A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Most of my reading is crime, fantasy, and science fiction so you might be surprised to find A tree Grows in Brooklyn among my recent reads. This is a terrific book about growing up one to the ground-down poor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the early part of the 20th century. It is beautifully written. I wrote a bit more about it on Revish.

W3 - Weaponized Animals Look for Home

We3 is a graphic novel written by Grant Morrison with artwork by Frank Quitely. The story will remind you of The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams. Here, a dog, a cat, and a rabbit, formerly household pets, are "augmented" to turn them into super weapons or biorgs. There bodies are encased in heavily weaponized armour.Their intelligence has been increased and they are capable of rudimentary speech. The dog, W1 a brown Labrador formally known as Bandit, is basically a tank, the cat, W2, a ginger tabby known as Tinker in his former life, is a stealth assassin, and the rabbit, W3 aka Pirate, is trained to deliver mine and poison gas. They are the prototype animal weapons and are slated to be "decommissioned." The doctor, Roseanne Berry, who helped create and train them, helps them to escape. The dog, decides that they should "go home." The military gives chase - you can't have three lethal cyborg animals loose in the world. Much blood is shed before the story comes to a mostly satisfactory conclusion.

W3 ranks at the top of my list of favorite graphic novels. The artwork is done in a style somewhat like manga. Morrison and Quitely do a great job personalizing the animals. The dog still has the basic instinct to serve, to be a "gud dog." W1 is also poignantly despondent wen it thinks it had been a bad dog. The cat, W2, is not at all happy, is more than a little spiteful given the circumstances, and says things such as " Mmmen Stink! Bosss! Stink! Hungry" - think of a death-dealing Bucky Cat from the comic strip Get Fuzzy. The rabbit, would like some grass to eat.

Not surprisingly, the government does not come out looking all that good in this story and your sympathies are with the animals as they fight to survive and to reach the dimly remembered happy place, home. Animal lovers might find themselves a bit teary-eyed by the end.

W3 is definitely for mature readers.

The Boys, a graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

My interest in graphic novels has been off-again, on-again and has re-entered the on-again stage.

I was in the Comic Cubicle to pick up We3, the story of three "animal weapons" - a dog, a cat, and a rabbit - who escape captivity before they can be terminated when the program in which they were created is closed down. Will Wheaton recommended it on his blog and I liked his other recommendation so much (Fell) I decided to get We3. It wasn't in so I started browsing. By the way, comic stores are browsable unlike most big box bookstores. I found The Boys, written by Garth Ennis (Preacher) and illustrated by Darick Robertson.

The story line immediately appealed to me. I enjoy seeing a common theme reversed. Even if you don't read comics you know about super heroes battling super villains to save the world. What if the super heroes are really arrogant, super jerks who have only disdain for normal people, for whom a 60% attrition rate is acceptable because they don't know what they are doing? That's the idea here. The president of the U.S. unofficially sanctions a team, The Boys, to monitor the activities of the super heroes and stop them when they go too far. The Boys are Butcher, Frenchie, The Female, Mother's Milk, and Wee Hughie. OK, one of The Boys is a woman. Basically, they declare war on the supers. In volume one we learn that Butcher and Wee Hughie have personal scores to settle against the super heroes. Butcher's wife was raped by one, and Wee Hughie's girlfriend was killed by another. Wee Hughie is is the newest member of The Boys and his attempt to come to terms with their mission is possibly the only endearing aspects of this series. He is still an innocent among psychopaths.

Besides the story, another reason I had to have volume one of this series is Wee Hughie. They used Simon Pegg as a model when drawing this character. You might remember Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead, one of the best zombie movies ever. Also, he will play a young Scotty in the next Star Trek movie which might actually get me in the theatre to see it. I get a kick seeing Simon Pegg battling super heroes.

When I took The Boys to the counter I was cautioned that it is a bit twisted. I don't know if that was out of deference to my age and perhaps I should be looking at Archie and Jughead or if it was a general caution. The fellow was quite correct; The Boys has extreme violence and graphic sex. Definitely for mature readers, really mature readers.

Halting State by Charles Stross

Halting State is a technological thriller set in 2018 in Scotland. The starting point is a bank robbery by a gang of orcs in the virtual reality world of Avalon Four. From there it expands into a threat on the world's information infrastructure, and the use of virtual reality worlds and role playing games for governments to conduct clandestine activities.

The technological future Stross imagines is well grounded and not unlikely to be available in ten years. It is a fascinating look at the expansion of cell phone technology and gaming.

I have a longer review of this book up on Revish.

The Judas Heart by Ingrid Black

I was thinking recently that it is not fun trying to browse the big box bookstores. They just are not laid out for discovery. Which leads me to this:

If I didn't have Internet Access
And If I hadn't discovered blogs
And If I hadn't found Crime Always Pays
And If Declan Burke hadn't offered a copy of The Judas Heart to his readers
And If I hadn't scored a copy
Then I might never have discovered Ingrid Black.

Ingrid Black is actually the pseudonym of a wife-and-husband writing team living in Dublin, Ireland. The Judas Heart is the third in a series featuring former FBI agent Saxon and all are set in Dublin. Saxon is a woman whose first name do not know. The first two in the series are The Dead (2003) and The Dark Eye (2004).

Saxon lost her faith in being a Special Agent, that they were actually accomplishing anything, and resigned after five years. Now she is a true-crime writer, living in Dublin and in a relationship with Grace Fitzgerald, Detective Chief Superintendent with the Murder Squad of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. Saxon is a bit of a loose cannon,impulsive, tenacious, and not known for her people skills.

As the story begins, Saxon sees a former FBI colleague and mentor, Leon Kaminski (known as J.J.) at a book stall. They make eye contact but before Saxon can get to him, he deliberately gives her the slip and she is left puzzled and annoyed. Over lunch with Fitzgerald we see that Saxon inclined to over analyze Kaminski's actions. Fitzgerald suggests that she is making things complicated and suggests that she find out where he is staying and say hello. Then Fitzgerald gets a call that a murdered woman has been discovered and is off to handle the investigation leaving Saxon to act on Kaminski.

Then things get complicated: Saxon knew the murdered woman slightly; the new Assistant Commissioner asks Saxon to join the investigation as a consultant; Saxon begins to find out what happened to Kaminski after they parted ways but the information raises more questions; Saxon begins to suspect that there is a connection between Kaminski and the murder; and who is Buck Randall III anyway.

I really enjoyed this book and rate it one of my top reads of 2007. I like it for several reasons but let me get the technical reasons out of the way first.

• The Judas Heart is a first person narrative. This approach appeals to me because I often find it more interesting to know only what the narrator knows.
• The evidence is uncovered in the course of normal police investigation (with some dramatic license). Saxon is the one who makes the big break but with a few initial clues I think you can argue for inevitable discovery.
• The authors do not have Saxon withhold information from the police. I get really annoyed with a character deciding to keep information to him/herself for no logical reason except to complicate the investigation for the reader.

The main reason I like this book is Saxon. She is one of the more intriguing characters I've read lately and I've been looking for a good series character. I don't think I've been as taken with a female character since Carol O'Connell introduced Kathy Mallory in Mallory's Oracle. As you read Saxon's narration you can almost feel her mind at work, brooding at times, at others furiously racing, rearranging what she knows, trying to fit evidence into a framework. All the while there is Grace Fitzgerald trying to keep her focused and rational.

I don't believe that The Judas Heart is available in the U.S. yet but you can find the first two in the series on Amazon. While you are waiting, start with them. That way you will have the back-story when you get your hands on the latest.