“Moon Knight” Omnibus Vol. 1 by various artists and writers (Part 1 of 2)

 

(oversized hb; 2020: graphic novel. Collects Werewolf By Night #32-33, Marvel Spotlight #28-29, Defenders #47-50, Spectacular Spider-Mani #22-23, Marvel Two-in-One #52, Moon Knight #1-20, and material from Defenders #51, Hulk! magazine #11-15, 17-18 and 20, Marvel Preview #21 and Amazing Spider-Man #220.)

 

From the inside flap

“Soldier of fortune Marc Spector. Millionaire playboy Steven Grant. Taxi driver Jake Lockley. All three are aspects of the same man; together, they are Moon Knight! Spector’s fighting skills, Grant’s resources and Lockley’s street smarts combine in the form of Marvel’s strangest vigilante—aided by his loyal pilot, Frenchie, and Marlene, the woman with whom he shares all his lives.

“Meet him in the pages of Werewolf By Night, where he is hired by the shadowy Committee to hunt the lycanthropic Jack Russell. His crescent cape soon glides him across the Marvel Universe as he fights alongside the dynamic Defenders, tussles with the Thing and shares the first of many encounters with Spider-Man. But Moon Knight is no ordinary costumed crimefighter, and his co-creator Doug Moench showed exactly why in the Hulk! magazine, of all places—beginning a character-defining collaboration with superstar-in-the-making Bill Sienkowicz.

“Moench and Sienkowicz began building the strangest rogues’ gallery in comics, pitting their silver-clad vigilante against lethal threats, including Lupinar the Wolf, the Cobra and the haunting Hatchet Man. Then, as Moench and Sienkowicz continued the adventures in the first Moon Knight title, they explored Spector’s past to reveal his true origin, his bitter rivalry with the bloodthirsty Bushman and his uncanny connection with Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon! From there, they continued to mix super-heroics with the supernatural, plunging Moon Knight deep into New York’s darkest corners and introducing evermore bizarre adversaries, such Arsenal, the one-man army; the nightmarish Morpheus and Stained Class Scarlet, the nun with a crossbow!”

 

Overall review

Caveat: (possible) minor spoilers in review. Part 2 of review is here.

Moon Knight is one of the stranger comic book anti-heroes with his dissociative disorder as well as his often out-there villains, creepy and street-gritty storylines and settings (usually New York City), and overall unsettling feel and endings—the overall feel is one of somewhere between for mature audiences and teen friendly comics (if they are into dark stuff), leaning more toward pulpy for mature audiences fare. On occasion, this grittiness lent itself to insensitive language (the rare use of the words “pansy” and “slut”), but given the context of their usage, it makes sense. His guest appearances are good introductions to Moon Knight [MK], and the series was an excellent and crazy-in-tone expansion on his character and the characters surrounding him.

Moon Knight’s original run went from 1975 to 1984; his second run went from 1985 to 1990.

Worth owning, this, if you like your super-heroics gritty, dark, disturbing and sometimes hallucinogenic.

 

Review, issue by issue

Werewolf By Night: “The Stalker Called Moon Knight” (#32): While Buck Cowan—seriously injured in issue 31 of Werewolf—fights for his life in a L.A. hospital, Jack Russell, moon-transformed, fights for his life after The Committee hires a mercenary (Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight) to bring Jack Russell, in werewolf form, to them. In Haiti, Raymond Coker (last issue seen in issue 21) gets bad news from “Jeesal of de thousand years”.

 

Werewolf By Night: “Wolf-Beast vs. Moon Knight” (#33): Jack Russell’s full-moon battle with Moon Knight continues. L.A. detective Vic Northrup lands in Haiti, continuing his search for Raymond Coker, who tells “Jeesela of de thousand years” about an undead threat that killed his aunt and uncle “in a small village north of Mirebalais” and terrorized his seven-year-old cousin (Banita).

 

Marvel Spotlight: “The Crushing Conquer-Lord!” (#28): After foiling a Watergate-style break-in, Moon Knight [MK] tangles with theft architect (Mr. Quinn, aka Conquer-Lord, a pointy-headed, orange-and-blue spandex-wearing villain). Cliffhanger finish to this issue.

