mister Church has a mysterious connection with. Their chief operative in the story is a woman known as Violin that assists Ledger throughout the story and has some pretty interesting chemistry with him. The second is the dangerous and powerful Red Order and their leader, Grigor, a bloodthristy and hateful man who has dubbed himself the King of Thorns

When Grigor and his enemies come up against Joe Ledger and his allies the results are some pretty powerful and exciting action scenes. Those of you who have read my previous reviews of the Ledger novels know how much I love Maberry’s action scenes, particularly the ones involving hand to hand combat. “Asssassin’s Code” is packed with those. There are several stand out brutal and vicious fights that really test Joe Ledger’s mettle as a character. Lately, I’ve been reading Jack Kirby’s work on Marvel Comics “Black Panther” series and one of the reasons why Kirby was called “The King of Comics” was because of the visceral and powerful ways he brought to life action scenes. The action scenes in the other Ledger novels and especially “Assassin’s Code” are a pretty good argument for dubbing Maberry “The Jack Kirby” of prose.

The action, characters, plot, and pacing, all combine together for Maberry’s most satisfying Joe Ledger novel to date. The ending of the book really kept me guessing and ended on several very cool notes. The epilogue wraps up several things and also sets the stage for the next Ledger novel, which I eagerly await.

Book Review-The Drop

 Michael Connelly’s premier protagonist, Los Angeles Police Detective Harry Bosh, has been fighting crime for a long time. “The Black Echo,” Connelly’s first novel, was published in 1992 and since then Bosch has starred in or been a major player in 16 more novels. Two things that Harry confronts regularly in his investigations are corruption and evil incarnate. In Connelly’s latest novel, “The Drop” Bosch is saddled with two cases that bring him face to face with these eternal enemies. The result is a powerful and highly satifsying novel.

It’s been awhil since we’ve seen Harry Bosch work a case on his own in the City of Los Angeles. In 2009′s “9 Dragons,” the last pure Bosch novel Harry spent much of the book trying to solve a family crisis in Hong Kong. In 2010′s “The Reversal” Bosch shared the spotlight with half brother Mickey Haller AKA the Lincoln Lawyer. Those were both compelling and exciting novels but I’ve kind of missed getting the chance to see Harry Bosch do what he does best. So it was a lot of fun to be back with Harry on his home turf and seeing him crack cases

In “The Drop” Bosch is actually given two cases. The first one comes to him because of his current assignment as an investigator for the Robbery Homicide’s elite Open-Unsolved Unit, which investigates cold cases. He’s assigned to figure out why the blood of a young boy was found on a victim that was murdered in 1989. Bosch’s second case comes to him from an old enemy that long time readers will remember well, Irvin H Irving. The former Internal Affairs Cop turned City Councilman wants Bosch to investigate the death of his son who fell to his death from a seventh floor hotel room.

The two cases take some powerful and surprising twists and it’s a lot of fun to watch Bosch handle them. Connelly once again proves he’s a master at telling these kinds of stories. The closer Bosch gets to the truth on each of his cases the harder it is to put the book down. The cases are connected thematically, but I can’t say how for fear of spoilers. Some readers may make the frustrating mistake of wanting to find larger connections between them though. I did that at first, but once I sat back and let them be what they were I enjoyed the novel even more.

As I mentioned in the beginning, there seems to be two types of classic Harry Bosch stories the ones dealing with some kind of corruption and the ones wear he confronts evil incarnate. In “The Drop” you get a story that combines both of these tales together and it’s done by a writer who is older, wiser, and better and knows how to spin these classic tales in interesting ways. So the plot, tone, and pacing of “The Drop” are all extremely well done .

The other element that makes “The Drop” so entertaining is of course the characters. Fans get to see all of Harry’s idiosyncrasies on display in “The Drop” and get to be reminded of why we love the character so much. We also get to see Harry spend a lot of time in a new and interesting role, that of Father. “Nine Dragons” brought Harry’s teenage daughter, Maddy, back into his life in a big way, but “The Drop” is the first chance you get to see a lot of that relationship.

