The Accident by Elie Wiesel Review

A man is involved in a car accident and hospitalised. While recovering, he muses on god, religion, the meaning of life, and his relationships, with a variety of (mostly doctor) characters. Also the Holocaust is mentioned.

Absolute Green Lantern, Volume 1: Without Fear Review (Al Ewing, Jahnoy Lindsay)

An alien ship arrives above the small town of Evergreen, covering it in a green energy dome, stopping anyone from going in or out of the town. A god-like alien calling itself The Abin Sur descends to pass judgment upon the townspeople - which include friends Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Jo Mullein, and Guy Gardner. What does judgment entail? To be Without Fear.

The Honor of Your Presence by Dave Eggers Review

Helen is a designer specialising in high-end event invites (weddings, galas, etc.). Business was obliterated during COVID, but, post-pandemic and with the world opening back up, events are starting to happen once more and Helen’s back to work. Her cheeky older uncle Peter, recently returned back to ‘murica from Blighty, suggests she print off an extra invite and go to these events herself - with him as her plus one, naturally. Hesitant at first, Helen goes along with it - what mischief awaits these two and will she get caught by her boss?

In the End We All Die by Tobias Aeschbacher Review

Some thugs are driving to an apartment building to get something from someone for some reason. But what they don’t know is that the building is fulla weirdos - what’s gonna happen? Oh, right: the title.

Downfall by Inio Asano Review

A manga artist completes his years-long series - and then finds himself lost as he listlessly tries to decide upon a new project. Meanwhile his marriage is failing and his melancholy feelings begin to build, making it harder for him to move forward and create again. What happens when you put all of your time and effort into a creative field, at the expense of all else - and find that success is hollow?

Flesh by David Szalay Review

Istvan is a teenage boy living in a small Hungarian town when he inadvertently gets into a relationship with a married woman in her 40s. A violent incident changes the course of his life and from there he joins the army and is deployed in Iraq, before finding himself in Britain working as a bouncer, and from there life takes him to still further completely unexpected places.

Buff Soul by Moa Romanova Review

Buff Soul is a memoir by Swedish cartoonist Moa Romanova when she joined her two pals Asa and Lina, who’re in a band called Shitkid, in America on tour. They’re young and feel invincible, and do the cliched things bands do on tour - drinking, drugging, sleeping around - all while the spectre of death hangs over them in the form of absent friends - and possibly soon-to-be-absent friends…?

Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me by Mimi Pond Review

Do Admit! (a favourite saying of the sisters) is cartoonist Mimi Pond’s comics biography of the Mitford sisters - Nancy, Unity, Pam, Jessica, Diana, and Deborah - as well as a mini-autobiography of her own, at least in terms of her lifelong fascination with the Mitford family. At nearly 500 pages, the book covers all of the significant parts of the sisters’ lives and puts them in the context of some of the 20th century’s major historical events.

The Transgressors by Jim Thompson Review

Deputy Sheriff Tom Lord and local oil company manager Aaron McBride have beef. Lord signed over rights to McBride’s company Highlands to drill for oil on his West Texas land - who basically scammed him. After Lord gets some revenge by publicly beating McBride in front of his staff, the two have a bitter fight that ends with McBride dead and the feud continuing as McBride’s widow sets out to get vengeance on her dead husband.

Gaslight by Patrick Hamilton Review

A man manipulates his wife into thinking his lies are true and that she’s going crazy, like her late mother. But where does he go every evening and who’s making that noise in the flat above - or is that another figment of the wife’s supposed mania? Then a retired cop appears one evening when the husband is away with a tall tale of murder most foul…

Absolute Martian Manhunter Volume 1: Martian Vision Review (Deniz Camp, Javier Rodriguez)

FBI Agent John Jones is caught in an explosion which somehow leads to him having a martian’s voice in his brain - as you do. Is it real or is he nuts? Well it’s pretty fucking obvious what the answer is. Exciting. Then people start randomly doing horribly destructive things, that John and the martian try to stop - and then the comic just becomes this, over and over. It’s quite tediously repetitive.

Giant Size Criminal #1 Review (Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips)

Ricky Lawless is in the hole for $25k with a psycho bookie. To make him even - even Steven - he’s gotta wait in the room of a fancy hotel for a high-rolling gambler to return with their winnings and then rip them off. Ricky’s problems start when he gets bored and blows his nose off - except it isn’t coke he snorted!

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Review

I

A summary of the evening redness in the west - A praise chorus in sotto voce - The Judge judged - A deeper meaning questioned - A master prose stylist - An experiment in chance - A middling verdict on a soon-to-be-established classic - People who’ve read the novel will know what I’m doing here

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The Grifters by Jim Thompson Review

There isn’t much of a story to Jim Thompson’s The Grifters and that’s mostly why I didn’t like it much. The main characters are an estranged mother and son, Lilly and Roy Dillon, who are both con artists, or “grifters”, who rip people off, and that’s about it. Roy’s seeing an older woman, Moira Langtry, who’s also a grifter on the sly and an occasional hooker.