100 Silver Bullets

Let’s hear it for comic book vets taking a bite outta originality. New York gangsters with Tommy guns and spats go up against Appalachian hillbillies and their missing teeth for remarkably distilled hooch during Prohibition. And oh yeah, there’s a werewolf or three out there on the prowl going all Gary Brandner because, man, this is comics!

Brian Azzarello excels – in short bursts – when working within the crime genre. His plots are quick, at times convenient, and his dialogue rat-a-tat fun as his work on Jonny Double and the first two-ish years of 100 Bullets can attest to. With Moonshine, his double entendre is as fun as his characters are cliché, completely fitting the bill for an Edward Robinson meets Lon Chaney, Jr mash-up. Eduardo Risso is never finer then when drawing a femme fatale or a Ford Model A, and he gets the chance to showcase both, along with a bunch of shadows, negative space, and man, that full moon, throughout this first volume.

Moonshine tells the tale of Lou Pirlo and how he gets caught in the world of, well, moonshine and, in a way, silver bullets. Written in a noir style, Lou quickly realizes he is in trouble and completely out of his New York state of mind. He’s drowning while gulping down every last drop of that nectar. Azzarello builds on the mystery while Risso paints trees of orange and rivers of red – along with the requisite shoot-em-ups.

Yeah. Good stuff. Tons of fun that will hopefully never become a show on HBO.


As Always,
theJOE

It's war, I tell ya!

Author Omar El Akkad imagines in his first novel how the ravages of the Second American Civil War separate a late 21st Century America and divide its people. From a premise, and with that war as an intriguing backdrop, American War moves beyond the dystopian stories that are all the rage and presents a believable time, where climate change has altered the map, and made proud Southerners refugees in their own nation. El Akkad has a beautiful writing style and digs deep into presenting the future as history. Unfortunately the narrative doesn’t hold up as strong, becoming an exile within its own prophetic stance.

American War tells the tale of Sarat Chestnut, who becomes a revolutionary for her people, although the majority of her “people” never ask her to step up, don’t exactly understand the need of a hero, nor are they in the mood, aside from other self-entitled revolutionaries who seek to propagate the war for the sake of simply fighting, to enshrine one. Which brings forth the question: what is the investment for the reader? El Akkad is extremely obtuse in supplying an answer.

El Akkad, born in Egypt, and raised in Qatar, definitely possesses a unique view of Americans and the whole mom-and-apple-pie way of life. His time as a journalist helps extend his unique, and believable, setting, complete with all its ideologies and theologies but cementing in the proof that violence begets violence and brother, that’s all Sarat is. And that is her downfall as a character. She is not provided with the chance to be cherished. She becomes a tool of an obtuse agency and is set on her way going through a series of challenges and torture that has been seen before, and handled better.

The tale of Sarat is bookended by the narration of her nephew, who obviously loves his aunt and understands her cause. She is the one he worships when all others have turned away. He presents her life as one being worthy, one with reason. And that is the story this book should have been.


As Always,
theJOE

Escapism

New York Times best-selling author Brad Meltzer returns with his latest thriller that easily contains everything one would expect from the author, and from the genre. Like any disaster movie from the 70s, The Escape Artist is heavy-handed for the first full half of the book. Packed with character development (A divorced military mortician with a conveniently-short nickname! A hotshot, always-in-control artist with trust issues on the move! Dastardly-evil killers on the prowl!), situational set-ups (Flashbacks to the past that are haunting and relevant! Escape from Alaska! Dover Air Force Base, because, Delaware, man!), and of course, a hefty heaping of people sticking their noses into business they should leave well alone. But seriously, without these tropes, where would the fun be?

The Escape Artist is a fun, escapist (ahem) read, once the action finally kicks in during the second half of the book. Betrayals, twists, and revelations a plenty that are satisfying and, in a few instances, actually surprising. Having the lead, Jim “Zig” Zigarowski, as a military mortician is a unique archetype, as is Nola Brown, the Army’s artist-in-residence. Meltzer makes great use of the setting, bringing realism and an authentic look at the procedures for an Air Force base dealing with care for the fallen.

Whereas his angle of incorporating Harry Houdini and his devices in with the US Government is as close to the standard conspiracy-theory-Meltzer as this book gets, that is the one plot element that deserved more attention instead of focusing on the standard cat-and-mouse chases involving Zig and Nola and their nefarious assailants. After all, this is The Escape Artist, not The Mortician. A deeper sense of legerdemain would have been most appreciated. The true escape artist here is Brad Meltzer himself, who pulls back the curtain on a fun, albeit standard, genre thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advance sleight-of-hand read.


As Always,
theJOE