Firewalk

October 24, 2016
Comics writer Roberson (iZombie) brings his horror sensibilities to a novel that's part True Detective and part Lovecraft. Special Agent Isabel Lefevre once investigated a serial killer for the FBI, a case that ended with the killer being shot and killed by police detective Patrick Tevake in the fictional California town of Recondito. Five years later, Patrick has called Izzie back to Recondito after finding evidence that the case might not be over at all. The investigation involves a new drug, Ink, that turns users into zombies. Roberson effectively keeps the horror in the background in the beginning, letting the supernatural dread slowly rise as the pair follows clues. The plot is engaging, and Roberson really shines in building the relationships and dialogue. Izzie and Patrick have an easy friendship, and Izzie's burgeoning romantic relationship with local FBI agent Daphne is equal parts awkward and sweet. Izzie and Patrick's respective family backgrounds in Latina Santería and Polynesian shamanism are employed to great effect, enhancing both plot and characterization. The end will have horror fans ready for the sequel, which promises to bring the terror front and center.

Two investigators struggle to understand the effects of a new drug on Recondito residents.When she was still new to the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, Special Agent Isabel Lefevre was pulled into an investigation in Recondito, a coastal town known as "The Hidden City." She was charged with catching the Recondito Reaper, a serial killer who'd been dismembering the bodies of scientists with connections to the local university. Working with Detective Patrick Tevake, Izzie identified the killer as Nicholas Fuller, whom they caught while he was dismembering a victim he insisted would be his next-to-last. Fuller was killed in the ensuing standoff, and Izzie and Tevake were glad to put the case to rest. Five years later, Tevake's forced to reach out to Izzie again when strange connections to his current case recall things Fuller said before his death. Tevake's been investigating the appearance of Ink, a new drug that appears to imbue users with zombielike characteristics. It's lucky that Izzie arrives in town with an open mind, because Tevake's theories on Ink border on the woo-woo side of science. Could some sort of ancient mysticism block its effects? The only thing Izzie isn't open to is a relationship with her new colleague, Special Agent Daphne Richardson, even though she commands Izzie's interest even when the two are talking murder rather than romance. Roberson's expertise as a television and comic-book writer adds a cinematic flair to his story, though readers expecting a resolution will have to wait for later series entries. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 1, 2016

Five years ago, FBI agent Isabel Lefevre helped close the serial murder case involving a sword-wielding maniac named Nicholas Fuller in the West Coast city of Recondito. Patrick Tevake, her colleague from that task force who is now working vice, tells her it isn't over, after finding a link between Nicholas's victims and a new street drug known as "ink." Before his death, Nicholas had raved about a supernatural threat he was trying to stop, which Izzy and Patrick dismissed as the symptoms of mental illness, but as they investigate, it becomes clear to them that the killer was right. Izzy's heritage as the granddaughter of a New Orleans voodoo practitioner and Patrick's Polynesian background both come into play in this gripping supernatural thriller from the cocreator of the comic iZombie, leaving them more open to seeing the occult roots of the crime. VERDICT While this series launch would appeal to any thriller fan, the terrific pacing and detailed police work mixed with supernatural elements means that Roberson's novel will serve well horror and urban fantasy fans alike. [See Eric Norton's "Genre Spotlight" feature, p. 24ff.--Ed.]--MM

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 12, 2018
Roberson’s so-so second supernatural thriller teaming Izzie Lefevre, of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, with Recondito, Calif., police detective Patrick Tevake fails to deliver on the promise of 2016’s Firewalk. The pair have learned that humanity is threatened by the Ridden, “hordes of people whose minds had been destroyed while their bodies were being taken over by intelligences from another world.” Izzie carefully sanitizes her reports to her superiors to avoid appearing like a nut, but that becomes harder to do when she revisits the notorious closed case of serial killer Nicholas Fuller. She and her colleagues believed that the so-called Recondito Reaper butchered his victims postmortem “to satisfy some kind of aberrant psychological gratification.” But her discoveries about the Ridden indicate that Fuller was actually following the tradition of a secret Mayan order, the daykeepers, who dismembered the dead to prevent daimons from reanimating the bodies. The plot follows a familiar path from there as Izzie tries to pursue the truth while keeping her job. This lesser variation on the walking dead theme may disappoint zombie fans.