Book Review: Rise of the Black Flame by M. Mignola et al.

Rise of the Black Flame written by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, art by Christopher Mitten,  and colors by Dave Stewart

Young girls are kidnapped in 1920s southeast Asia. Two British girls are victims in India, so a British police officer and an Indian officer investigate. A weird lead takes them to Siam, where they encounter an occult investigator, Sarah Jewel, who has her own sidekick, a Cajun woman named Marie-Therese. They hire a guide to take them to the Temple of the Black Flame (buried deep in the jungle, naturally), where a cult is bent on resurrecting an ancient evil by means of human sacrifice--probably the missing children.

The book is a fine example of pseudo-Lovecraftian horror that Mignola is so good at. The story moves at a good pace and twists enough times to be fun. It has enough background within itself that readers who haven't read other Hellboy books (where the Black Flame shows up many times) will not be lost as to what's going on.

Recommended if you enjoy Lovecraftian horror, even if you haven't read other stuff in the Hellboy canon.