Book Review: Wraith

WRAITH | Joe Hill
08.12.2014 | IDW Publishing
Rating: 5/5 stars

Joe Hill’s NOS4A2 brought readers the man known as Charlie Talent Manx III. WRAITH brings readers the prequel to what made Manx who he is and how Christmasland came to be. Originally released as a comic mini-series, each chapter within WRAITH is an issue from the series. Hill starts off giving readers a brief look into Manx’s backstory, which is something I was very interested in and would have loved to seen expanded even further. The main story within WRAITH focuses on a group of convicts and two prison guards who end up in an escape attempt gone wrong. Thankfully one of the prisoners knows a man who specializes in making people disappear, a man named Charlie Manx and he has just the place in mind to hide. A trip to Christmasland awaits!

The illustrations by Charles Paul Wilson III truly brought to life my vision of Christmasland and Manx in an indescribably brilliant way! I found myself repeated holding the book way too close to my face just to catch every little detail on the pages. The illustrations are creepy, yet beautiful. They set the mood to the story perfectly.

I’m glad that I read ahead that WRAITH was a prequel because I likely would have gone in expecting a retelling if not. I think that WRAITH is a perfect companion to NOS4A2 and a treat for readers who have already loved Hill’s original work. I would love to see another mini-series some time in the future related to Manx and Christmasland. Hopefully with the NOS4A2 show on the horizon my bookworm dreams will come true!