Fatale, Book 1: Death Chases Me
The top-notch team of Brubaker and Phillips (known for their collaborations on Criminal and Sleeper) launch another series that gives familiar tropes an entertaining tweak. In present time, Nicolas Lash, executor of author Dominic Raines’ estate, discovers an unpublished manuscript mere moments before shotgun-toting bad guys pull up out front. Then Jo, a woman he met at the funeral, appears out of nowhere to rescue him. Jump back to San Francisco, 1956, and we’re witnessing events from Raines’ book, starting with a young reporter trying to get a scoop from a beautiful woman about her corrupt-cop boyfriend. But any resemblance to standard detective fare ends there, as the creators mix in magic, cults, human sacrifice, and the possibility of eternal life to create a potent cocktail with any number of twists. Brubaker doesn’t write a word more than necessary, and Phillips’ scenery has all the right angles, evoking a film-noir feel without slavish imitation. If the words “last call” make you think of “The Call of Cthulu,” this is your kind of hard-boiled tale. --Keir Graff