A thrilling, imaginative, and lurid illustrated novel that lovingly embraces the genre that inspired it.
When he’s saved from an early death by a mad scientist, an orphan takes up the mantle of death in Prohibition-era America.
Imagine Batman’s origin story by way of H.P. Lovecraft and you’ll be well on your way to enjoying this phantasmagorical pulp thriller by Hellboy creator Mignola (Joe Golem and the Drowning City, 2012, etc.) and Sniegoski (The Demonists, 2016, etc.). When we first meet our hero, Bentley Hawthorne, he’s being patched up by his faithful servant, Reginald Pym, after a nasty battle with a mad scientist’s murderous capuchin monkeys—yes, it’s that sort of story. We quickly learn that as a sickly boy, Bentley’s parents committed a supernatural trespass that saved his life but cost their own. Later, the newly hearty Bentley is visited by Roderick (a talking raven, naturally). In a bit ripped from the pages of Edgar Allan Poe, Bentley is to become an avatar of death itself. “It will be your purpose...your job, to avenge those who have had their lives brutally torn away,” says the bird. To that end, Bentley has taken up the visage of Grim Death, a pistol-wielding, skull-masked superhero cast in the pulpy tradition of throwbacks like Doc Savage and The Shadow. Add in sparky reporter Gwendolyn Marks and a host of campy villains and we’re a few strokes away from a Frank Miller movie. Grim Death is pitted, among other challenges, against a family of cannibals and a “Circus of Unearthly Wonderment” led by the evil Doctor Nocturne. But the heart of the story finds Bentley charged with finding the killer of Tianna Hoops, a murdered trapeze artist whose ghost implores Bentley to free her wrongly imprisoned paramour, Bill Tuttle, now on death row. If you’re wondering if this is the title criminal, it is, and the book makes good on its promise.
A thrilling, imaginative, and lurid illustrated novel that lovingly embraces the genre that inspired it.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-07768-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A budding romance and an age-old motive combine in a heartwarming cozy.
A small-town businesswoman’s sleuthing marks her for death.
Winona Mae Montgomery saved her Granny Smythe’s apple orchard from ruin by building a thriving cider and event business in Blossom Valley, West Virginia. She’s receiving praise, and a hefty check, for throwing together a fabulous wedding reception for Elsie Sawyer and Jack Warren when the party's happy mood turns sour. The bride seems angry, the groom tipsy, and Winnie’s heartbreaking ex-boyfriend Hank Donovan’s interested in making out with a bridesmaid. But these minor glitches pale when the groom is found dead under the truck with "Just Married" on the window after having had words with Hank. Winnie developed a relationship with Sheriff Colton Wise in her last brush with murder (Apple Cider Slaying, 2019). Although he’s willing to listen to her ideas, he warns her off the case, a warning she ignores since Hank is a prime suspect. The best man, Aaron, had the key to the truck, but even after it turns up in the visor, Winnie keeps him on her list of suspects, along with the bride and the bridesmaid, who’s made herself scarce. After Hank’s sister, Gina, begs Winnie for help, they discover a bunch of flirty emails from Sarah Bear Twenty-two, who turns out to be the elusive bridesmaid. When Colton tells Winnie that mud found in her house contains mushrooms, she realizes that it may have been left by Hank, who has an old cabin in the woods, and she enlists her best friend, park ranger Dot, to help her find it. Soon after they find camping gear inside the cabin that Hank probably took from Winnie’s house, someone starts shooting at them, and they must run for their lives. Winnie realizes that she must find out a lot more about the bride and groom before she can possibly understand who murdered Jack and is willing to kill again to keep a secret.
A budding romance and an age-old motive combine in a heartwarming cozy.Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2349-9
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Rabbit-obsessed readers (hands, please? anyone?) will love the dedication to all things bunny. Others may find themselves...
A bunny-loving farmer hopes that her telepathic connection to her pet rabbit can help her solve another murder.
Jules Bridge has dedicated her life to the care of rabbits. Not only does she own and operate Fur Bridge Farm, a venue dedicated to bunnies, but she has a number of rescue rabbits, an onsite vet, rabbit fur spinning classes, and even a few pet rabbits of her own. Sharing her love of the species is Jules’ calling, and it’s all in a day’s work when she celebrates young Adrian Richland’s birthday party with some rabbit show and tell. Jules is so focused on all things rabbit that it’s a shock to the system when the party erupts in human drama. Not only does Jules hear Adrian’s mother, Carina, arguing with guest Evelyn Montgomery, but later in the party, Evelyn is murdered, leaving Carina as the prime suspect. Carina approaches Jules about looking into who offed Evelyn, not only to save her own hide, but also because Jules has dipped her toe into investigating in the past (Left Fur Dead, 2019) and struck up a friendship with Sheriff Jack Carver to boot. Carina doesn’t know that Jules has a furry assistant who’s sure to make her investigation a success. Bun, the black-and-white rabbit who’s Jules’ favorite pet, communicates with her telepathically, and he quickly lets Jules know that he’s eager to help her dig into Evelyn’s murder. The investigation the duo launch into Evelyn’s dealings with a local rabbit show reveal that the dead woman was a mean, nasty person with too many enemies to count. Which candidates finally summoned the gall to end Evelyn’s life?
Rabbit-obsessed readers (hands, please? anyone?) will love the dedication to all things bunny. Others may find themselves out in the cold.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2058-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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