This book reads like a 1940's noir film, smoky and deliberate. I love Alice immediately, with her English directness and full-flavor narrating, giving us snippets of her past through quick, tactful reflections. Alice's father created a graphic novel called Mister Tender, in which a demonic bartender influences people to do evil things. It influenced two girls to apparently stab Alice in a brutal attack which lead her, her brother and mother to flee to the States. Alice's father, Mister Tender's creator, was then murdered some years later. The novel reads like a graphic novel--you can see the punchy, thick-lined images behind your eyes as the pages whirl past. It's a fast read already, and I'm definitely looking forward to more of this story, and from Carter Wilson.