Malice

Hybridising traditional narrative and the pace and punch of the graphic novel, Chris Wooding’s Malice makes for an instantly intriguing concept. Playful postmodern shifts between the roles the reader and protagonist respectively fill make this a complex and highly engaging read.

‘Malice’, a cult underground comic, has a reputation that precedes it. Word is that readers who speak its name aloud are snatched by the villainous Tall Jake and taken into a comic book realm – a fantasy world reliant upon its own logic sets.

The book opens with the disappearance of Luke. Friends Seth and Kady set about trying to locate his whereabouts and in so doing become embroiled in a series of circumstances that endanger their lives and draw question as to the foundations upon which their identity is based.

With deft commentary on the psychology of fear, interspersed graphic sequences and a hugely imaginative plot, this is a novel perfectly pitched for the multi-platform generation with a 3D cover that quite literally stands out from the rest.