Booknote: Dream Thief, Vol. 1

Jai Nitz, Dream Thief, Volume 1. Milwaukie, OR: Dark Horse Comics, 2014. ISBN: 9781616552831. 


I will say right away that the volume had quite an opening with a panel from the story that serves as a preview to the tale inside. In this panel, the protagonist stands before the corpse of a woman, and says,

"It's slowly coming back to me now. I killed my girlfriend last night. I killed her because she deserved it" (3). 

I was anxious to see if the book lived up to that, and it sure did. John Lincoln, unemployed, messed up, with a dysfunctional girlfriend, and now having strange dreams is not doing well. He steals an aboriginal mask from a museum, mostly as a prank, only to find that spirits of the dead seeking vengeance can now possess John while John sleeps. A benefit, if you can look at it that way, is that John inherits the skills and memories of the spirits that possess him such as a special forces soldier.

The author handles the narrative very well. We do not quite get what is happening to John right away in relation to the mask, so we gradually come to see what is going on, much like John does. He gets possessed when he least expects it, and this naturally disrupts things for him and others. The story pacing is very good. This was one that once I started I just had to keep on going to the end. You can add some very good art, and this is one readers will want to pick up. This was a volume that I did enjoy, and it looks like a strong start to a series that I will want to follow.

Overall, I am giving it 5 out of 5 stars. It was excellent.

Disclosure note is where I tell you that I read this as an e-book review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley. It was provided for an honest review. There, that should keep The Man happy.