Review: Gun Machine

By Warren Ellis
Available now from Mulholland Books (Little, Brown)
Review copy

Warren Ellis is mostly known for his work in comics, and I think there's something comforting in his work in comics that isn't there in plain text.  There's a picture, right there, of something gruesome, and it's almost always a little funny because some things become too much when they're drawn.  But when the brain matter flies in GUN MACHINE, you imagine it.  And I've got a good imagination.

Detective John Tallow's life as a cop wasn't that exciting until the day his partner dies.  It leads him to discover a giant cache of guns, each connected to an unsolved murder.  He's uncovered a prolific serial killer and there's no real evidence in sight.  Even though he's supposed to be on leave due to his partner's death, he's assigned the case because no one else wants to go down with the ship.  The only help he has are two CSUs, Bat and Scarly.

Tallow drives the plot of GUN MACHINE through sheer force of will.  He's on the verge of a breakdown, but he's determined to catch this guy.  But even as he begins to see the patterns at work it isn't enough because there is no evidence.  It's nice to read a story about a cop who is preoccupied because he's close to solving the case but can't prove it.

GUN MACHINE periodically slips into the mind of the killer, who is completely crazy.  He's not the only crazy person in the book, but he's distinguished by being the craziest.  As chilling as he is, however, the people who are complicit in his actions are even scarier because they aren't raving mad.  GUN MACHINE is full of bad people doing bad things, but it's not a downer.  In fact, it's far more optimistic than most noir.  It's an exciting, fast-paced maze.

If you love pulpy, modern noir, then pick up a copy of GUN MACHINE.  It's quick and dirty and sometimes it's even funny.  And I love the cover.  You can't see it in a thumbnail, but there's a map superimposed on the gun.  If you do read GUN MACHINE, pay attention to the maps.  They're important.

Review: Immortal City

By Scott Speer
Available now from Razorbill (Penguin)
Review copy

"What about him?" Brad asked.
"Him?" the Angel asked.
"Yeah," Brad said, and pointed to the tailgate as it slipped under the waves.  "Him."
The Angel looked at the sinking pickup as if seeing it for the first time.
"He didn't have coverage," he said.
-p. 4, ARC

IMMORTAL CITY begins with a scene that worms under your skin.  Rich, careless Brad causes a fatal car wreck, but escapes with the aid of an Angel - aid he paid for.  The other, innocent driver dies.  And, as we find out, no one in Angel City (Los Angeles) cares.  They're too excited making the protectee a new celebrity and fetishizing the Angels.

You see, in the world of IMMORTAL CITY, Angels are celebrities, as are their clients.  Right now people are counting down the days until Jackson Godspeed makes his first rescue.  And someone else is doing what is supposed to be impossible: killing Angels.

After the dynamic beginning, IMMORTAL CITY gets off to a slow start.  Conceited, arrogant boy meets girl who is only person in city that sees through his crap.  Girl and boy are drawn together anyway.  Girl and boy fight because lo, they are from different worlds.  There are a few touches that add color to this formulaic start.  For example, the narrative is very aware of Jackson's privilege and that he needs to realize how well he has it if he's ever going to grow as a person.

But things kick into high gear when Jackson rescues Maddy, despite the fact she could never in a billion years afford his protection.  The two must go on the run to protect Jackson from the Angel's excessive punishment.  Then the Angels try to pin the recent crime spree on their golden boy.  Maddy and Jackson can only save themselves by finding out what the Angels are hiding.

The worldbuilding in IMMORTAL CITY is amazing.  At first the Angels as celebrities thing seems just silly.  But the book becomes something much more dark and complex as it reveals how the Angels first revealed themselves to the human world and rose to the top.

I waited a long time to read this one because it looked meh, but I'm happy I finally picked it up.  It was a very pleasant surprise.  I did not expect the noir edge at all.  If you like your paranormal romance on the darker side, give IMMORTAL CITY a spin.

Conflicted Reviews: Wither and Nickel Plated

I haven't been reviewing much lately. One problem is that I keep reading books I'm deeply conflicted about.



WITHER by Lauren DeStefano showed up at my house unexpectedly. I was ridiculously excited and started it immediately. A number of bloggers that I respect reviewed it well. I could soon see why they were enamored. Rhine has been married to Linden, a rich young man. However, she does not love him and was kidnapped from her home with her brother. She wants to return to her previous life, before she dies in four years. There's a strong emotional core to the story. And it's a good story.

But the premise is awful. Men die at twenty-five and women at twenty, due to genetic engineering. Yep, an entire generation was modified at once and they all die at exactly the same ages. If the science wasn't ludicrous enough, people react in strange ways. There are still older generations alive to keep things running. But Rhine's generation isn't going to school and going into research science and medicine. Nope, society totally collapsed and it's all rich guys marrying pretty girls. (Lots of women get killed. Why, if you want to propagate the species, would you kill women left and right?)

So, over a month later, I still haven't finished WITHER. I can see why others find it compelling, but the story can't overcome the premise, for me. Lauren DeStefano invests energy into the setting. It is the Chemical Garden trilogy, after all. Normally I would love that emphasis on setting. But in this instance, it kept forcing me to confront my issues with WITHER. I'm too interested in genetics to let it roll off.



Another novel I've been having trouble with is the more obscure NICKEL PLATED by Aric Davis. Nickel is a 12-year-old runaway who makes his money as a detective - and a drug dealer and blackmailer. The blackmail is fine, since he's blackmailing pedophiles and turning them in. The drug dealing is less fine, but at least it's only marijuana. Still enough to get the poor kid he has selling it in trouble. (I don't just mean with the law. I mean with other people who might consider the high school their territory.) But a good detective does need some gray shading, especially in a noir-style novel.

Nickel has just been hired by a teen girl to find her younger sister. The girl was kidnapped, but her parents thought she just ran away. Interspersed with the mystery are scenes from Nickel's day-to-day life and infrequent explanations of his past. Pretty intriguing stuff until he agrees to help a woman launder counterfeit money.

Not cool. There's a reason some governments execute people for counterfeiting. It kills. It destroys economies and the poor are always hurt the worst. That's not a shade of gray. It's wrong. And the text doesn't acknowledge how wrong it is. There's no hint that we're supposed to see Nickel as anything other than a struggling hero. It really turned me off a book I was enjoying. The reviews on Amazon are good, so clearly others were more charmed by Nickel's ambiguity in NICKEL PLATED.

There you go. I just keep coming across books with stories I love but other aspects I find repellant.