It’s a pretty cool and loving relationship too. And Kudos to Connelly for not making Maddy your typical irritating teenager who does stupid stuff and is constantly bickering with her father. In “The Drop” you get to see Maddy is very close to her father and respects him. You also get to see that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Maddy appears to be a very canny detective for her age and her insight into human behavior often surprises her father.

Connelly also uses “The Drop” to introduce a new character into Bosch’s life Doctor Hannah Stone, a psychiatrist who works to counsel and try to redeem convicted sex offenders. Stone’s occupation challenges some of Bosch’s beliefs about crime and criminals, but he can’t help but be drawn to her. She makes for an interesting love interest for the character and I’m curious to see what else Connelly does with their relationship in future books.

Rounding out the memorable cast of “The Drop” are a couple more compelling and eclectic characters. Connelly spends a lot of time developing Bosch’s relationship with his partner Detective David Chu. The scenes with the two of them felt very real and it was interesting to see the dynamic they have together. The other fascinating character we spend very little time with, but the time you do spend is scary as hell. Near the end of the book readers meet a violent, despicable, and remorseless killer. The character is evil incarnate, but he’s not a cartoon character. His actions and dialogue ring true. That can be hard to do, but I think Connelly pulls it off chillingly well.

Finally, the title “The Drop” refers to the LAPD’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan, which means Bosch is nearing the end of his career. So it’s possible that “The Drop” may be one of the last Harry Bosch books. If that is the case I’ll miss the character, but I’m also excited about that idea. With “The Drop” it feels like Connelly is setting the stage for the final act in one of the greatest police procedural sagas ever. There are several elements of the story that could easily carry over into the next book and I can’t wait to see what happens next. The fact that I can still say that after reading 17 Bosch novels speaks volumes about Connelly’s ability as a writer.

Book Review- “Hell & Gone”

I try to avoid any types of spoilers when I do a book review, but sometimes that’s just not possible. Like when you’re reviewing the second book in a three part trilogy and the action picks up right where the first one left off. That’s the case with writer Duane Swierczynski’s latest crime novel, “Hell & Gone” and I’m about to review that book. So consider this a spoiler warning. In fact, if you haven’t read “Fun & Games,” the first book in Swierczynski’s Charlie Hardie trilogy, stop what you’re doing and go read it right now. You won’t regret it. Don’t worry we’ll wait . . .

Ok, everybody ready? Just in case one last big SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!

All right then, away we go! When we last left ex-Philadelphia Police consultant and tough guy extraordinaire Charlie Hardie he had saved the host of an “America’s Most Wanted” style program from a group of incredibly stealthy assassins dubbed the “Accident People” for their knack for making their crimes looks like accidents. As it turns out though the “Accident People” are just foot soldiers for a large and very powerful organization, an organization that’s not very happy with Charlie Hardie.

“Fun & Games” ends with Hardie falling into this organization’s custody and in “Hell & Gone” they enact their vengeance upon Hardie by sending him to a strange, underground, ultra secure prison. Complicating things even further is the fact that upon his arrival at the prison Hardie discovers that he’s the facility’s new warden and if anybody escapes from the prison on his watch everyone inside will die.

So there’s a lot of stuff going on in “Hell & Gone” and all of it is pretty awesome. One of the most interesting things is the very nature of the prison itself is a mystery. Its true nature is revealed near the end of the novel and the revelation is a fun mix of science fiction, classic prison movie elements, conspiracy stories, and academia.

Another great thing is that Swierczynski uses the set up of the prison to reveal even more about his protagonist. We got to know and root for Charlie in “Fun & Games” and in “Hell & Gone” we get to know even more about his past and what makes him tick. We get to see how he holds up under a great amount of physical and mental oppression and best of all we get to see him fight back. That’s because Swierczynski know all the best prison stories involve jail breaks.