 

Marvel Spotlight: “The Deadly Gambit of Conquer-Lord!” (#29): MK, as Steven Grant, discovers that his new valet (the effeminate Merkins), is Quinn/Conquer-Lord’s spy. MK engages in a bizarre, deadly chess match to save Marlene (Grant’s live-in girlfriend) from being eaten by crocodiles, while the mayor, shot by Conquer-Lord in the previous issue, is rushed to the hospital.

Caveat: Some readers, especially sensitive to sexual preference slurs—remember, this issue came out in August 1976, before political correctness—might take offense to Grant/M.K.’s use of the word “pansy”.

 

The Defenders: “Night Moves!” (#47): Misperceptions between key characters (MK, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.) occur when Fury tries to kidnap Frank Norriss, a man with vital information.

One of the Defenders, Hellcat, visits the Avengers’ headquarters, where Wonder Man—no longer an Avenger—searches their database for vital information. Hellcat and Wonder Man briefly fight. Other notable characters in this issue: Valkyrie, The Hulk, and Nighthawk.

 

The Defenders: “Who Remembers Scorpio? Part One: Sinister Savior!” (#48): Wonder Man, Valkyrie, Hellcat and Moon Knight turn Jack Norriss over to Nick Fury, unaware that Fury is under the sway of Scorpio.

Scorpio, within his “Zodiac Chamber, the Theater of Genetic”—a wild-looking lab—hopes to punish mankind and cleanse the natural world. Meanwhile, MK, trapped in Scorpio’s drowning pit, must find a way out. Effective twist-finish in this issue.

 

The Defenders: “Who Remembers Scorpio? Part Two: Rampage” (#49): In order to draw a recalcitrant Hulk to Scorpio’s lab in New Jersey, where they hope to stop Scorpio’s lab-created army, Valkyrie, Hellcat and MK engage in skirmish-and-run tactics.

In his lab, Scorpio tells Jack Norriss about Scorpio’s relationship with brother (Nick Fury), whom he hates. All the while, Scorpio preps to unleash havoc on mankind.

 

The Defenders: “Who Remembers Scorpio? Part Three: Scorpio Must Die!” (#50): The gathered Defenders and MK wage all-out war with Scorpio and his lab-created Zodiac army.

Scorpio is a quirky-weird character, obsessed with beer (Schlitz) and hanging out with is super-human fighters; he’s also obsessed with his ambivalent relationship with his brother, Nick Fury LMD. This is an above-average, especially fun issue.

 

Spectacular Spider-Man: “By the Light of the Silvery Moon!” (#22): The “revitalized” (according to MK) Maggia gangsters target him—they know his secret identity, thanks to their access to Conquer Lord’s file (Marvel Premiere #28 and 29). While MK thwarts a Maggia trap and Gena’s diner (The Other Place), Spider-Man—mistaking MK’s intentions—fights him. Surprise, to-be-continued ending to this one, with fun, multiple-character foreshadowing and development in this tightly penned issue.

 

Spectacular Spider-Man: “Guess Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb!” (#23): Cyclone, an assassin with the ability to create man-sized, hurricane-force wind, is hired by the Maggia to kill MK and Spider-Man. (Cyclone, seeking revenge on Spider-Man, was recently sprung from prison by his boss (“the big M”) after the events of Amazing Spider-Man issues #143-44, whose crimes in those issues landed him there in the first place.

 

Marvel Two-in-One: “A Little Knight Music!” (#52): A red-costumed, ex-CIA brainwasher (Crossfire, aka William Cross) tries to use his foul talents on The Thing (aka Ben Grimm), with MK also caught up in Crossfire’s violent scheme: to end the spread—and lives of—superheroes.

 

The Hulk!: “Graven Image of Death” (#11): MK’s investigation into a series of street murders draws him and Marlene Grant into a mystery involving a key, possibly erstwhile murderers and greed. Cliff hanger finish to this one.

 

The Hulk!: “Embassy of Fear!” (#12): Continuation of The Hulk #11. MK, also utilizing his Steve Grant/millionaire persona, and Marlene (his personal secretary-lover) take on a murderous, foul-mouthed museum curator (Fenton Crane), a Chilean U.N. ambassador (Alfonse Leroux) and their security forces—all of whom are looking for a priceless jade statuette of Horus.

