Review:
This, the second graphic novel by New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison, of the "Hollows" series, finds our I.S. cops running for their lives.
Ivy Tamwood, looking as strong and sexy as ever, and Rachel Morgan dodge some close calls. A stone gargoyle breaks from an abandoned church's roof. A train nearly runs them over on a high trestle. A heavy pipe barely misses its mark.
But beyond the question of their survival, they must figure out not only who is behind the attempts, but who is the real target?
Artist Gemma Magno provides beautiful visuals. The characters and locations of this well-known fantasy universe are superbly done. Physical poses are a little less stiff than in the first graphic novel (Blood Work), and the women are as beautiful, hot and sexy as ever. Indeed, the sexual tension crackles throughout!
It's a page-turner of a story, too. Kim Harrison knows how to tell a compelling fantasy tale, and I devoured this book in one sitting.
The biggest criticism, though, is that some plot elements get lost in the telling. Were these events happening in one of her novels, Harrison would give the reader a solid description. But here, the narrative fails to convey important subtleties, and if the intention was that the art would give us those cues visually, they get lost among the many other beautiful details. Were the gaps just occasional, it would be forgivable. But here it happens repeatedly and at some of the most critical moments. The reader is left trying to catch up and understand what just happened? Who did what? That frequent frustration means this reviewer knocks the overall score down to 1.5 capes.
Description:
You can’t tell the story of how it all began for supernatural cops Ivy Tamwood and Rachel Morgan without telling how it all nearly ended. The fiery living vampire and erstwhile earth witch never asked to be paired up in the first place. And having to work Inderland Security’s crummiest beat—busting two-bit paranormal street punks—sure didn’t sweeten the deal. But when it counts, Ivy and Rachel always have each other’s backs. They’d better—because someone just hung targets on both of them.
It doesn’t take a hotshot homicide detective to know that nearly getting flattened by a falling gargoyle or impaled by a lead pipe aren’t on-the-job accidents. But it doesn’t seem possible that the class of crooks Ivy and Rachel routinely collar could kill anything but brain cells. So who put Cincinnati’s tough and tender twosome on their “to do in” list? Is Ivy’s vampire master, the powerful and seductive Piscary, jealous of her growing bloodlust (and just plain lust) for Rachel? Or have forces unknown—living or undead—made the partners prey in a deadly witch (and vampire) hunt?
Before this case is cracked, Ivy and Rachel will face down vicious dogs, speeding locomotives, rogue bloodsuckers, and their own dark desires; spells will be cast and blood will be spilled; and Kim Harrison’s hair-raising, heart-racing, dark urban world of magic and monsters will leap howling from the pages of her second electrifying, full-color graphic novel.
Authors: Kim Harrison
Artists: Gemma Magno
Published By: Del Rey
Published When: Oct. 30 2012
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN: 978-0345521026
Pages: 176 pages
