A gripping and well-crafted tale of prisoners and guards.
In this graphic novel, a group of prison guards attempts a heist against the backdrop of the March on Washington.
Baltimore’s Jessup Penitentiary, 1963. A former prison guard finds himself an inmate, and he has a story to tell. Kendrick Robinson was part of a family of prison guards, including his uncle Marcus and his cousin Francis—called Freckles for his light complexion. When one of their fellow guards is injured, Francis suggests they attempt to steal the score of mouthy former hit man Sid Scisiani, who is about to get paroled. Kendrick warms to the idea after learning he’s been drafted for the Vietnam War—he needs the cash to flee to Canada or buy a new identity. When Sid gets out, Kendrick and Francis follow him to his homecoming job—and learn that his first mission back is to assassinate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Now Kendrick and his comrades need to plan a heist and save the celebrated civil rights leader at the same time. Meanwhile, back at the prison, a group of prisoners has escaped, including one White supremacist who would like nothing more than to settle a score with his Black prison guards. With the help of artists Oliveira and Dunbar—whose work evokes the bleak superhero comics of the 1980s—Walker spins a cinematic story that propels readers from panel to panel. “People in prison love to talk,” begins Kendrick in a nonchalant opening monologue right out of a Martin Scorsese movie. The words drift incongruously over scenes of inmates fighting and rioting: “There’s nothing more popular...given the other options....Just ask for an opinion...and cons will come running.” The book blends issues of race, civil rights, and prison reform in a way that is cogent while still providing an entertaining, guns-blazing crime story. The tale questions what sorts of behavior count as ethical while driving at a larger, societal morality embodied by the words of the very man whose assassination Kendrick is trying to prevent. Despite the darkness, the story manages to find its way to an ending of hopefulness—though not quite in the way readers will expect.
A gripping and well-crafted tale of prisoners and guards.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-71914-473-5
Page Count: 153
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.
After the events of Book of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre.
Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It’s her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow—a “Blight”— and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red’s memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red’s memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn’t remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people’s bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other.
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250812223
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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