Audio Review 65 // Wrath of N'Kai by Joshua Reynolds

A long overdue audiobook review. This time I dip my toe into the worlds of Arkham Horror. I have been meaning to get this series of titles for a while but just have never found the time. But when I saw this new title was by Joshua Reynolds, I knew I was in safe hands. His Fabius Bile story was great. So without too much more waffle, here are the details.

Title: Wrath of N'kai (Arkham Horror #16, why start #1? haha)

Author: Joshua Reynolds

Fluff: The first in a new range of novels of eldritch adventure from the wildly popular Arkham Horror; an international thief of esoteric artifacts stumbles onto a nightmarish cult in 1920s New England.

Countess Alessandra Zorzi, an international adventurer and thief, arrives in  Arkham pursuing an ancient body freshly exhumed from a  mound in Oklahoma, of curious provenance and peculiar characteristics. But before she can steal it, another party beats her to it. During the resulting gunfight at the Miskatonic Museum, the countess makes eye contact with the petrified corpse and begins an adventure of discovery outside her wildest experiences. Now, caught between her mysterious client, the police, and the society of necrophagic connoisseurs, she finds herself on the trail of a resurrected mummy as well as the star-born terror gestating within it.

Listen Now: Audible

Book: Paperback

Review

What a great reintroduction to the Arkham/Lovecraft lore. I have reviewed previous stories but have only recently stepped into the newer created fiction. After listening to this, I wonder why I waited so long.

This title is set in the classic realm of Arkham, deeply put into the 1920s. America is full of gangsters, bootleggers and pulp-style detectives. We are introduced to Alessandra Zorzi, who portrays herself as a Countess but is, in fact, a procurement specialist (aka thief) of forbidden lore and artifacts. Not sure if this is her first outing, but she is a strong and powerful lead, backed up by an equally strong companion called Pepper.

Zorzi has been hired by the classical "mysterious man" to steal the mummy. This mummy was strangely located in middle America, completely unknown for mummies. But as she is set to steal the piece, a criminal trio beats her to it. The story then progresses into an excellent pulp detective tale as Zorzi finds the mummy. While this is all happening rival groups move within the city, each hoping to regain the mummy for their own weird purposes and who to trust becomes a real issue.

Once again, Reynolds creates a setting with fantastic skill. I feel sucked into the era, and as the narrator describes the scene, I am there in the 1920s, be it spoken language used or the description of the dives of Arkham. Overall, if you enjoy a whodunit title with a hint of the otherworld, this is great. It doesn't go too far down the rabbit hole of Lovecraft lore as the lead isn't that interested in it; instead, we are dropped breadcrumbs to research ourselves, and this is so engaging! If I have to pick a fault and I feel I do as no title is perfect, there are a few too many characters. Sometimes it could be a bit misleading, but Arkham is a big, little city, so it makes sense to have a lot of important characters.

Wrath of N'kai, as mentioned, was a great reintroduction to the lore of Arkham Horror and has very much reinvigorated my interest. But which title next? Please drop me your thoughts and let me know.

Comic Review 120 // Predator Omnibus Volume Two

And like that, it is the last comic of January. Wow, this month went by quickly. I hope you are all doing well and staying safe during this chaotic time? Today's comic review is Predator Omnibus Volume Two by Dark Horse. Here the company line on this issue:

Trophy hunters from another world, hiding in plain sight, drawn to heat and conflict. A historical scourge, lethal spectres, powerful, savage, merciless. Utilizing their feral instincts and otherworldly technology in the sole pursuit of the most dangerous game... Man. Whether haunting the blazing deserts of the Southwest, stalking the claustrophobic woods of the Pine Barrens, or infiltrating a maximum-security prison, the Predators take no prisoners and leave only death in their grisly wake. But even these bestial killing machines can meet their match when men swallow their fear and channel their own primal rage... and the hunter becomes the hunted!

Predator Omnibus Volume 2 continues the complete presentation of these comics classics-some never before collected-featuring over three hundred gripping pages in full colour, penned by a who's-who of top writers.

Sounds impressive right? And for the most part, it actually was. We start with Big Game a fun enough action story, where we see a single predator pretty much tear his way through an entire army base. Though a great opening story, I did find artwork jarring at times. 

This was followed by God's Truth a tale too short to be interesting, full of characters that had no time to connect to the reader and when it got interesting it ended, disappointing. 

Race War - A weird crime series with a predator, and a crack team of cops who decide to capture a living predator (umm lousy idea). Their target though has better plans and decides to use a local prison as it's hunting ground - soon inmates are being slaughtered and an uneasy truce is formed between the rival factions. This story went on for far too long, it read like a bad 80's movie.

The Hunted City - Sets us in Manhattan during the 1940s at a guess. We have old-world gangsters and Tommy guns taking on a Predator. Though not super original it was fun enough and I enjoyed the read and the Hellboy style noir artwork.

Blood on Two-Witch Mesa - Has us returning to the opening story arc, along with its lead Enoch. Since his encounter with the Predator, Enoch's life has unravelled, he has been dishonourably discharged from the army and forced into silence. Enoch now works as a pump jockey, as his dreams still haunt him you can't help but feel bad for the guy. It would also seem he is not the first in his family to meet a Predator! Soon the tale is told of Enoch's grandfather and his predator experience. This is a solid story and rather interesting, a strong contender for the best tale. 

Invaders of the Fourth Dimension - Set in 1959 and playing into the whole B-Movie genre. A young child wearing 3d glasses manages to see through the predator's cloaking device and steal some of the predator's equipment. Soon chaos is unleashed as the Pred attempts to track the kid down and recover his gear. Whilst this is happening a B-Movie is being launched and everyone seems to believe the Pred is a promotion stunt. A very good story, really enjoyed this one.

1718 - Final tale and by far my favourite. I a short one-shot involving pirates. Following a mutiny, a pirate captain is fleeing through an Island jungle being chased by his former crew. As things seemed lost the pirates are ambushed by a Predator. Soon the Pred and Captian are fighting back to back and a mutual bond is formed due to the combat. As the Pred and the Captain finally face-off, the captain is shot in the back by a cowardly pirate. The predator has his revenge and buries the captain before honouring the dead pirate by leaving his blade as a grave marker. A simple tale perfectly executed. Great story.

This book seems a stronger offering than the first and is a worthy 4 out of 5. It had some failings as far artwork goes, but most of the stories had strong plots and were enjoyable reads. Hopefully, the quality can continue and not slip like the Aliens series.

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Unfortunately, this book is now no longer published a newer version is up or preorder.