By Denayer & Van Hamme
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849181594
The name's Shelton. Wayne Shelton.
There aren't too many action heroes called Wayne, nor ones sporting a rather fetching moustache and greying at the temples, so what you definitely do not want to do is judge this book by its (back) cover. If that's as shallow as want to go then perhaps this isn't the book for you. If you're prepared to delve a little deeper and embrace the latest offering from Jean Van Hamme, then you're going to be pleasantly surprised, because what Van Hamme excels at is fooling your expectations, challenging your preconceived ideas and delivering one what he promises.
Shelton's background is leading sabotage missions during the Vietnam war where he proved his worth and sharpened his skills. Now he works for hire doing the difficult jobs that need doing, but on his terms. The Mission has quite a task ahead of it as it has to set up the back story, introduce a swathe of characters, present the latest work for hire job and its intricacies, and move the story forward, not to mention allocating enough time for you to get to know and care about the characters. Fortunately tightly-plotted intricate stories are Van Hamme's speciality, and anyone who has ever read a Largo Winch or a XIII will appreciate the lengths he goes to as a writer to understand his subject matter and lay out a thriller worthy of the big screen.
This story is all about a former USSR country with a potential rich source of germanium (nor geraniums as I mistakingly read it at first – idiot). However the contact in that country, a high-ranking military man, is killed in an innocent yet tragic collision with a lorry driven by a French truck-driver. The driver has been thrown in jail, the French unions are up in arms, the deal is on hold and yet time is running out for the deal to be signed, potentially opening the door to a South African contingent who also want in on the germanium. The fly in the ointment is the French truck-driver, so if he can be liberated and returned to France the obstacle to signing the deal is removed. So the company hoping to sign that contract bring in Shelton with the hope that he can spring the driver before it's too late.
The task in front of Shelton is huge, ambitious and dangerous, so he needs a team of trusted people with unique skills to make it happen, but they themselves come with their own problems and needs, all of which have to be dealt with in the context of the story first.
Van Hamme has again managed to team up with an exceptional artist, this time Christian Denayer. Van Hamme's scripts often demand elaborate settings or exotic destinations, and where many artists would fudge the backgrounds Van Hamme picks the artists who understand the importance of setting a scene and grounding the story in a place with a character all of its own. Denayer rises to this task with apparent ease and you as the reader get drawn deeper in.
There's an incredible amount of detail, action, characters and settings in these pages but the creators' skills sweep you along and constantly reward you page after page. By the time you reach the last panel you're utterly convinced of Shelton's credentials and that this is going to be another Van Hamme series worth sticking with.
And if you liked that: Volume 2 is coming soon
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