Written by Jeff Jensen, the son of the detective protagonist, GRK is a chilling look into a side of humanity that is not deep, dark, mysterious and completely romanticized (cough*Dexter*cough), but frighteningly shallow and absent. Portrayed as taking place over a series of interviews paired with flashbacks to memories of fresh crime scenes, GRK makes the reader grapple with the same frustrations as the protagonist, who after chasing the killer for over 20 years is suddenly face to face with not some criminal mastermind, but someone who is decidedly subhuman, someone who has stolen the lives of countless mothers, daughters and sisters for seemingly no reason.

As the protagonist pushes the killer to confess his crimes, to explain his motives, to reveal some way of understanding the atrocities, the reader is drawn into this brilliantly written and illustrated black and white graphic novel. Jensen’s superb dialogue and Jonathan Case’s artwork combine to implant the story, as well as the same question that obsesses the protagonist, into the head of the reader. At times I was unsure if they had the right killer, but the question of guilt quickly fades as it is replaced by the omnipresent question of why? I will not spoil the ending of this graphic novel, but I highly recommend that anyone who wants to keep themselves up at night not reliving gristly murders (although the details of the crimes are EXTREMELY heinous, more so because they are based on real events), but instead pondering a portrait of humanity stripped down to something so lacking it will make you shudder, should pick up this graphic novel.

5 out of 5 skulls