The Tower Chronicles starts with an extended chase scene. A woman is running and screaming and seems to fear that she is about to be sexually assaulted or murdered. As the scene unfolds, we see that she is pursued by John Tower, that she's not quite human, and that Tower's motivation is not that of a street criminal. If this were a movie, the aftermath of the chase is where the title would light up the screen in towering letters.
Two stories follow. The first begins with a Russian mobster hiring Tower to determine whether a traitor in his organization is actually as dead as his corpse would seem to suggest. Tower, we learn, is adept at tracking down people who manage to be both dead and not dead. The second story pits Tower against a serial killer who has baffled the FBI -- but then, the FBI devotes more of its energies to political terrorists than to vampires, so it isn't surprising it would privatize the investigation by hiring a specialist.
The stories are conventional but entertaining. If this series is to work over the long haul -- and it might -- Tower's personality will need to be developed in greater detail. At this point depth of character has been sacrificed for action, but a final scene suggests that an ongoing plot thread will soon develop that should tell us more about what motivates Tower to battle the supernatural.
The art is refreshingly bold, rich with vivid detail. It reminds me of the ghoulish art that used to grace titles like Eerie, except the production values are higher.