Dead Men

Foster ferociously and confidently propels this full-throttle odyssey of assassination, the first in the Libros de Inferno trilogy, to depths of gut-punching horror rarely glimpsed in a debut. Three death row inmates are resurrected shortly after execution; all are dubbed John Smith and unleashed by a mysterious figure known as the Priest. He sends them on a series of clean-up operations with gargantuan body counts. Foster sketches a shadowy government conspiracy as the backdrop and deftly handles the name problem: one killer adopts the name Alice, and another is so horrific he is known only as the Ghoul, leaving the third as John Smith. Smith and Alice, in a series of intensely constructed set pieces, descend on a darkened slaughterhouse replete with hooks and jangling chains, before moving on to a mining village with terrifying residents. Frequent and intense appearances by intriguing side characters provide only hazy hints at the larger story. Foster’s confidence and effectiveness are shown in an abandoned hospital, already the scene of grisly torture, where the depths of his dark imaginings descend rapidly from disturbing to downright skin-crawling. With more questions raised than answered, Foster establishes ample intrigue and horrified fascination to draw readers back to finish the trilogy. (Aug.)