From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Imagine waking up in a pitch-black train wreck filled with broken glass and bodies. No one answers when you call for help—and as you begin to orient yourself, you realize that this might be because everyone around you is dead. Mochizuki opens this story with the wide, terror-struck eyes of schoolboy Aoki Teru as he wakes up into just such a nightmare, and from there, the suspense never lets up. Not that this is a particularly fast-paced book—instead of frenzied action, we get fine gradations of panic and exhaustion. Each new piece of information deepens a growing sense of dread: not only has the train crashed, it's also been sealed in by falling rocks. Aoki is not entirely alone, but of the two other companions he finds, one is unconscious and the other is going crazy. And then there's the strange, stifling heat. Mochizuki's narrative pacing is so deft, and his drawings so effective at communicating nuances of emotion that the story unfolds for us with the same urgency and immediacy as it does for Aoki and his companions. The result is an emotionally and psychologically compelling drama that promises to be an unforgettable journey into darkness with future volumes.
(Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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From School Library Journal
Grade 10 Up Deeply psychological and dark,
Dragon Head is a spectacularly scary and suspenseful tale. On his return home from a class trip, Aoki Teru is on a train that derails while inside a tunnel and is knocked unconscious. When he comes to, he finds his classmates, teachers, and train personnel dead. Searching for survivors and supplies, he encounters two other students: unconscious Ako Seto and deranged Nobou Takashi. The tunnel has collapsed, leaving no escape. The three teens are surrounded by gruesome carnage; the food is running out; the tunnel mysteriously keeps getting hotter and hotter; Ako is severely injured, and Nobou is seriously losing his mind. Teru must keep himself and the others together. Blood-spattered illustrations with heavy detail to eyes convey much of the visceral experience of the three main characters and helps convey terror where words cannot. This book does an excellent job of introducing the series and building tension as well as readers' interest in where the plot is going. Sinister and fast paced, with a fair amount of bloodshed and raw language, this first volume of 10 is a well-done psychological horror story that should appeal to fans of the genre.
Jennifer Feigelman, Goshen Public Library and Historical Society, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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