XIII Book 1: The Day of the Black Sun
XIII Book 1: The Day of the Black Sun, by Jean Van Hamme & William Vance, Cinebook
A MAN man with the Roman numerals XIII tattooed onto his chest gets washed up on a coastal shore suffering from a bullet wound. He’s rescued by an elderly couple and a former doctor turned alcoholic.
In the days that follow he regains his health and his wit, but has no memory of who he is. And that’s unfortunate because gunmen come looking for him...
It is neither reflexes nor instinct but some memory of the man he was before that leads the amnesiac into action. His actions come too late to save the elderly couple but he manages to make sure only one of the gunmen escape. It’s then that clues to his former life begin to appear. A little too easily to move the story forward I first thought, but now I’m wondering if they were planted to lead him in a certain direction, but for what purpose I have no idea.
A photo of him with a woman is found and he heads to the city in search of her, only to find she has fled. While in the city an awful lot of people seem to know who he is and come looking for him, primarily a Lieutenant Hemmings who’s after the money our man tattooed XIII has apparently got for something called Black Sun. Well, that money’s in a safe deposit in a bank and the key to it is handily found in the woman from the photo’s apartment, despite it being ransacked by someone obviously looking for something else – or made to look like that?
Suffice to say XIII escapes Hemmings and his fellow crooked cops’ clutches but he falls into the hands of a Colonel Amos and his agency, who begin their interrogation of him by asking him who he is!
It transpires a president was assassinated, and footage of a man resembling XIII was found at the scene of the crime. Newspaper headlines dubbed the tragic event “The Day of the Black Sun”. XIII despite being amnesiac can’t believe he’s an assassin himself, and the revelations that there were other men marked with different Roman numerals who may have been involved with him leads to further mystery.
XIII escapes, and returns to the coast, only to find the original surviving gunmen waiting for him with a man called Mongoose. Violence and tragedy ensue but ultimately XIII escapes.
And there the first book ends, akin to The Fugitive in place but taking other cues from an array of TV cop shows of yesteryear. Things appear a little too convenient for a writer of Van Hamme’s reputation and proven skill so I can’t get over the feeling that I’ve read a book littered with red herrings and that there’s also something more than a CIA styled MK Ultra mind experiment at work here; which is the only theory I’ve got so far for this mystery. Put it this way, it’s made me want to check out further volumes to try and second guess the eventual outcome.
There’s also no denying that Willam Vance is one phenomenal artist – his painted cover is professional and pithy enough for the thriller novel atmosphere required to intrigue the causal purchaser but inside he’s absolutely brilliant! Photo reference undoubtedly comes into play for some of the background scenes and props are so intricate in their detailing, but the way everything is choreographed and the motion of his characters in action is something to behold – Think the great, late Gil Kane’s His Name is Savage but that’s a rough comparison at best, as Vance’s work here is so much better, being less melodramatic and more emotional effective in the European vein.
For more information on XIII visit Cinebook.
Sponsored by Target Media.
