Despite the simple narrative and unpolished art, this is entertaining stuff from an ambitious, energetic author/illustrator.
In Clark’s graphic-novel debut, superpowered teens protect the world and battle villains.
A vaccination saves humanity from an enigmatic virus—but at a cost. It also sparks supernatural abilities in people, like 19-year-old Enmanuel Summers and his younger sister, Autumn. While Enmanuel is capable of gravity manipulation, Autumn can manipulate molecules, allowing her to morph anything, including herself. The siblings use their powers for good, like stopping would-be robbers. Offering the occasional helping hand (and sword) is Lynnwood Flores, Enmanuel’s chum and Autumn’s boyfriend. Lynn has the “natural” ability—not derived from the vaccination—of chi manipulation. In the course of the story, the group encounters Montrell Smith, an eventual ally, who manipulates electricity, and Enmanuel becomes smitten with nonsuperpowered Hitomi Takahashi. The chapters unfold as individual adventures, which include minor woes, like going without turkey on Thanksgiving. But the young superheroes’ troubles are usually bigger; they are often the target of any number of villains, from Dr. Technus, a villain in a robot suit, to Fraydel, a fearsome witch. Before long, they’re up against their most formidable foe: a mysterious organization that abducts two of the teens, prompting the others to attempt a perilous rescue. This story’s light, breezy style (consisting predominantly of action scenes) doesn’t come at the cost of character development. Enmanuel, for example, taps into a surprising new ability when someone threatens Hitomi, and Autumn’s morphing into less stable components, like gas, puts her in danger of an accompanying mental instability. Clark’s illustrations resemble sketches more than a finished, refined product, with freehanded panels and a visible lined-paper background (though the lined paper inexplicably disappears in later chapters). While this method appears amateurish, Clark astutely fills his pages with vibrant images and showcases a diverting anime/manga influence with exaggerated eyes and spiky hair. It’s clear by this novel’s end that another volume or two will likely follow.
Despite the simple narrative and unpolished art, this is entertaining stuff from an ambitious, energetic author/illustrator.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5320-5486-0
Page Count: 114
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.
Ten years after her teenage daughter went missing, a mother begins a new relationship only to discover she can't truly move on until she answers lingering questions about the past.
Laurel Mack’s life stopped in many ways the day her 15-year-old daughter, Ellie, left the house to study at the library and never returned. She drifted away from her other two children, Hanna and Jake, and eventually she and her husband, Paul, divorced. Ten years later, Ellie’s remains and her backpack are found, though the police are unable to determine the reasons for her disappearance and death. After Ellie’s funeral, Laurel begins a relationship with Floyd, a man she meets in a cafe. She's disarmed by Floyd’s charm, but when she meets his young daughter, Poppy, Laurel is startled by her resemblance to Ellie. As the novel progresses, Laurel becomes increasingly determined to learn what happened to Ellie, especially after discovering an odd connection between Poppy’s mother and her daughter even as her relationship with Floyd is becoming more serious. Jewell’s (I Found You, 2017, etc.) latest thriller moves at a brisk pace even as she plays with narrative structure: The book is split into three sections, including a first one which alternates chapters between the time of Ellie’s disappearance and the present and a second section that begins as Laurel and Floyd meet. Both of these sections primarily focus on Laurel. In the third section, Jewell alternates narrators and moments in time: The narrator switches to alternating first-person points of view (told by Poppy’s mother and Floyd) interspersed with third-person narration of Ellie’s experiences and Laurel’s discoveries in the present. All of these devices serve to build palpable tension, but the structure also contributes to how deeply disturbing the story becomes. At times, the characters and the emotional core of the events are almost obscured by such quick maneuvering through the weighty plot.
Dark and unsettling, this novel’s end arrives abruptly even as readers are still moving at a breakneck speed.Pub Date: April 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-5464-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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