XIII Book 2: Where The Indian Walks

XIII Book 2: Where The Indian Walks, by Jean Van Hamme & William Vance, Cinebook

IN BOOK 1 of this series we were introduced to a man with amnesia, someone trained in combat, possibly a murderer, and bearing the Roman numerals XIII on his shoulder. People were after him for a variety of reasons, most of them wanting him dead with a number of innocent individuals losing their own lives instead...

All XIII has to go on regarding his past is a photo of him with a woman named Kim Rowland and on the reverse of it there’s a message that tells him to meet her “Where the Indian Walks”. This book, we’re due to find out where that is.

But it takes some time before he does. First off, in a snowbound military base a General Ben Carrington tells XIII that he is Steve Rowland, a man thought to be dead, husband to the mysterious Kim, and someone who was personally trained by the general himself.

It doesn’t ring any bells with XIII, but it does make sense, and he looks forward to re-establishing contact with his aged father. The problem there being his father’s infirm and has a second wife who’s cheating on him with her brother in law. It all turns very Dallas with a murder mystery angle, and there may be a need to get out a piece of paper and keep a scoreboard as XIII’s enemies from the first book start reappearing.

Suffice to say, XIII finds the place where the Indian walks, and inside a log cabin Kim Rowland herself. But then comes the twist, and she’s not who he thinks she is, more to the point nor is he! Those Roman numerals appear to have been hatched on a number of other people too, and it may be too late to find out who and what because armed police arrive and take him in for the murder of his own father, or rather Steve Rowland’s.

Ignoring the fact that it was later made into a modern TV series, Van Hamme wrote this series like it was some late seventies/early eighties American big screen thriller where I’d expect an aged Henry Fonda to put in a cameo role, while his daughter might play a more pivotal role and actors like Alan Alda would have serious character parts, that’s the way it plays out for me anyway. While Vance’s art connects with my childhood memories of so many British anthologies where we’d have craftsmen of this calibre pumping out two to three pages every week, often drawn by European studios; I miss those days with a passion but books like this help bridge the gap.

For more information on XIII visit Cinebook.

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