Epeolatry Book Review: Draw You In, Volume 2 by Jasper Bark
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Title: Draw You In, Volume 2 – Secret Origins
Author: Jasper Bark
Genre: horror fiction, horror fantasy, conspiracy thrillers
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Publication Date: 21st June, 2024
Synopsis: Draw You In Vol.2 – Secret Origins is the second in a mind-bending trilogy of novels.
Are there any barriers between fiction and reality?
Linda is beginning to wonder. Once again she puts her comics career on hold to join Richard and Agent McPherson in the hunt for R. L. Carver’s lost masterpiece Tales That Draw You In. Rumored to be cursed, this legendary graphic novel put everyone who tried to publish it out of business. But Tales That Draw You In might unlock more than just their case. It could be the key to the secret history of the United States.
As they move from an Ashram on the West Coast to the hallowed halls of Harvard, Linda, Richard and McPherson begin to piece together the dark secrets of Harvard’s hidden history and the even darker secrets of the nation’s founding fathers. They uncover the existence of a sinister cabal known as the Shadows in the Cave whose deep state machinations threaten the lives of everyone on the planet.
Described as ‘Kavalier and Clay meets Clive Barker’, it contains stories within stories that explore horror in all its subgenres, from quiet to psychological horror, from hardcore to cosmic horror.
Having read Volume 1 in this trilogy, I moved on to Volume 2, eager to see what was in store for Linda Corrigan and wondering how it would compare to the first book which I loved.
The nature of discussing a trilogy automatically indicates a tendency to include spoilers relating to the first in the series which can be difficult. However, if I declare that Linda Corrigan lives, I don’t think that’s giving away too much. And initially, the pace and style follow very much that of the first instalment.
The trio – Linda, Richard and FBI Agent Macpherson are still trying to discover what happened to comic artist genius R.L. Carver, as well as to people they know who not only disappeared but whose very existence seem to have been wiped from the minds of everyone else. So far, they have unearthed the existence of a secret organisation: Shadows in the Cave, and continue to follow the clues to determine more about Carver.
But it is at this point that the style of the story becomes a bit more ‘Da Vinci Code’ and less like the book I had been enjoying. The story continues to be well-written but it hit a point where for several chapters the complexity/ingenuity of the riddles and puzzles they had to solve seemed to take priority over the actual story. It felt as if the characters had taken second place to puzzles themselves and I will admit to wishing half of them had been left out. It was just a bit … too much.
Like the earlier volume, the book also included interludes where comic panels and their protagonist comes to life to dispose of a person in the most horrible way. Yet again, like the puzzles, the Interlude (Part 2 in the book) felt a touch too long so that sometimes it seemed as if Linda had disappeared from the book. It was the thread of her story and my interest in her which had kept me reading.
As we emerge from the Interlude, however, the pace and style I enjoyed so much picked up again so that I finished the book in the right frame of mind to dive into Volume 3.
Overall, Volume 2 filled in more of Carver’s background, described more of the purpose of the Shadows of the Cave and their beliefs (which I found a little hard to follow at times) and ultimately emphasised Linda’s role in the whole business. Whilst well-written – and very clever at times – I felt somewhat disappointed that I had not enjoyed it as much as the first, perhaps because Linda did not feel as ‘present’ in the pages as before.
/5
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Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her longer work includes the folk horror novels, The Five Turns of the Wheel, Reborn, and The Woodcutter, and the post-apocalyptic/horror/sci-fi The Barricade, and the novellas, Bottled and Paused. Her dark poetry has been published in her collections Lilith Rising (co-authored with Shane Douglas Keene), Foundlings (co-authored with Cindy O’Quinn) and Metallurgy, as well as the HWA Poetry Showcase Volumes VI, VII, VIII, and IX and Black Spot Books Under Her Skin. She can be found supporting indie authors at HorrorTree.com via the weekly Indie Bookshelf Releases. She can be found at https://stephanieellis.org and on Blue Sky as stephellis.bsky.social.
