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: today
ISBN: 9781960578785
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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