It's hard to call the teamwork between Brubaker and Phillips anything but wonderful, but this is just such a filler of a sequel that it's hard not to be a little disappointed.



In this second volume, the story again bounces between the present day with Nicolas Lash and Josephine's past which this time takes place in 1970's Los Angeles.

In the present day segments, Lash is desperately trying to figure out who the hell Josephine was and why she rescued him and the crime novel manuscript that his godfather wrote but never published. In the process of trying to figure out why and how he has been involved with what's obviously a pretty shady situation, and why he cares so much about this woman he knows nothing about, Nicolas is pursued by some seriously scary men.



Meanwhile, in 1970's L.A., Jo has settled into a life as a recluse, trying to avoid contact with anyone other than her housekeeper/caretaker as she searches for a way to get a book that might have the answers she needs. Trouble is, said book resides in the hands of the sinister cult which wants to get their tentacled hands on her as soon as possible for purposes as yet unknown. The cult's leader can no longer use his supernatural abilities to track Jo thanks to Walter's actions at the end of the last volume but said cult leader is doing his best to find her with the money and connections that his cult has to the Hollywood industry. Additional side characters get involved with both the cult and Jo, allowing Jo to build a plan to get her hands on the book she so desperately needs.

Brubaker and Phillips are clearly building the suspense here, giving the reader a little more information on Jo's past, while still keeping you desperately wanting more, as well as giving a little insight into the cult's leader and his activities. Needless to say, he is one twisted son of a bitch.



The problem for me was that I didn't care about the additional side characters (Miles and Suzy) in the same way that I cared for Hank and Walter so it felt so much like filler. And after how amazing the first volume was, I can't help but feel like this one's a bit of a let down.



Despite that, this series is building towards something wonderfully dark and I'd recommend it with the caveat that it's not quite as good as the first one.