Page 45 Review by Stephen
London, December 1942 and, in the extensive wine cellar of an expensive house, an important man called Wilkes sits tied to the chair. He's on the inner circle of the war effort fighting the Nazis. A second man stands imperiously above him, drinking Cognac, then slits the belly of his own forearm, right down the length. Some time later the mansion is pulverised by an explosion from within, but the man who walks away looks uncommonly like Wilkes.
Romania, December 1942, and there's a young girl overlooking the snow-crested mountains, recalling a battle between the Ottomans and her brother, during which her brother gathered all his prisoners - all 28,000 of them - and had them impaled on the ridge of one of those mountains. That took the wind out of the Sultan's sails, and Ottomans fell back in retreat.
"And you were there?"
"Of course... I was there, beside the Sultan."
There's a war going on. Or are there two? Abroad there's a resistance on one side, and a series of horrific experiments on the other. Back at home there's an investigation into the body found in the burnt out mansion. It's all connected, but the team sent to unravel the puzzle are only just beginning to scratch the sinister surface, and they have troubles within. Who knew that a safe combination could be so poignant?
Every time I review PLANETARY I keep meaning to include Laura in the credits because her coluring contributes so much to the beauty of the books, and does so equally here. Great script, well balanced, and the remarkable art of John Cassady.