 

The Hulk!: “The Big Blackmail!” (#13): Informed by Conquer Lord’s in-depth file on MK and his various personas, a wealthy swordsman “Lupinar. . . the Wolf!” (crime lord) and one of his info men (Smelt) prepare to battle MK.

Meanwhile, MK’s investigation of recent murders—begun with reporter Jim Poulhaus’s violent demise in The Hulk! #11—twists into a thwart-a-nuclear-capable-terrorist situation, forcing MK to resurrect his Marc Spector, merc-for-hire persona.

Artwork in this issue is uneven, distracts from the story.

 

The Hulk!: “Countdown to Dark” (#14): The story arc begun in The Hulk! #11 concludes.

Marc Spector (aka MK) battles an impostor MK during a plutonium/terrorist heist while Lupinar, afflicted with “hypertrichosis—the ‘hirsute disease,’” and mastermind of the heist (as well as a nuclear ransom-threat to NYC), preps for his meeting with the real MK.

Frenchie tries to contact N.E.S.T. (Nuclear Emergency Research Team) about the location of the about-to-blow terrorist nuke. Marlene shows a lot of skin (again), more than usual.

As with the previous issue, the artwork is spotty, distracting in a bad way. Aside from that nit, solid issue.

 

The Hulk!: “An Eclipse, Waxing”/”An Eclipse, Waning” (#15): MK and the Hulk, in passing, tangle with three bungling criminals during a full moon on an eccentric millionaire’s (name: Jase) estate. Fun, standalone issue.

 

The Hulk!: “Nights Born Ten years Gone—Part I” (#17): A nurse-slaughtering, Halloween mask-wearing madman (The Hatchet-Man) prowls benighted NYC—could he be Marc Spector’s traitorous, gone-insane ex-merc partner, Rand, from a decade ago?

MK and Marlene, the latter nurse uniform-clad bait for Hatchet-Man, set a trap for the killer, with tragic results.There’s some seriously specious/circumstantial logic going on in this first-chapter story, especially on Steven Grant/MK’s part—not one of the better Hulk!/MK stories thus far.

 

The Hulk!: “Shadows in the City—Part II” (#18): With Marlene seriously injured by the Hatchet-Man (previous issue), MK continues stalking and fighting the increasingly dangerous madman, revealed to be Randall (“Rand”) Spector, Marc’s merc-serial killer brother. This issue, story-wise, is an improvement on the previous issue.

 

The Hulk!: “A Long Way to Dawn” (#20): MK, still reeling from the events of the past night*^—Marlene getting shot and stabbed, battling his now-dead brother (Randall Spector, aka Hatchet-Man)—waits through the metropolis-prowling night to see if Marlene will pull through at the hospital. Effectively pensive, tender, and memorable finish to the tri-part Hatchet-Man story arc.

          [*^shown in Hulk! issues 17 and 18]

 

Marvel Preview: “Moon Knight—The Mind Thieves”/”Vipers” (#21): The corpse of Amos Lardner, a former CIA colleague, is delivered to Steven Grant’s mansion, sending Grant/Spector/MK on a mission to find out what’s going on and to stop a mind control experiment (“Operation: Cobra”), their aim to create remote control assassins.

Accompanying MK are his sexy secretary/lover (Marlene, often seen with little clothes or mostly nude) and Frenchy, his right-hand man/helicopter pilot.

The artwork (racy when Marlene is present) and themes are a bit mature for children, but it’s entertaining and intriguing—that is to say, good.

In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd

 

(hb; 1966)

From the back cover

“Shepherd’s wildly witty reunion with his Indiana hometown, disproves the adage ‘You can never go back.’ Bending the ear of Flick, his childhood buddy—now local bartender—Shepherd recalls passionately his genuine Red Ryder BB gun, adolescent failure in the arms of girls, and relives a fishing story of man against fish. From pop art to The World’s Fair, the subjects speak with a universal irony and are deeply grounded in American Midwestern life. A wonderfully nostalgic impression of a more innocent era when life was good, fun was clean, and station wagons roamed the earth. For many years Jean Shepherd was a cult radio and cabaret personality in New York City, and the creator of the popular film A Christmas Story, which is based in part on this book and has become a holiday tradition on the Turner Network.”

 

Review

Warm, witty, mixing childhood wonder with brief adult-world (but still charming) cynicism, this chatty, sometimes over-the-top revisiting-your-small-town back and forth between past and present is a good, vivid read, with some zinger lines in the mix. Worth reading, this.

Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout

 

(pb; 1934: first book in the forty-six-book Nero Wolfe detective series)

From the back cover

“Fer-de-lance. As any herpetologist will tell you, the fer-de-lance is among the most dreaded snakes known to man. When someone makes a present of one to Nero Wolfe. Archie Goodwin knows he’s getting dreadfully close to solving the devilishly clever murders of an immigrant and a college president. As for Wolfe, he’s playing snake charmer in a case with more twists than an anaconda—whistling a seductive tune he hopes will catch a killer who’s still got poison in his heart.”

 

Review

Fer-de-Lance is often charming (if sometimes misogynistic), funny and sometimes maddening (the corpulent, comfort-ruled Wolfe works at his own pace, and won’t be rushed, even when situations dictate haste)—it’s also consistently interesting, bordering on suspenseful (especially when the plot comes down to the wire), with eccentric Nero Wolfe and often-sarcastic, lady’s-man narrator Archie Goodwin’s relationship at the heart of the action. This is a good, hard-to-set-down read, and a promising introduction—with a dark, mercenary, character-true finish—to Stout’s Nero-based seventy-four works (encompassing thirty-three novels and forty-one novellas and short stories). Followed by The League of Frightened Men.

Because the Night by James Ellroy

 

(pb; 1984: second book in the Lloyd Hopkins/L.A. Noir trilogy)

From the back cover

“A botched liquor store heist leaves three grisly dead. A hero cop is missing. Nobody could see a pattern in these two stray bits of information—no one except Detective Sergeant Lloyd Hopkins, a brilliant and disturbed L.A. cop with an obsessive desire to protect the innocent. To him they lead to one horrifying conclusion—a killer is on the loose and preying on his city. From the master of L.A. noir comes this beautiful and brutal tale of a cop and a master criminal squared off in a demented death match.”

 

Review

This edited review was originally published on this site on October 4, 2006. That review has since been deleted.

Set shortly after the events of Blood on the Moon, Hopkins begins investigating the disappearance of a decorated (later unfairly disgraced) cop, Jacob “Jungle Jack” Herzog, whose secret, questionable affiliations lead Hopkins to a psychiatrist and cult leader (Dr. John “The Night Tripper” Havilland) whose followers are committing seemingly crazy murders at his behest. It’s mano a mano time as the two driven juggernauts clash in an increasingly intense who’s-crazier-than-the-other showdown. Caught between them is Linda Wilhite, a former patient and Hopkins’s lover, her life—of course—on the immediate line.

Because, with its fully fleshed key characters, excellent pacing and edgy-like-Blood tone, shows Hopkins acting in a slightly more reasonable capacity, his Blood troubles in his rearview mirror. He still hopes to get his wife (Janice) and two daughters (Penny, aka “Penguin,” and Caroline) back, but he more balanced, even as he and Havilland hurl toward each other like explosive-carrying trains. Excellent, character-progressive sequel, this, followed by Suicide Hill.

Runner by Thomas Perry

(hb; 2009 – sixth book in the Jane Whitefield series)

From the inside flap

“After a nine-year absence, the fiercely resourceful Native American guide Jane Whitefield is back. . .

“For more than a decade, Jane pursued her unusual profession: ‘I’m a guide. . . I show people how to go from places where somebody is trying to kill them to other places where nobody is.’ Then she promised her husband she would never work again, and settled to live a happy, quiet life as the wife of a surgeon in Amherst, New York. But when a bomb goes off in the middle of a hospital fundraiser, Jane finds herself face to face with the cause of the explosion: a young pregnant girl who has been tracked across the country by a team of hired hunters. That night, regardless of what she wants or the vow she’s made to her husband, Jane must come back to transform one more victim into a runner. And her quest for safety sets in motion a mission that will be either a rescue operation—or a chance for revenge.”

 

Review

Runner takes place several years after the events of Blood Money. In the now, a hit team bombs the hospital where her husband, Carey McKinnon, works—they do this to snatch an on-the-run, older and pregnant teenager (Christine Monahan) who’s fleeing her ex-lover/former employer (Richard Beale) who’s into some shady dealings. Christine is there, trying to engage Jane’s services, which might require some technological updating.

