PENNY DREADFUL is a sequel to Baer’s novel, KISS ME, JUDAS, though, never having read the first one, I didn’t realize this was a sequel until after I’d finished it. I could pretty much keep up, I just thought the author jumped into the story pretty quickly without giving much background information. The book follows an ex-cop who is searching for his missing friend, Detective Sky. His leads bring him to investigate a strange, drug-induced role-playing game, “The Game of Tongues.” The plot is bizarre, the characters are strange, and the language is lyrical and extremely stylized. Maybe that sounds terrible, but I found the combination of all of those factors to be fascinating and fun. I quickly got into this book, even when I was slightly confused. It’s a little like reading Shakespeare in the sense that you have to invest more brain power if you want to “get it,” but it’s good stuff if you do a little digging.