Review: Scars

Scars by Warren Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A disturbing book. Ellis has a tendency to write stories that are weird or push the reader out of their comfort zone. That might be part of his popularity. Anyway, this book focuses on a detective that is investigating the murder of a little girl. In some ways it is a very typical cop drama type of story, but Ellis varies up those tropes enough to make it interesting.

The protagonist is not a very likable guy. He's stressed out and takes the murder personally, which adds to his negative image. Ellis is good at writing characters though. So what if the good guy is a jerk? He has depth and still manages to garner some sympathy as he breaks down. The line between the professional upholder of the law and the damaged father figure seeking justice at all cost blurs. It may not be Ellis' best work, but man is it engaging.

I'm not usually one to read this type of story, so I doubt I will ever return to it in the future. I did find it worthwhile to join Ellis for this little thought experiment though. Oh, and the short pieces that Ellis writes for the end of each issue explaining his process and inspiration for this story just adds to the overall creepiness of it.

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