You also get to learn a lot more about another character who only played a minor role in “Fun & Games,”  Hardie’s FBI contact  Special Agent Deke Clark. Clark spends much of “Hell & Gone” searching for Hardie and dealing with the enigmatic and powerful forces behind his disappearance. Clark’s reactions are believable and he’s a very likeable character that you enjoy spending time with.

The supporting cast of “Hell & Gone” is also populated by several interesting new characters especially the inmates and guards of the prison Hardie is trapped in. All of them have intricate and interesting back stories that are revealed as the novel unfolds. I can’t confirm this but based on the character’s names and some of their stories it feels like Swierczynski includes some fun homages and Easter eggs to his fellow crime writers and some of their characters.

So reading “Hell & Gone” was a lot of fun. The only thing that seemed out of place was an opening scene that didn’t look it had any relevance to the larger plot, but towards the end of the novel Swierczynski comes back to it and weaves that scene into his larger story in a very compelling way.

In Summary “Hell & Gone” is the best kind of sequel, one that’s even better than the first chapter in the story. It’s pacing, action, and characters were all great.  As a long time fan of Swierczynski’s work I think it’s his best novel to date.

So the bar is set pretty high for the third chapter in the Charlie Hardie trilogy, “Point and Shoot,” which arrives in March. Swierczynski gives the novel a hell of a set up with the final pages of “Hell & Gone” and even if it’s only half as good the previous novel’s it’s bound to be a lot of fun.

Book Review-Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner

Maybe it’s because as a kid I spent my Saturday nights watching Stacy Keach play Mike Hammer on CBS, but I love private detectives. They’re my favorite form of literary heroes. They dish out and endure all sorts of punishment in their quest for the truth. The cover for Tim Waggoner’s novel “Nekropolis” hinted that readers would meet a private eye capable of enduring a lot of punishment. That’s because he was a zombie, but unlike your typical zombie he had his full cognitive capablities and didn’t possess a craving for brains.

Waggoner’s protagonist is a fairly likeable guy named Matt Richter, a former cop from Cleveland. One night Matt and his partner followed a strange killer through a mysterious portal and became trapped in the other dimensional city of Nekropolis. In their final confrontation with the killer, Matt’s partner was murdered and accident happened that transformed him into an intelligent zombie. He decided to use his skills to become a sort of unofficial P.I. Instead of doing jobs. He does “favors” His cunning mind, undead physical form, and the numerous mystical tools he keeps in the pockets of his trench coat make him pretty good at his job. Matt’s first two traits are quite interesting. The second one though just felt a little too convenient and super hero like. Matt’s trenchcoat is pretty much just like Batman’s utility belt.

Matt’s abilities and tools help him with his job, but what really makes him an interesting character is his genuine desire to do good. In spite of all he’s seen in the monstrous city of “Nekropolis” he’s not a cynical character. He doesn’t believe what he’s doing is futile and continues to try regardless of the odds. That makes him a refreshing and interesting character. He broods a little bit, but doesn’t really wine or complain.

In “Nekropolis” Matt is approached by Devona, the daughter of the city’s vampire overlord. She needs him to do the favor of finding a stolen mystical artifact before her temperamental father finds out. Matt takes the case and he Devona’s investigation takes them across the entire city of Nekropolis, which is a pretty interesting town.

Imagine one city that’s a combination of the different horror theme realms of Ravenloft from “Dungeons and Dragons,” Halloweentown from the “Nightmare Before Christmas,” and the crazy afterlife of “Beetlejuice.” That’s Nekropolis. It’s populated by horrific technology that’s a mirror reflection of our own. It is also home to monsters, demons, magicians, and all around strange characters. The city itself is broken down into boroughs each controlled by a particularly powerful dark lord. For example, a shapeshifting darklord rules over a borough populated by were beasts, and a vampirc dark lord rules a neighborhood of blood suckers. These dark lords commit all sorts of intrigues against each other, but every year the must cooperate in a ceremony that keeps the city from being destroyed.

