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“You’d be surprised what you can do to people”.

I haven’t read or watched a lot of fiction that has to do with war. I’ve only really seen a handful of movies and the majority of them paint soldiers in a glowing light. I’m not about to sit here and criticize those who put themselves directly in harm’s way on a daily basis – a job I could never find the balls to do myself – I’ll leave that to others; others like Joe Hill.

The bulk of this story follows Mal Greenfell, a soldier that returned from Iraq and is trying to adjust to life as a private citizen. Having died approximately ten hours before her arrival back in America, Mal’s father left her his home as well as his car.

Mal takes a job as a bartender and slowly realizes that she’s not the person she was when she ventured overseas, that her true self is who she is now – a careless and ruthless individual who isn’t above violence and theft.

Following the arrival of a letter containing only a single fingerprint, Mal begins to question if someone is threatening her. Given Mal’s sordid past, she may have created several enemies.

Over the past year, I’ve become a pretty big supporter of Joe Hill having read his novel, Horns, as well as his awesome graphic novel series, Locke & Key. I thought this was pretty average; not bad but not on the level that he’s capable of. That being said, I thought it was paced well and had a decently satisfying conclusion. So a solid 3 stars.

UPDATE:

So I recently had the good fortune of reading the graphic novel adaptation by Vic Malhotra and Jason Ciaramella. Ciaramella has worked with Joe in the past, bringing his short story The Cape to life in a comic form. In my opinion, he knocked it out of the park, so a second collaboration was more than welcome.

Malhotra’s art is perfect for the story. Minimalist visuals coupled with drab and bleak colors paint the perfect picture of Mal’s post war world. The story moves along swiftly, keeping that frantic pace that enhances Mal’s growing paranoia as well as her search for the person responsible.

It’s a great mini-series compiled in a quick one shot graphic novel. Check it out!