| The Scrying Eye |
Suspense/Mystery The Whites: A Novel by Richard Price—writing as Harry Brandt—(Picador—available now!) features the gritty tale of a New York City cop named Billy Graves, once a member of the anti-crime unit known as the Wild Geese, now shamed and barely hanging on to his job. His duty begins at one a.m. every night and ends at eight a.m., where he leads a new group of police known as the Night Watch. Their job is simply to respond to all the felonies called in between Wall Street and Harlem during their shift. Easy job, right? Routine, right? Hardly, because one night at four a.m., a man is fatally slashed in Penn Station, and this murder leads Billy down a twisted path that will take him right back to his glory days as a member of the Wild Geese, and back to that terrible moment when his life changed forever. The bad old days are back, and Billy has to face them, or die trying . . .
The Fade Out Volume 3 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image Comics—available now) is the concluding chapter of the fabulous Fade Out graphic novel saga. An epic noir set in the world of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era, Fade Out is a story of a movie stuck in endless reshoots, an alcoholic writer with horrible flashbacks to the war, and a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Murder is afoot and nothing appears to be what it seems on its surface. Valerie Sommers is dead, and only our heroes can find the culprits and put them behind bars. Or can they? Gritty storytelling, amazing visuals, a cast of characters at once familiar and repellant, and a throbbing plot that threatens to out-noir even the darkest of noir
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stories, Fade Out has it all. This is the conclusion of the story, and it is here where all the high-stakes gambles pay off or fail, and the truth is known, as much as the truth can be in such a godforsaken world . . .
Horror! Harrow County Volume 2: Twice Told by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook (Dark Horse Books—available April 26, 2016) is the newest collection of the fantastic Southern gothic horror graphic novel. Emmy has uncovered many of Harrow County’s secrets and forged new friendships with the land itself and the monsters that roam it. But evil lurks just over the county lines, a presence at once familiar and horrifying. With brilliant writing and gorgeous drawing, Harrow County packs quite the punch. Not only are the stories disturbing and original, but the characters are unique, and the artwork brings out all the inimitable and quirky horror that lies in everyday rural life. Absolutely the best new horror comic of the last year! Do yourself a favor and check it out . . . End of Watch: A Novel by Stephen King (The Bill Hodges Trilogy, #3, Scribner—available June 7, 2016) is the last chapter of the Bill Hodges story by Mr. King. The first two volumes were featured as mysteries, but this one, my friends, brings the circle to closure, and it is just as horrific as anything King has ever written. Brady Hartsfield, the killer known as Mr. Mercedes, beaten to a pulp at the conclusion of that story, has been in a vegetative state for five years while being taken care of at a local clinic. But during those five years, a malevolent force has risen in Hartsfield, giving him a deadly power that enables him to wreak unholy havoc on the lives of innocents. Hodges, the detective who put the clamps on Hartsfield, investigates a strange suicide with connections to Mr. Mercedes. In doing so, he uncovers evidence that Hartsfield is not only not a vegetable, but actively planning vengeance. And this revenge isn’t just aimed at Hodges, but at his friends and allies, and at the entire city that was once held in the terrifying embrace of Mr. Mercedes. King combines the mystery and suspense of the first two novels with his trademarked supernatural leanings in this explosive finale. Will Hodges win the day one last time, or will Mr. Mercedes glide the night streets, striking terror into the hearts of everyone? You’ll have to open the book and find out . . .