Keeping with previous Jane Whitefield entries, there’s plenty of hateable bad guys, great character development (new and returning characters), action, an engaging story and solid pacing, as well as enough variation in its structure and storytelling to offset it, make it stand out from earlier Whitefield novels. Worth owning, this.

Followed by Poison Flower.

Blood on the Moon by James Ellroy

 

(pb; 1984: Book One of the L.A. Noir/Harold Lloyd trilogy) 

From the inside flap

“Detective Sergeant Lloyd Hopkins can’t stand music, or any loud sounds. He’s got a beautiful wife, but he can’t get enough of other women. And instead of bedtime stories, he regales his daughters with bloody crime stories. He’s a thinking man’s cop with a dark past and an obsessive drive to hunt down monsters who prey on the innocent.

“Now there’s something haunting him. He sees a connection in a series of increasingly gruesome murders of women committed over a period of twenty years. Hopkins will dump all the rules and risk his career to make the final link and get the killer.”

Review

This edited review was originally published this site on September 20, 2006. That review has since been deleted.

Lloyd Hopkins, a womanizing, high-strung supercop who's turned his traumas into an unhinged and noble quest to “protect innocence,” stumbles onto the bloody work of a rhyme-minded mass murderer. The victims are almost always women; the killings are sexual, reflecting, in a warped/inverse doppelgänger way, Lloyd's obsessive notions about women.

Racism, sacrifice, murder, redemption, rape and bad poetry abound here, theme- and otherwise. This politically incorrect novel is excellent, memorable, and often coarse. Author Ellroy isn't trying to sell us prettiness; he's showing us blunt, surly veracities.

Followed by Because the Night.

Those who’ve seen the below film version, Cop (1988), should note that the novel has a considerably different ending than the novel. Even if you ‘ve seen the film, the book is a raw, worthwhile and stunning work, one worth reading.

#

A film version of Blood on the Moon, retitled Cop, was released stateside in March 1988.
James B. Harris scripted and directed it.

James Woods played Lloyd Hopkins. Lesley Ann Warren played Kathleen McCarthy. Charles Durning played Arthur “Dutch” Peltz. Charles Haid played Delbert “Whitey” Haines. Raymond J. Barry played Captain Fred Gaffney. Randi Brooks played Joanie Pratt.

 

Edge by Koji Suzuki

 

(hb; 2012. Translated from the Japanese into English by Camellia Nieh and Jonathan Lloyd-Davies.)

From the inside flap

“When a team of American scientists tests a new computer hardware by calculating the value of Pi into the deep decimals, the figures begin to repeat a pattern where there ought to be none. After older machines of certified reliability give the same result. A seemingly irrational fear sets in. It’s mathematically untenable—unless the physical constants that undergird our universe have altered, ever so slightly.

“Suddenly, on the west coat of the U.S., people start disappearing without a trace. Police and family—when it isn’t the whole family that vanished—don’t have a clue as to why or how. In Japan, too, similar incidents occur, and they seem to have something to do with geological fault lines.

“TV director Hashiba who has latched onto the story, at first in a flippant manner, employing a psychic to investigate the mystery, is forced to recalibrate when the disappearances increase in scale and frequency. What lurks behind them, far from being supernatural, threatens to be natural—a profound disturbance in being itself. Joining him on his quest for the devastating answer is his lover Saeko, whose millionaire publisher father cryptically left her behind when she was still young.

“Eerie developments build up to a mind trip of a crescendo in this tale of quantum horror.”

 

Review

Set in 2012, Edge is a complex, hybrid genre (science fiction, mystery, with a touch of existential horror) work with equally multilayered characters who sometimes, in good way, surprise, just like the well-foreshadowed twists in this cosmic-horrific and quiet-apocalypse read.  While the science fact, spouted in brief intervals throughout Edge, is a bit deep, prolonged and possibly dizzying for the casual reader, it elevates the story and deepens the sorrow, horror, and dark delight experienced by the characters (and hopefully readers). Like Suzuki’s Ringu (English translation: Ring), Edge possesses the same chilly, steady-build pacing mood and atmosphere of the Ringu. It, like Ringu, also is a landmark work, one that haunts (at least this reader) while it informs and entertains. Worth owning, this.

