Redline

by Neal Holman

[llamareads]

This was an interesting read, and not at all what I was expecting. I think my biggest issue is that I went in expecting more aliens than I got. At heart, it’s a grimdark conspiracy-theory military procedural, with some scifi underpinnings.

That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy what it was – I liked the main characters and really enjoyed the dark humor. I’m pretty sure the humor won’t be for everyone; for example, most of the comic relief in the second chapter is provided by a dismembered penis. There’s a couple of “sleeping with the (female) boss” jokes that I found utterly annoying. On the whole, though, I loved the snappy dialogue and the art style, which fit well with the intense pacing. Everything has a gritty feel to it, and it read more like a contemporary war movie than science fiction. From the first page, you’re dropped right into the story, without any expository backstory. Things are not explained explicitly – it was pretty much a given that after reading a new chapter, I’d go back and reread the previous ones so I could get a better handle on the story.




I’m not sure if there’s going to be more issues in the series, as issue #5 was released back in July, and there’s been no new issues yet. Given how this one ends, though, I’m pretty curious where it’d go from here, though I do feel like I still have a ton of questions.

Overall, while I enjoyed reading it, it’s not quite my taste.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.