A dazzling, reality-bending mix of cyber-future paranoia and occult demonology.
In a world where humanity is confined to a vintage shopping mall staffed by robots, a disconsolate gamer pines for his missing pregnant girlfriend.
In this SF/fantasy graphic novel from the team of Vaho (script) and Flores (art), Xero is a videogame and music enthusiast languishing in the doldrums since the disappearance of his pregnant girlfriend, Donna. Her vanishing is hardly the strangest element of the story: Xero—and the rest of society—dwell in a state of perpetual consumerist amnesia, lodged in a vast, 1980s-style mall maintained by robots. Nobody seems to remember how they got there, and even Donna is a fuzzy recollection (“Life’s a movie and I’m a reel of film,” the confused Xero reflects). Xero crosses paths with a fearsome, sexy warrior who reveals to him the wasteland of Earth’s surface. It seems that a clan of techno-tycoons called the Rorks (think Ayn Rand) once dominated the planet, opposed by a rebellion led by rock-music idol Francis Faust, a guy with strong fixations on the pop-culture ephemera of the 1970s and ’80s. Though outgunned, Francis found some diabolical allies in the supernatural world, and the resulting stalemate has resulted in the present dystopia. The Rorks, taking post-human android-superhero forms, have evacuated to space as what’s left of mankind persists in blind ignorance in the kitschy mall-world concocted according to the magical Francis’ aesthetics. Where does Xero fit into all this? He seems to be a mostly ordinary, unimpressive, and bewildered guy, not a messiah figure. (But that’s where Donna fits in...) The narrative rapidly downloads a lot of head-spinning exposition, but the story manages to remain relatable. Fans of weird fiction and followers of alt-world Japanese anime/manga will find much to appreciate here. Flores, whose work exhibits a strong Winsor McCay influence, has designed tarot card decks, and that symbolism is on display here, as are a number of pop-culture visual quotes, familiar song lyrics, and examples of girly art. The yesteryear mall-rat culture takeoffs are not as overdone and heavy-handed as they could have been, and you don’t need a tarot reading to predict that sequels lie beyond the open ending.
A dazzling, reality-bending mix of cyber-future paranoia and occult demonology.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781545812662
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
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