The Case Files of Harlan Falk

by Cy Dethan, Scott James (Artist), Alex Johns (Artist)

A respected hostage negotiation expert loses his mind when a bizarre kidnapping case results in a child's unexplained death. His wild talk of murderous monsters born from the victim's own imagination is impossible to believe, and the catastrophe sees him driven out of business in a cycle of alcoholism, denial and despair. Several years later, when a new case arises bearing all the hallmarks of the same killers, Harlan Falk emerges from obscurity a changed man: a monster negotiator. Using resources and methods beyond the scope of conventional investigators, he sets out to finally close the case that cost him his career.

130 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A graphic novel gift from my new publisher, this tells the story of Harlan Falk, a crisis negotiation specialist, who negotiates with monsters, zombies, ghosts and other supernatural creatures.

It's a brilliant concept and executed really well. It's very funny. I loved Harlan as a character, and the way the story put together his background and the history of his partnership with orc, William, worked really well.

It wasn't great in terms of female representation - only one female character really had much of a part, and there were two others who looked almost exactly like her and wore the same pink top stretched over their unnecessarily large breasts. But psychic Vicky was good for the few pages she got.

And overall, it was a great story with really good visuals and a lot of excellent snappy banter.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A crisis negotiator for monsters. I think I would have liked this a little better if it was lighter in tone. The main story has Falk dealing with a kid whose imaginary friend killed his parents. His negotiating with zombies at the beginning was much more fun.