Deadhorse, Book 1: Dead Birds

This rollicking conspiracy adventure glides along thanks to cryptic but genuinely absorbing mysteries balanced with clever characterization. William Pike receives a posthumous letter from his father, instructing him to keep a mystery key safe from nefarious figures, which of course means trouble is ahead. Pike must survive murder attempts by off-kilter assassins such as a sandwich-obsessed elderly couple and the Sasquatch, a dim-witted, fuzzy-suited supervillain with personal issues and humorously terrible rehearsed dialogue. Joining forces with two teens, runaway Elise and Edgar, Pike and company journey to an unexpected location common to all their pasts. The story is a mad chase of a narrative, crisscrossing time to fill in the blanks of Pike’s story and the key points of the conspiracy while peppering the current action with a sense of foreboding. It’s a well-rounded adventure that is brought alive by Sloan’s energetic art, accentuated perfectly by David Halvorson’s color. (Booklife)