The Brotherhood of the Rose by David Morrell

 

(pb; 1984: first book in the Abelard Sanction quadrilogy)

From the back cover

“They were orphans, Chris and Saul—raised in a Philadelphia school for boys, bonded by friendship, and devoted to a mysterious man called Eliot.

“He visited them and brought them candy.

“He treated them like sons.

“He trained them to be assassins.

“Now he is trying desperately to have them killed.”

 

Review

Brotherhood is an excellent, hard-to-set-down thriller with characters worth rooting for (from the get-go), character-based action (with explanations of how characters set traps and why they fight the way they fight), and an all-around tautly penned storyline—what makes Brotherhood stand out from its typical-genre set-up is Morrell’s detailed-but-not-yawnable explanations of fighting styles, strategies and mindsets as well as how characters set traps. This is a great read, one of the best conspiracy/violence novels I’ve read in a long while, a promising start to a quadrilogy (two novels and a short story). Followed by The Fraternity of the Stone.

Fun fact: according to the Internet, David Morrell said Eliot is “based a real CIA counter-espionage master, James Jesus Angleton”.

#

The resulting two-part television/NBC miniseries, Brotherhood of the Rose, aired on January 22-23, 1989. Gy Waldron wrote its screenplay; Marvin J. Chomsky directed it.

Peter Strauss played Saul Grisman, aka Romulus. David Morse played Chris Killmoonie, aka Remus. Robert Mitchum played John Eliot. Connie Selleca played Erika Bernstein, Saul’s ex-lover and Mossad agent. M. Emmet Walsh played the alcoholic former agent Hardy.

Moon-Death by Rick Hautala

 

(pb; 1980)

From the back cover

“Cooper Falls is a small, quiet New Hampshire town, the kind you’d miss if you blinked an eye. But when darkness falls and the full moon rises, an uneasy feeling filters through the air; an unnerving foreboding that causes the skin to prickle and the body to tense.

“Because faintly from across the water, a low moaning howl begins to rise and a massive, black shadow with burning green eyes stalks the night. It is part man, part beast—a victim of the past, a creature of evil—who hungers for flesh, thirsts for blood and lives to kill again. . . again and again and again. . .”

 

 

Review

Fans of Stephen King and his creative ilk, 1950s-1970s Hammer films, sensualized Satanism and witchcraft, and small-town horror novels are the target audience of this well-written, steady-pace terror tale with multilayered characterization (even if the lead characters, Bob Wentworth and Lisa Carter, have a weird, constantly shouting at each other vibe between them, early on in their budding, melodramatic romantic relationship—one that does not bode well for realistic longevity). The ending is fun, memorable, the suitable finish for a good entry in the small-town horror subgenre. Worth owning, this.

Return of the Living Dead by John Russo

 

(pb; 1978: sequel to Night of the Living Dead; prequel to Escape from the Living Dead)

 

Review

This book should not to be confused with the novelization of the 1985 horror comedy The Return of the Living Dead, for which Russo co-wrote the original screenplay—which was noticeably rewritten as a punk comedy later. John Russo also wrote the movie adaptation of the 1985 film, which is NOT this book.

Russo, co-screenwriter of the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead and its 1974 novel counterpart of the same name, keeps it raw, gory, and violent as the original film/novel, with posse-leading Sheriff Conan McClellan (who famously said “They’re dead. . . they’re all messed up” in Night) investigating what appears to be a fresh zombie outbreak in his county—it’s been ten years since the original undead attacks, something that haunts McClellan, who’s reluctant to publicly acknowledge this new zombie uprising. Still, he’s leading a new posse of thirty or forty men to put down this new spate of terror.

Meanwhile, taciturn farmer Bert Miller and his three daughters (Sue Ellen, Ann, and Karen—the latter of whom is pregnant) are four of the many people who also remember that pivotal event ten years ago and put spikes in the heads of the dead. When he lets three lawmen with two suspects in tow into their house, it might not be the best decision he makes.

As with his other works, Russo’s characters’ histories, motivations and personalities are sketched out throughout the book—thereby keeping their characters relatable, without cluttering the flow of the stark, action-oriented pacing of his storyline and, at the same time, maintaining Return’s palpable tension, effective gore, and stark, disturbing nothing and nobody is safe vibe. This is not a read for sensitive readers who need to know what the characters’ agendas and politics are or need their characters’ histories/emotions spelled out for them.

