Savage Membrane: A Cal McDonald Mystery (Paperback)

by Steve Niles (Author) "I had vague memories of crashing a costume party with a couple of ghouls I know..." (more)
Key Phrases: drainage pipe, Whitney Green, Edgar Cain, Edgar Gain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Savage Membrane takes readers on a bizarre trip through a world populated by monsters, freaks and ghouls sharing America with humans. Cal has a special talent for spotting and seeking out the strange beings walk among us. They live as postal workers and taxi drivers, lurking in the sewers and roaming the streets ever awake and always on the hunt. Cal MacDonald has made a career helping and hunting the dark creatures. Among the docile ghouls of the city he is a friend. But to most, those who prey on innocent human lives, Cal is a sworn enemy. Now Cal finds himself in the middle of the strangest adventure of his life. People are dropping dead all over Washington DC and the cause is a mystery. The bodies are unmarked, yet their brains are simply gone. Cal will have to use all of his resources and dig deep into his past to unravel the truth, which is more terrible and absurd than he could have ever expected. Savage Membrane is a hyperactive mixture of hard-boiled mystery, horror and comedy, written in a fast-paced style that readers of all genres will enjoy. Illustrated by award winning artist Ashley Wood of Hellspawn, PopBot and X-Men.

From the Publisher
Steve Niles is the writer for Spawn: The Dark Ages, Hellspawn and the new upcoming series from Image Comics entitled Fused!. He has also contributed to several issues of Todd McFarlane's flagship series Spawn and is co-writer on the upcoming film Spawn 2 for Sony Pictures. Prior to his work for McFarlane, Steve had his own publishing company where he published, edited and co-published several anthologies, as well as adapted works by Clive Barker and Richard Matheson. Originally from Washington D.C., Steve now resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Nikki and their two black cats.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: IDW Publishing (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097122823X
• ISBN-13: 978-0971228238
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,291,604 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars That's It?, May 8, 2006

By	W. Boyd (Down South) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Savage Membrane: Cal McDonald, Monster Hunter, Volume 1 (Cal Mcdonald Book 1) (Bk. 1) (Paperback)

Reading this book was like watching a sitcom on TV: short, sweet, and quickly faded from memory.
There was potential here, and I wanted to like 'Savage Membrane', but the story was way under developed. I am a slow reader, and it only took me about 2 hours to read this book. At 208 pages with wide spaced, large type, there was very little substance to this book, and next to no character development.
A decent short story, not a good novel.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Did I like it??, May 29, 2004

By	Igor (Horror-Web.Com) - See all my reviews

Written by Steve Niles and illustrated by Ashley Wood this book is AMAZING... I have enjoyed the comics, but the graphic novels are absolutely to die for!! Why??

The atmosphere he creates is gritty, dirty, and real - you can feel these characters, you can see the locations, and you can sense the danger, as you giggle at the dark humor sprinkled through out.

The storytelling is perfectly paced and keeps your attention right to the end - smooth, lots of action, great dialogue... genius! Short chapters suck you in until the wee morning hours as you tell yourself, 'well, they're short, i'll just read ONE more'...

IDW Publishing carries a 'Warning: Mature Reading' tag for the book, but honestly it's barely outside of pg13. There is drug/alcohol use by our star witness, er loveable character Cal, but honestly... if YOU could see what he sees you'd stay drunk too!

Did I like it?? Loved it! Definately a five star rating Cal and his 'ghoul' sidekick Mo'Lock are definately worth your time and money - find this now!!

-Horrorwench

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent sacrastic film noir horror!, June 26, 2002

By	Francesca Sorenson (Tarzana, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This cross of pulp comedy, film noir detective work, and Lovecraftian horror works on so many levels! It's an excellent book in all senses and should be reccomended to everyone.