Crooked Little Vein


Yesterday I finished reading Warren Ellis’ first novel, Crooked Little Vein. If you are wondering what I thought of it, let’s put it this way, I read it in about three hours. I absolutely loved it and could not put it down whatsoever.

Some of you probably know that Ellis is my favorite comic book writer. I will read anything he puts out, and he never lets me down. Transmetropolitan battles with the Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series as my favorite series of all time.

The book follows the adventure of Mike McGill, a private detective given the task of finding the Secret Constitution. A book which will help bring morality back to the United States. The government lost the book around the 50s and since then the country has gone down the tubes. Or so the powers that be would have us believe.

On his way, Mike teams up with Trix, a college girl who believes in polyamorous relationships and being part of what the government would call immoral lifestyles. Together they encounter all sorts of crazy groups of people, such as guys who inject saline into their testicles to rich people with STD’s who have sex with children and place bets on which will die first from some disease. The different scenes will freak you out, but also leave you laughing your asses off because of the way that Mike observes them.

The book pushes home the idea that things that were considered taboo years ago, and belonged to the underground, are now mainstream because of technology. The internet allows people to hear about things much faster than ever before. Mike struggles with the idea of accepting these people as normal members of society, but he no longer understands what the term “normal” really means.

Many of these stories are adapted from news articles which Ellis posted on his website as research material. Or from pictures people would send him and his unique imagination extrapolated stories around them.

So, if you want to read something funny, weird, but will also make you think. This book would be perfect for you. Also, if you are a fan of Transmet, you should read it because Mike McGill’s narration is very similar to that of Spider Jerusalem’s.

Author: Ngewo