Was it the crashed Venus probe—also mentioned in passing in Night—or a weird energizing cancer spreading among the dead? It doesn’t matter for those in this tale; what matters is stopping the new uprising, something McClellan and, elsewhere, police officers Carl Martinelli and Dave Benton are keen on.  

Return, like Night, is about fear, violence, misunderstandings, and dark humanity, with touches of grim humor and an unsettling finish spicing up this blunt, sometimes horrific action read.

Rogues of Edomia by J.M. Kind

 

(pb; 2023: third novel in the Edomia series; aka Rogues of Edomia: Tales from the Edomian Mythos (Book 3))

From the back cover

“Forced against his will to take a risky job with scant hope of reward, diminutive swindler Drogn the Magnificent has little to rely on save his own uniquely twisted set of wits. Drawing on a shallow wellspring of dubious talent, the fast-talking dwarf must find a way to convince a brazen would-be queen to give up her most cherished ambitions: It’s either that or Drogn’s head when Svrosh, the ruthless Serpent-Prince, demands his pound of flesh.

“Architect of the coup that marked the falloff Taugwadeth, the traitorous Stethine k’ Flerion is holed up with her henchmen in the fortress-like Library of Rvnshrah. Now Drogn and his companions must find a way to infiltrate the citadel, discover the location of a priceless book of ancient lore, and get close enough to Stethine to administer a dose of numbing spider venom, the better to deliver her into the vile Prince-Regent’s clutches. Along with Vasto the giant (Svrosh’s musclebound enforcer), stolid farmboy Bymno, two-headed scholar-bird Klevix-Wrder, and lovely outworlder Gemma (a refugee from Medieval Scotland where she was once accused of witchcraft), Drogn will face more than his share of hardships and horrors, wonders, perils, and galling inconvenience in pursuit of liberty, respect, and his own dreamed-of life of ease.”

Review

Rogues, a relatively short and light Edomia novel, is an entertaining, erudite and straightforward tale, a side-work that serves as a bridge to the forthcoming Empires of Edomia—Rogues maintains the themes, engaging characters and feel of the previous Edomia books while being less plot- and character-intricate (it helps that the first two books did the heavy lifting of being full-on world-builders), making Rogues lighter on its story-telling feet. Excellent series for those who like fantasy genre brains, brawn, humor and a touch of sex, a book worth owning and revisiting (re-reading) at a later date, when all the books are published.

The Successful Novelist by David Morrell

 

(pb; 2008: nonfiction)

From the back cover

“David Morrell, bestselling author of First Blood, The Brotherhood of the Rose and The Fifth Profession, distlls four decades of writing experience and publishing experience into this single masterwork of advice and instruction for fiction writers looking to make it big in the publishing world.

“With advice proven to create successful novels, Morrell teaches you everything you need to know about: Plot, Character, Research, Structure, Viewpoint, Description, Dialogue, The business of publishing, and much more.”

 

Review

Successful is one of the best books I’ve read on novel writing, branding one’s work,  juggling life and work, and the financial end of one’s work after it’s reached a multimedia platform-level. Whether or not your writing habits and notions gel with Morrell’s, Successful is a worthwhile (and excellent) read for the author’s hard-won common sense/dealing-with-rights-and-finances. Great writer’s resource book, one of my all-time favorites in the business-of-writing genre.

Killing Moon by Jo Nesbø

 

(hb; 2022: thirteenth book in the Harry Hole series. Translated from the Norwegian by Seán Kinsella)

From the inside flap

“Two young women are missing, and the only connection is a party they both attended, hosted by a notorious real-estate magnate. When one of the women is found murdered, the police discover an unusual signature left by the killer, giving them reason to suspect he will strike again.

“They’re facing a killer unlike any other. And exposing the killer calls for a detective like no other. But the legendary Harry Hole is gone—fired from the force, drinking himself to oblivion in Los Angeles. It seems that nothing can entice him back to Oslo. Until the woman who saved Harry’s life is put in grave danger, and he has no choice but to return to the city that haunts him and track down the murderer.

“Catching him will push Harry to the limit. He’ll need to bring together a misfit team of former operatives to prevent another killing. But as the evidence mounts, it becomes clear that there is more to the case than meets the eye.”

