The cover of Mike Wild’s CABALLISTICS, INC.: HELL ON EARTH pegs it as “a vicious cross-breed of THE X-FILES and THE DA VINCI CODE.” But that makes it out to be far more serious than it actually is. With its ultra-cheeky humor and preponderance of ectoplasmic goo, I’d say it’s more THE AVENGERS and GHOSTBUSTERS than anything else.
In other words, not so vicious. But entirely supernatural, with Caballistics, Inc. being the former governmental – and now private-sector – agency charged with investigating all things paranormal. Its Mulder and Scully equivalents are Chapter and Verse (get it?), a lesbian and a priest. Some sixty years ago, the town of Boswell was struck by a strange force that caused its dead to come back to life, and all its life to become dead by bursting into flame. Except for one five-year-old boy who got away. Flash-forward to present day, and all signs point to yes that something is going on in Boswell again, and it involves gargoyles, animal sacrifices, an angel and a forthcoming Judgement (sic) Day.
Being British, Wild writes in a very British style, steeped in language and references that may require a bit of translation. It’s an odd tone that takes some getting used to. But worse is that the plot doesn’t take shape until the book is nearly half over. There’s some fun stuff here – an offshoot of the wildly popular 2000 A.D. comic from the UK – that fans of H.P. Lovecraft and HELLBOY might find up their alley. But Wild is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is, and his sometimes muddled prose muddies up what should have been an open-and-shut, breezy read. Still, there’s just enough good about it to keep me interested, as HELL ON EARTH marks the start of a series of novels, with BETTER THE DEVIL to follow next April. –Rod Lott
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