So the setting of “Nekropolis” was pretty damn interesting, but for some reason the book just didn’t click with me. I don’t know if the setting was too weird or alien, the pacing was off or if the book just wasn’t what I wanted it to be. There were times when I felt my patience and attention wearing thin.

I stuck with “Nekropolis” though and I’m glad I did. By the end of the book Waggoner ultimately won me back over. What did it were his two main characters of Matt and Devona. In many thrillers with a male and female character they often fall in love and fall in bed together. It’s usually a very contrived plot development. In “Nekropolis” Matt and Devona do develop feelings for each other, but in a unique and organic way. I bought it. It felt sweet and true, and it kept me reading.

So I found “Nekropolis” to be a bumpy, but ultimately satisfying journey. It had a solid and likeable main character who developed a relationship with another character that felt interesting, poignant, and very real. So because of that I’m definitely interested in seeing what Waggoner does with his second Matt Richter novel, “Dead Streets.”

Book Review- Gone Till November

You’ve got imagine that a seemingly routine traffic stop has got to be a frightening thing for a police officer. Most of them are exactly that, routine, but you never know what could be waiting in the car that gets pulled over. It could be a mother of four awaiting you with tears in her eyes, or it could be a heavily armed and violent man ready to draw down on you.  It’s that unpredictable nature that kicks off Wallace Stroby’s novel “Gone ‘Til November”

In the beginning of “Gone ‘Til November” Sarah Cross, a Sheriff’s Deputy in a small Florida town, is working the night shift and is called to the scene of a traffic stop that ended in violence. When she arrives she encounters another deputy, her ex-boyfriend Billy Flynn. Billy claims that 22 year old African American man he shot was fleeing the scene and drew a gun on him. Sarah’s instincts tell her something is awry, but when the shooting is investigated She testifies that what she saw matched up with Billy’s version of the story

Unbeknownst to Sarah though, the man Billy shot was on an errand for a New Jersey drug gang. Part of that errand involved delivering a large sum of money, which is now missing. So the gang’s head dispatches, Morgan, a veteran hit man to Flordia to find out what happened and get his money back.

The story follows both Sarah and Morgan’s investigations into what happened that night and the more they uncover, the more it seems like Billy did something horribly wrong. The final reckoning comes in an explosion of violence at an abandoned sugar refinery.

With Sarah, Stroby has a very human and compelling protagonist. She’s the only female Sheriff’s deputy in town so she constantly has to prove herself. Plus she had a son with leukemia that she’s utterly devoted to.  So Sarah is a very noble character and you want to root for her. Stroby gives her two big flaws though and those flaws make the story ultimately unsatisfying.

The first flaw is her attraction to Billy. I could understand why Sarah might be initially attracted to him, but for pretty much the entire book Billy proves that he’s a repulsive, shallow, and self centered individual. Sarah is a shrewd, caring, and dedicated cop and mother and yet she falls for Billy’s manipulations through out much of the story. Even in the end when she knows Billy has done something horribly wrong she still cares. Which leaves me ultimately wondering why? We as the readers never get to see Billy’s good side; the side that Sarah might have fallen in love with. So rather than emphathising with Sarah. I end up questioning her poor judgement.

The other other flaw is when Sarah gets into trouble she’s usually not able to get out of it herself. This makes her human, but it makes her seem less capable and it’s a shame.  Sarah is an interesting character but she would be a much more interesting character if she didn’t need a rescuer.

Morgan is one of the characters that rescues Sarah, and Morgan ends up being my favorite character in the book. He’s a veteran hitman who has become tired with his violent life style. He has designs on double crossing his boss and using the missing money to pay for cancer treatments and to set himself up with a new life.

When the story follows Morgan you can tell Storby is having a good time. The character is a loner, but he’s incredibly charismatic. If they ever make a movie of “Gone ‘Till November” I can see Smauel L. Jackso being offered the part. He would be the perfect Morgan: cool, deadly, charismatic, and sympathetic.