 

Review

Killing Moon, like Nesbø’s previous Harry Hole novels, is a near-impossible-to-set-down thriller, with effectively foreshadowed twists and shocks, and an ending that introduces a new (possible) deadly player in Hole’s life, a dark-hearted somebody who may pop up in future Hole books—not the first time Nesbø has done this.

Many of Hole’s Oslo-based (ex-)lovers, friends, and frenemies are, again, essential characters in Killing’s wild-ride storyline, spiced with plenty of red herrings (some easily spotted, others not). Part of the attraction of Nesbø’s Hole series is the author’s willingness to irrevocably turn his characters’ worlds upside down and the bordering-on-quirky inclusion of science-based elements as well as a love of music (especially rock ‘n’ roll, particularly David Bowie, Keith Richards, and even, in Katrine Bratt’s case, death metal [hello, early-in-their-career Carcass!]).

This is one of my favorite reads this year, one worth seeking out. Looking forward to the next Hole thriller.

Portus by Jun Abe

 

(pb; 2006: manga)

From the back cover

“Asami’s best friend Chiharu has stopped coming to school and isn’t answering her phone. It seems she’s found something that’s a little more addictive than school Art Club. But when Chiharu mysteriously commits suicide, all Asami finds in her room is a strange video game called Portus. With the help of two of her teachers, Asami hopes to solve the mystery behind her friend’s macabre death and the bizarre game itself. But is she prepared for the horrors of entering the twisted world of Portus, a game where if you lose there is no option to continue? A frightening vision of modern manga horror, Jun Abe’s Portus might put you off video games for the rest of your life.”

 

Review

Portus is a fun, fast-moving, creepy and atmospheric read about a video game with a cursed kokeshi-sourced code “world” within it, one Asami, Chiharu, and others within their social circle may not survive—highly recommended, one-book standalone story for fans of Ringu and Ju-On (with, of course, manga-true/occasional, genre-annoying in the mix). If you can put up with that latter, barely PG-13 feature, Portus might be your perfect manga choice.

Blood Money by Thomas Perry

 

(pb; 1999: fifth book in the Jane Whitefield series)

From the back cover

“Even before she heard the teenager’s story, Jane Whitefield’s Native American intuition whispered danger. For a year, Rita Shelford kept house for an old man in Florida. When he disappeared, other men came and tried to kill her. That was before she knew that her employer was the Mafia’s brilliant moneyman, recently reported murdred. Now the mob suspects Rita of stealing the only record of a shady investment worth billions. Unless Jane, Rita’s last hope, can spirit Rita into a new identity, she’s a dead woman. As the mafioso army converges on airports and hotels, highways and city streets, there seems to be no exit—except form life itself.”

 

Review

Caveat: (possible) element and multi-series tie-in (not plot) spoilers in this review.

Another instant favorite of mine in the Jane Whitefield series, Blood sports a bigger cast, some of them returning characters: George Hawkes, who turned Richard Dahlman onto Jane in The Face Changers, 1998; Zinni, a Mafia soldier/airport watcher in the employ of Richard Delfina, originally seen in an earlier book featuring Nancy Carmody—I forget which one; and Martha McCutcheon, Native American/Oklahoma clan mother who helped Mary Perkins (another Whitefield client) after Perkins was “repeatedly beaten, raped and starved” in Shadow Woman (1997).

Blood’s original characters are just as interesting: Bernie “the Elephant” Lupus, a Mafia moneyman whose memory of their hidden financial accounts and amounts was slipping prior to his death; and Tony Saachi, a retiree who still might be one of the sharpest Mafia dons.

Blood has all the action-oriented, tactical, Native American elements (including meaningful dreams) and character-based thrills of previous Whitefield books, with more of an ensemble cast—many of them of particularly delightful, nasty or both—making this even more engaging and (sometimes) humorous.

I’m not sure about this, but some of Tony Saachi’s dialogue on page 162 of Blood feels like a (possible) reference to Thomas Perry’s Butcher’s Boy quadrilogy: “You should’ve been with us in ’87 when the Castiglione thing broke. Nearly two hundred guys went, just like that, in one night.” Again, not sure about that, but I’d like to think so.

Anyhow, Blood Money is worth owning, another high mark in Perry’s consistently charming and often dark series. Followed by Runner.