Writer Condon (
That Texas Blood) and an assortment of illustrators present an adaptation of four linked novellas by Gifford (author of
Wild at Heart). The book opens with a grisly discovery—two headless bodies found in a New Orleans factory—before cutting away to lovestruck duo Big Betty Stalcup and Miss Cutie Early, whose flirtatious banter as they careen down the highway would be downright sweet if it wasn’t immediately obvious that they’re the ones responsible for the murders. These unhinged ex-convicts are on a mission to dismantle the patriarchy, and they’ll leave more than a few mutilated corpses in their wake before the tale is finished. As Betty and Cutie’s twisted romance continues to contrast against their horrifying acts, other characters (laconic lawyer Rollo Lamar, some aimless bikers, a pair of teenage evangelists, and a 12-year-old girl named Marble Lesson who’s determined to keep her father out of trouble) are swept up in the carnage.
VERDICT Gifford’s madcap, macabre stories may feature ritualistic murder, kidnappings, violent automobile collisions, and other assorted calamities, but Condon and his collaborators prove less interested in eliciting prurient thrills than in exploring doomed love, the power of belief, and moral decay.
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