After the first omnibus of The Mask, volume 2 is more of 'fillers' with some good stories, some not. As always, the formula of the stories aren't much different than the rest. Here's the low down of what's inside of volume 2:

The Hunt for Green October - Every mercenary in the world is looking for the green mask and now, Ray Tuttle, a poor pawn shop owner bought the green menace and wear it to wreck havoc in Sky City! With so much chaos, Lieutenant Kellaway will do any thing to stop Big-Head from destroying people's lives! (3.5 out of 5)

World Tour - The Mask has gone to another dimension... Dark Horse Universe style! When mentally unstable General Blaire wears the mask, he visits Steel Harbor, Arcadia and Golden City to make chaos looks like a walk in the park. All the heroes from DHCU will do anything to stop Big Head! (2.5 out of 5)

Southern Discomfort - The Mask is now in New Orleans! Voodoo and madness stumbles upon the south where Big Head (worn by Eric Martin) is looking for his missing sister. He will tear New Orleans apart to find her, even if the supernatural and alligators is in his way! (3 out of 5)

Night of the Return of the Living Ipkiss... Kinda - The return of Stanley Ipkiss, zombified and wearing the mask to seek revenge in this short story! (3 out of 5)

Toys in the Attic - Aldo Krasker is on the edge and looking for new ideas to create a new toyline of toys when he bought a mask that gives him the idea he needs... and more! Out for revenge when he was mocked and ridicule during his younger days, Big Head is fulfilling what he wants, which is revenge, in a way New York City will never be the same again! And Lieutenant Kellaway is going to stop (again) Big Head from destroying the city. (3 out of 5)

Various writers have wrote their version of The Mask and so far, I enjoyed Evan Dorkin's The Hunt for Green October the most. The rest felt like a repeated formula that doesn't serve any better than the original two. Overall - I love and enjoy reading The Mask and its one of those comics that Dark Horse had a title that truly defines DHC.

Title:

 

Formerly Fingerman

 

Who wrote it:

Joe Nelms, former ad-man and author of The Last Time I Died.

 

Plot in a box:

 

A ne'er-do-well advertising exec who's leveled his career and his marriage (more or less—the marriage part has more to do with his wife's infidelity than the network of lies he habitually spins) sort of, kind of, maybe witnesses a mafia hit...and lies through his teeth to create a new life via the Federal Witness Protection Program.

 

Invent a new title for this book:

 

The Sneeze That Changed Things

 

Read this if you liked:

 

You need a taste for humor, current pop culture, and, well, the mafia. So...The Godfather AND Saturday Night Live. It's the combo that counts here.

 

Meet the book's lead(s):

 

Brad Fingerman is a lazy advertising exec who coulda-shoulda-woulda been an artist...and somehow floats through a decent, mid-level career until a meteoric rise to success....and a catastrophic mistake that drops him into the professional netherworld. He has no qualms about lying to cover his ass. So, you know, a real Mad Men type, minus the sexy Jon Hamm-ness.

 

Brittany Marinakos is an anorexic FBI agent who hopes to find fame via a big mafia bust.

 

Stump is a straight-laced bodyguard who doesn't sleep, doesn't drink, and is trying to keep Brad alive long enough to testify against the head of one of the most powerful

New York Mafioso families.

 

Said lead(s) would be portrayed in a movie by:

 

Brad should be played by Chris Pratt. Because I said so. 

 

Brittany could be played by any number of too-skinny Hollywood ladies. 

 

Stump should and would HAVE to be played by Chris Hemsworth. Once again, because I said so, and I'm casting this movie. Dammit.

 

Setting (would you want to live there?):

 

New York City? Absolutely. Minus the mafia hit part.

And Arizona? I'm not sure. I've never been. You tell me—is it a nice place to live?

 

What was your favorite sentence?

Advertising tends to be the refuge of cowardly artists—the almost-were screenwriters, painters, photographers, sculptors, glassblowers, novelists and playwrights who didn't have the derring-do to try their craft without a comprehensive health plan and a company-matching 401(k). Pussies.

The Verdict:

 

I really enjoyed Formerly Fingerman. It saw me through a binge-reading sick-day, successfully making me smile while I felt terrible. The tongue-in-cheek tone, chock full of irony and sarcasm, happens to be one of my favorite tones. It's positively goofy sometimes, and I often found myself wondering: Could this really happen? The answer was almost always a resounding: Sort of? Kind of? Maybe? Who knows?

Because it's close enough to reality to strike home, and far enough away to seem unlikely. 

 

But I like that. I do. I like to wonder if a dude who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time deserves a do-over. Especially when he's as narcissistic and moronic as Brad Fingerman.

 

And Joe Nelms can write. He really can! He's smart, funny, and snarky, and he kept me interested throughout the entire tale. If I had to criticize him, though, I'd say this: an editor I know once pointed out how tricky it is to use contemporary pop culture references in a story. You run the risk of alienating future readers who have no idea who Simon Cowell is (because let's face it - Cowell's 15 minutes of fame have to be ending soon, right?). I've pulled plenty of these types of references from my own story, but Formerly Fingerman is full of 'em. Brittany Spears references. Contemporary reality TV references. All kinds of movie star references. Formerly Fingerman has them all.

I'm not sure, then, how well this story will hold up through the generations. But for this, for our generation, it's a fun, quirky romp through the world of advertising, the mafia, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I enjoyed the read quite a bit, and I think you will too.

 

Bookshots review written for LitReactor.com by Leah Rhyne

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review

Two Degrees Closer to Hell is a collection of eerie short stories perfect for the Halloween season. Some of the stories had a psychological thriller vibe which I quite enjoyed. As in any collection, there were some I liked a lot more than others. These aren't just slasher stories, they will make you think.

Every story is fast-paced, even the longer ones. I know I'm probably a bit twisted, but the ending on a few made me smirk-- one I wouldn't have guessed in a million years! I really liked this collection. Irony, sarcasm, karma it's all in there.

As far as the scariness factor, there wasn't a single story that scared me... though I've been told that I don't scare easily. That's not to say they weren't eerie or chilling. Will they scare you? Only one way to find out!

A fresh take on a post-apocalyptic zombie-infested world, but ultimately this is really like a long short story with no explanation and no resolution.

As you all know, I love a good zombie book and I grab one I read it in a flash. This novel premise is good but the ending not so good.

The story begins after the "end of the world" and zombies are infesting the city of NY. The residents of a building are starving when a girl arrives walking freely amidst the zombies. She arrives as a saviour and start doing chores for them. But this girl is different.
Some residents start wondering why can't she do what she can and not they. After months in isolation the mind of the residents is completly destroyed, paranoid so the interaction between them and the girl and the zombies is one of the highlight of the novel.

The ending was quite different from what I expected and that was dissapointed. I think it was against the setting of the book or the mood.