cover image Sacrificial Lamb Cake

Sacrificial Lamb Cake

Katrina Monroe. Red Adept (redadeptpublishing.com), $13.99 trade paper (242p) ISBN 978-1-940215-42-6

Monroe (Reaper) explores religious identity and redemption, giving a passing nod to comedy as she boldly showcases the psychological and physical horrors of radicalism. Waitress Rain Johnson wants nothing more than to make some money, live her life free of her extreme environmentalist family (particularly her highly unstable mother), and maybe find a more stable and steady girlfriend than Francine, her roommate and occasional lover. Yet all of those wants are sidelined when a man named Jude presents her with an offer she can’t refuse. Not only is the money decent, but it turns out Rain is the Second Coming of Christ. Someone has started the Apocalypse a little early, and it’s up to Rain, Jude, and whomever they pick up along the way to head it off at the pass. With a promising comedic beginning and over-the-top characters, the well-written story provides an often scathing indictment of the human condition. (Mar.)