The Coldest City A Graphic Novel

November, 1989. Just days before the fall of the Berlin Wall, MI6's number 2 man in Berlin has been murdered, ostensibly because he had just received a list to end all lists. But British Intelligence doesn't trust anyone, let alone their number 1 man there. They decide to send in an experienced yet unrelated officer to uncover what's really going on.

This is my first graphic novel. I must admit, the format threw me a bit, so I had to go through it twice. Overall, it seems to be a fine format for straight-forward action, but not well-suited to twists and turns and multiple characters or narrators. Either that, or the writer and illustrator didn't do their job well enough. It's just a little too difficult to distinguish characters without the benefits of narrative (like in a novel) or with voices (like in a movie).

Having said that, it's a fairly interesting story, and it goes by quickly. Not character-driven by any means, but decent enough. Lots of twists--and that may be the problem. Once we get to the end, it seems like it all boils down to a plot twist looking for a backstory. It's rather unsatisfying for its lack of any depth, yet it was an interesting experience.

I probably won't read anything else by this author as I wasn't sufficiently impressed with this particular one, but the soon-to-be-released movie (starring Charlize Theron and James McAvoy), if done well, could right so many wrongs that it may be worthwhile seeing.

For people wondering about the quality of the story, I'd say it's more Deighton than it is le Carré.

Two issues I had with the story are:

1. We can surmise who killed Ber-2, but the author doesn't give even a reliable hint. It's up to the reader to do the author's work. One clue would've been nice.
2. That's a HUGE coincidence that Lorraine was the one chosen to go to Berlin.