Will you buy the revamped Megazine? I already buy it - and will carry on doing so. It's a bit too pricey, no more Meg for me Yes, I'll start picking it up again I'll try one issue and see if it's improved. Nope, it's still not for me

RSS Feed   Small Press   Links   About 2000AD Review   Email us

Home ¦ Reviews ¦ Anderson Psi Division - Red Shadows

Buy this book from Amazon

What to Expect: Lashings of gore as Anderson chases a serial killer.

Review by Richmond Clements
31st May 06

Anderson is back, in her second novel by Mr. Scanlon. This time she’s charged with tracking down a serial killer. I read this was the premise and was ready to give up even before reading the book. I mean, how many more serial killer stories does the world really need?

This one is slightly different. It’s not a whodunit, nor is it one of those woeful procedurals written by the likes for Patricia Cornwell; this book kind of sits somewhere in the middle ground. There is an element of the procedural, with Anderson being accompanied by an untrusting street judge, a tech and a med judge. If this sounds familiar to the pattern on her first novel, that’s because it is. These characters, particularly the street judge, with his interesting and uniquely Dredd-world reason for disliking Anderson, are all fine. Although, for my money, it would be more interesting to have developed the characters that filled these roles in the previous book.

As for the plot, it’s a fine one. Scanlon can write well; his plotting is tight and his action scenes exciting. He also writes good Mega City, evoking the atmosphere of the place well. The violence perpetrated by the serial killer is very grossed out, verging on the distasteful at times but, to be fair, this is reflected in the characters reactions.

Serial killer novels revolve around the madman’s motives for his or her need to kill, and the motive behind the killer here is, like the secret held by the aforementioned street judge, something that could really only feel at home in this universe.

But, as with all good crime stories, things may not necessarily be what they seem to be. While I did figure out one major plot strand, there are some nice surprises in the final act as Scanlon has a bit of fun with the readers expectations as they approach the finale of the tale.

As I have touched on above, and as with his previous Anderson outing, Scanlon is a fine writer, he has delivered the goods here with a nicely plotted piece. Unfortunately, as with Fear the Darkness, where he stumbles is with his portrayal of Anderson herself. He does come closer to getting her right in this book, but there are still more places where she doesn’t ring true. For example, on more than one occasion we see her biting her tongue rather than make a sarcastic remark for fear of a reprimand, whereas the Anderson I know usually revels in these kind of confrontations.

Having said that I would still recommend this book. Scanlon my not have Anderson down pat, and I believe that will come eventually, he understands MC-1 and how to write a story set there.

Buy this book from Amazon

Buy more books from the 2000AD Review shop