Colorful, often shady characters propel this diverting mystery.
In Douek’s graphic novel, a celebrity couple who’ve already lost a child make headlines when their daughter goes missing.
Fourteen years ago, Andrew and Emma Walker’s young daughter Mandy vanished, only to tragically turn up murdered. Since then, media coverage has made the Walkers famous. Now they star in a reality TV show called Second Chancesthat focuses on the couple as they raise their other girl, Meghan. On the morning of her 6th birthday, Meghan is missing; an open window in her room suggests another abduction. The Walkers quickly point fingers at Nina Hendrik, a journalist who had accused them of exploiting Mandy’s murder, leading to a defamation suit that wrecked her career. Nina starts looking into the old case with LAPD Detective Raul Martinez, who, while trying to apprehend Mandy’s killer all those years ago, fatally shot the culprit. That man didn’t work alone, Nina believes, and she compiles a list of potential accomplices. (“Three solid suspects. None of them the poor schmuck you put six bullets into.”) Meanwhile, the Walkers get a phone call from Meghan’s kidnapper, who makes an unusual demand if they want to see their daughter again. Douek’s rich characterization generates tension—quite a few characters seem dubious, as if they’re hiding something. The story comes in pieces, shining a light on characters’ past involvement in the 14-year-old case as the present-day investigation gradually unravels. This approach leads to a handful of plot turns that, while entertaining, are mostly predictable—but that certainly doesn’t dilute the scathing examination of social media personas. (Are the Walkers being their true selves on their show? How much do they allow the public to see?) The standout among a robust cast is whip-smart Detective Connors, the scene-stealing lead investigator of Meghan’s abduction. Illustrator Olson excels at depicting the surroundings, from an impressively detailed stand of woods to deep-black shadows in darkened rooms to the memorable, lightly toned flashbacks.
Colorful, often shady characters propel this diverting mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781952303753
Page Count: 82
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times...
A bland, uninspired graphic adaptation of the Bard’s renowned love story.
Using modern language, McDonald spins the well-known tale of the two young, unrequited lovers. Set against Nagar’s at-times oddly psychedelic-tinged backgrounds of cool blues and purples, the mood is strange, and the overall ambiance of the story markedly absent. Appealing to what could only be a high-interest/low–reading level audience, McDonald falls short of the mark. He explains a scene in an open-air tavern with a footnote—“a place where people gather to drink”—but he declines to offer definitions for more difficult words, such as “dirges.” While the adaptation does follow the foundation of the play, the contemporary language offers nothing; cringeworthy lines include Benvolio saying to Romeo at the party where he first meets Juliet, “Let’s go. It’s best to leave now, while the party’s in full swing.” Nagar’s faces swirl between dishwater and grotesque, adding another layer of lost passion in a story that should boil with romantic intensity. Each page number is enclosed in a little red heart; while the object of this little nuance is obvious, it’s also unpleasantly saccharine. Notes after the story include such edifying tidbits about Taylor Swift and “ ‘Wow’ dialogs from the play” (which culls out the famous quotes).Pub Date: May 10, 2011
ISBN: 978-93-80028-58-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
Immensely enjoyable.
The debut graphic novel from Mohamed presents a modern Egypt full of magical realism where wishes have been industrialized and heavily regulated.
The story opens with a televised public service announcement from the General Committee of Wish Supervision and Licensing about the dangers of “third-class wishes”—wishes that come in soda cans and tend to backfire on wishers who aren’t specific enough (like a wish to lose weight resulting in limbs falling from the wisher’s body). Thus begins a brilliant play among magic, the mundane, and bureaucracy that centers around a newsstand kiosk where a devout Muslim is trying to unload the three “first-class wishes” (contained in elegant glass bottles and properly licensed by the government) that have come into his possession, since he believes his religion forbids him to use them. As he gradually unloads the first-class wishes on a poor, regretful widow (who then runs afoul of authorities determined to manipulate her out of her valuable commodity) and a university student who seeks a possibly magical solution to their mental health crisis (but struggles with whether a wish to always be happy might have unintended consequences), interstitials give infographic histories of wishes, showing how the Western wish-industrial complex has exploited the countries where wishes are mined (largely in the Middle East). The book is exceptionally imaginative while also being wonderfully grounded in touching human relationships, existential quandaries, and familiar geopolitical and socio-economic dynamics. Mohamed’s art balances perfectly between cartoon and realism, powerfully conveying emotions, and her strong, clean lines gorgeously depict everything from an anguished face to an ornate bottle. Charts and graphs nicely break up the reading experience while also concisely building this larger world of everyday wishes. Mohamed has a great sense of humor, which comes out in footnotes and casual asides throughout.
Immensely enjoyable.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-524-74841-8
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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