A grim but well-executed fantasy of murder and creeping adulthood.
A stylish graphic novel tells a tale of death and drama at the theme park.
This collection of the first five issues of a comic-book series, written by Van Lente and illustrated by Panda, lays out its thesis early (“Growing up, then, is this not, also, a kind of death?”), then mashes up elements of corporate satire, dark fairy tales, and a whodunit soaked in theme-park nihilism. Directionless Tanith Leigh is the conductor of the Rock Candy Mountain Railroad roller coaster at a Disney-like theme park that’s filled with saccharine fantasy and festering dread. Her apathy curdles into horror when she’s doused in someone’s grandma’s cremains, midride, and then thrust into the starring role of Briar Rose after a fellow princess has an Instagram breakdown; the former princess then turns up stabbed to death. Tanith, now trapped in a corset and told never to break character, begins investigating. The story weaves together critique of corporate infantilization and the original, bloody purpose of fairy tales: to prepare young people for maturity’s terrifying arrival. There’s labor unrest, shady human-resources machinations, and the unsettling resurrection of obscure Brothers Grimm fairy-tale lore in the form of a Handless Maiden, now stalking Tanith’s colleagues in the park. Panda’s art serves the tone well; its crisp lines, expressive faces, and set pieces walk the line between whimsical and grotesque. Tanith uncovers the use of sedatives, a blackmail plot, and a secret affair, all pointing to a toxic kingdom built on secrets and suppression. A few clunky red herrings and an on-the-nose Agatha Christie reference threaten to trip up the pace, but the final unmasking delivers. The gore could be gorier, and the mystery twistier, but the themes resonate. In one lightly progressive note, union talk bubbles behind the park’s facade. This comic may not reinvent the horror genre, but it’s a clever, timely tale of growing up in a world designed to keep one helpless—and of the blood one must spill to break free.
A grim but well-executed fantasy of murder and creeping adulthood.Pub Date: May 20, 2025
ISBN: 9781960578785
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
The mystery plot and the Italian idyl both play supporting roles in this fairy tale for grownups.
Scottoline’s latest links her great love of Italy with her long record of female-centered crime fiction.
Julia Pritzker has a presentiment that something terrible is around the corner, but she never imagines just how terrible: When her husband, Philadelphia attorney Mike Shallette, tries to protect her from a man who grabs her designer bag, he gets stabbed to death before her eyes. Julia’s grief becomes laced with guilt when she realizes that her daily horoscope had predicted a calamity she’s now convinced she could have prevented. The news from Italian attorney Massimiliano Lombardi that his late client has left her millions in cash and an estate worth nearly as much again doesn’t comfort her, but it does provide distraction—especially since she’s never heard of Emilia Rossi and has no idea why she’s been chosen as her heir. Since Julia, adopted at an early age by a couple who’ve been dead for years, wonders if Emilia might have been her biological grandmother, she travels to Chianti in hope of recovering some of Emilia’s DNA. Unfortunately, caretakers Anna Mattia Vesta and Piero Fano have burned all of Emilia’s clothing and personal items on her orders, so there’s nothing left to test. Growing convinced that the stars are directing her and that her history is rooted in Emilia’s decrepit house, Julia turns down repeated offers for the property and resolves to secure evidence confirming the relationship between Emilia and her. Now all she has to do is protect herself from the shadowy figures tracking and following her and recover from a series of vivid, hallucinatory nightmares that seem to be the cost of claiming her heritage.
The mystery plot and the Italian idyl both play supporting roles in this fairy tale for grownups.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781538769997
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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