FBI agent Izzie Lefevre has been to the fictional West Coast city of Recondito before, investigating a serial killer alongside local detective Patrick Tevake. Izzie confronted the murderer five years ago and sustained both physical and mental injuries before he was ultimately subdued. She's not ready to return when Patrick calls her about a connection he's discovered between a new street drug and the old case.
Grudgingly, Izzie joins her former colleague and discovers that he may be right: the evidence points to the previous serial killer's plans coming to fruition, even after death.
Teaming up with Dr. Joyce Nguyen, the heavy metal-loving medical examiner and Patrick's love interest, the investigators follow the trail of drugs, hidden laboratories and zombie-like addicts that leads to dark secrets at the heart of Recondito. Luckily, Izzie and Patrick both have relatives steeped in the supernatural--Izzie's grandmother was a voodoo priestess and Patrick's great-uncle a shaman. The investigators are willing to suspend their rational beliefs and search for the truth far beneath the city streets in an abandoned research facility.
Firewalk is as entertaining as can be, filled with humor and a satisfying depth of plot. The characters are skillfully crafted and demonstrate exceptional savvy without becoming implausible. Peering around the corners in Recondito is wicked good fun; Roberson's fantasy comics background (iZombie, Fables, Hellboy) has prepared him to tell this tale of the occult with a marked sense of believability. --Rob LeFebvre, freelance writer and editor