The plot, pacing, and tone of “Gone ‘Til November” are all handled well. The story moves quickly and cuts back and forth between Sarah and Morgan, which keeps things interesting. You get to see both characters in some haunting and human moments. So “Gone ‘Til November” is an entertaining, but ultimately unsatisfying read. It had an interesting story, some fun bits of action, but it’s too flawed protagonist kept the story from being great.

My interview with “Supernatural” writer/producer Adam Glass

From my blog stats I know fans of the CW’s “Supernatural” occasionally pop in here from time to time because of one of my posts. So I wanted to provide a link to an interview I did with one of the show’s writers/Producers. In this interview I talk with Adam Glass about the current season so far and what to expect when the show comes back tonight for the second half of the season

Slott on Mighty Avengers and Hurwitz on Vengeance of Moon Knight

Forgot to post links to my two most recent CBR interviews

I spoke with Dan Slott about his final issue of Mighty Avengers and what it was like working on the book. Plus I talked with Gregg hurwitz about his work on Vengenace of Moon Knight

Book Review- Expiration Date by Duane Swierczynski

A few years back I discovered a pretty cool crime novel called “The Wheelman.” It was a gritty caper novel full of interesting characters and blasts of dark humor. I missed “Secret Dead Man”  the debut novel by book’s writer, Duane Swierczynski,  so I had no idea he was interested and capable of crafting a more fantastic  but just as entertaining tale. I soon discovered that was the case though. Hints of science fiction showed up in “The Blonde” the  author’s excellent follow-up to the “Wheelman”  and then Swierczynski’s affinity and flair for the fantastic really started to show when he started writing books like “Cable” and “The Immortal Iron Fist” for Marvel Comics. Swierczynski’s last novel “Severance Package” was more of a crime/espionage type thriller story, but in his latest novel, “Expiration Date”, the author embraces both the strange and fantastic and the gritty and the grounded. The result is his best novel to date.

In “Expiration Date”, Mickey Wade, a recently unemployed journalist, is forced to move into his grandfather’s former apartment where he can live rent free. On his first night in the apartment Mickey heads to the medicine cabinet searching for aspirin to cure a headache. He finds some mysterious pills, takes one and is mysteriously transported back to the 1970s. How and why this happening is one of the big mysteries of the book, so I won’t spoil it, but I will say it involves the mysterious death of Mickey’s father in the 1970s.

In Mickey, Swierczynski gives readers an enjoyable every man protagonist. The first person narrative of the novel means you feel for his plight at the beginning of the novel, and you really sympathize with Mickey when he gets caught up in the strangeness of travelling to the past.  You also feel Mickey’s sense of anger and moral outrage when he uses the unique conditions of his time travel to foil some shocking crimes that took place in the past.

Another intriguing character in the novel is Mickey’s grandfather. Like Kurtz in “Heart of Darkness” you don’t spend much time with the grandfather but his presence looms large throughout  the entire story.  When you have a character like that he has to be incredibly compelling, and thanks to Swierczynski’s prose Mickey’s grandfather is.

For me though, The most enjoyable thing about “Expiration Date” was the tone and feel of the novel.  At one point in the narrative Mickey uses the unique abilities he gains from time travelling to rescue a kidnapped girl. It’s a powerful and creepy scene that seems like it should come from one of the superhero comics that Swierczynski writes. Instead the author plays up the scene in a haunting and surreal sort of way. It reminded me of the scene in M Night Shyamalan’s best (and in my opinion only good) movie “Unbreakable” where the main character tries to save a family from a vicious killer.

And speaking of mood, “Expiration Date” features a number of spot illustrations from comic book artist Lawrence Campbell, which enhance the book’s creepy and strange feel.  They also add to some of the sweetness of the book too; because ultimately “Expiration Date” is about family and how the choices you make affect your family’s future.

So “Expiration Date” is an immensely satisfying mystery and science fiction novel about one of the most mundane and important things in the world, family.   I highly recommend it.

