Occult detective John Constantine has seen his share of strange things in his career, but nothing could prepare him for the horrors of…reality television. “Haunted Mansion” is currently the hottest show on TV, but when the macabre house actually starts attacking the contestants, Constantine is hired to be the ultimate mole. Locked inside with a cast of wannabe-celebrities, his every move being monitored by a deadly figure from his past, Constantine must figure out who (or what) is pulling the strings before he gets canceled–permanently.
After reading Dark Entries my single overriding question is ‘does this belong in the Vertigo Crime imprint?’ Vertigo, perhaps; but Vertigo Crime? Why am I asking? Because there is a strong supernatural element to the story. Now, this doesn’t come as a surprise, considering it’s a John Constatine story, but still it’s so strong that you can’t help but wonder. Its inclusion just feels tangential is all (except for the obvious reason that Ian Rankin wrote it). One has to wonder if the first two titles in the launch, Filthy Rich and Dark Entries, are representative of the two paths that Vertigo Crime will be taking, one straight crime and one with a heavier supernatural element, and whether one will dominate over the other. Ok–weird rhetorical questions/outbursts to myself aside–here endeth the vent.
One of the things that comes through the most is how robust the story is. It feels very full and satisfying upon completion, with all of the characters being fleshed out with interesting back-stories and woven into a main plot and several subplots. It’s safe to say that this is a byproduct of Rankin’s experience showing through.
Dark Entries‘ claim to crime fiction is using the Constantine character to invert Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians. How so, I won’t say, but it’s there in plain sight for all to see. About halfway through the book there is an interesting twist that changes the scope of the story and sustains the second half. All I’ll say is that some of the twists I saw coming and others I didn’t.
Italian artist Werther Dell’edera’s work was new to me and provides a jittery, almost sketchbook quality to the story.
Dark Entries is the second part of the launch of the Vertigo Crime and is a blast to read, with great action and fully developed characters. I, for one, welcome Rankin’s foray into comics and hope to see more from him as he seems to have a natural facility for it.
