cover image Dead Bomb Bingo Ray

Dead Bomb Bingo Ray

Jeff Johnson. Turner, $16.99 trade paper (288p) ISBN 978-1-68336-724-6

The launch of Johnson’s new series, as inventive and comic as the Darby Holland books (Lucky Supreme, etc.), introduces Philadelphia fixer Dead Bomb Bingo Ray. Three years earlier, Ray derailed a scheme by greedy hedge fund manager Tim Cantwell to rip off some retirees. When Ray learns that Tim is now plotting revenge, Ray sets out to teach him a lesson. Ray believes in firepower (he keeps two Berettas loaded with three different kinds of bullets) and in safe exits (he pays the proprietors of four restaurants, a grocery store, a dress shop, and more to stand by in case he needs their help). Cantwell has his allies, such as operator Mary Chapman, the bait for a honey-trap. That Mary has her own complicated schemes, as do various other players, prompts Ray’s helper, Cody, to comment: “Setup inside a setup inside a setup. Inside a setup.” Descriptive gems—“the costume brought out the side of him that was dangerous in a next-level way, beyond angry beehive and well into biblical-serpent territory”—make Johnson’s writing a rare treat. (Nov.)