Reads of the week 12/09/09

Soon me and my fellow CBR writers will be submitting our lists for the best comic books of the year. Both of the titles I feature this week will be part of  my list. They were great issues of two of the best books being published

“Invincible Iron Man” #21

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: Salvador Larroca

Tony Stark AKA Iron Man isn’t one of my favorite Marvel Comics’ characters but he’s certainly one of their most fascinating.  He’s a brilliant but fallible man. He struggles to use his intellect to make his world a better place and he often doesn’t make the best decisions.

In Fraction’s recently completed epic 12 part “World’s Most Wanted” he had Tony Stark  go on a journey to try and atone  for some of those mistakes. He atoned by going on the run to protects the secrets of the world’s superheroes from a powerful mad man. Tony succeeded in protecting those secrets, but it cost him his mind.

You didn’t think that was it though, did you? He’s Tony Stark! Of course he has a back-up plan!  In this issue, part two of “Stark Disassembled” Tony’s friends gather to try and implement that plan and get Tony Stark back on his feet.

The elements of Tony’s plan are wild and crazy and that’s part of the fun of the issue. Another is the gathering of heroes that assemble to try and bring Tony back.  Tony Stark hasn’t been popular with many other superheros as of late, so it was good to see them put their feelings aside to try and revive Stark. The scene where Pepper Potts greets Captain America and James Rhodes is especially fun

Fraction also uses Pepper Potts to create a particularly poignant scene where Potts gets her complicated feelings out about what happened to Tony Stark and how it’s unfair that people are willing to sacrifice everything to bring Tony back, while her husband is still dead.

Salvador Larroca’s pencils are particularly stellar in this issue. He expertly captures all the emotions everybody is going through. He also manage to give Captain America an amazing entrance, one that captures the hopeful quality of the character

“The Unwritten” #8

Writer: Mike Carey

Artist: Peter Gross

I’ll just come right out and say it, “The Unwritten” is the best book of 2009. I love Mike Carey’s writing and I was especially fond of “Lucifer”, his previous Vertigo collaboration with Peter Gross, and as good as that was it seems like a warm up for what they’re doing here with “The Unwritten”

“The Unwritten” is a story about stories. It tells the tale of Tom Taylor a young man who shares a moniker with the star of a top selling Harry Potter style series of kids books written by his father, Wilson Taylor. Wilson disappeared and Tom began making a living off his name. That all came crashing down when revelations about Tom’s past (It seems like he lacks one) started to come to light.  He then became a target of  a mysterious conspiracy out to control the world’s storytellers.  The conspiracy framed him for murder and now Tom is trapped in a jail on the Paris-Spain border.  Hope is not lost though. It appears that Wilson Taylor may have been grooming his son as a weapon to use against the conspiracy and that grooming may have given Tom the power to bring fictional characters to life.

“The Unwritten” #8 continues the story of Tom Taylor’s imprisonment but you see things through different eyes: those of the Prison Warden, his wife, and his two kids–who are both huge fans of the Tommy Taylor series of books.  The issue powerfully examines what stories mean for children.  The Warden’s kids are almost pathalogical in their devotion to Tommy, but it doesn’t come off as creepy or scary. It’s a little unsettling but to Carey and Gross’s credits you understand these kids and you sympathize with them.  That fact makes the book’s cliffhanger particularly powerful and shocking.

People who aren’t used to Gross’s style may dismiss it as too cartoony, but once you read one of his book’s those thoughts disappear.  He captures the emotions, mood and tone of every scene perfectly. The pages literally come alive and flow while you read his work. And like Stuart Immonen, Gross can change and adapt his style to suit almost any story perfectly.

So if you aren’t reading “The Unwritten” do yourself a favor and start! It’s a fun and fascinating series that gets better with every issue. The first  collected edition comes out in January.

CBR Interview- Mark Waid on Amazing Spider-Man

My latest CBR interview is up. I talk with writer Mark Waid about his current arc on Marvel Comics “Amazing Spider-Man” series.