Wonderland City

“Back before I met the Devil and bled my soul out into his hands, I’d have thought chasing a cigar-munching white bunny with pink eyes was something I’d only run into after I chewed on a few peyote buttons.
Now it was a typical Tuesday.”

Only Rhys Ford can take a classic like Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and script a novella that is so different from the original and yet so very much the same that I was practically speechless reading it. In this world, Wonderland City grew out of the end of the Queen of Hearts’s kingdom when she was executed and the other queens divided up what was left. Here when you come through the looking glass it’s because the devil has your soul. Xander Spade has been here a long time but aging happens at a glacial pace here, so he basically still looks like the dumb kid who was stupid enough to make the deal that changed his very existence.

When Az comes to Xander for a favor in return for his soul and his ability to leave and go home, well… once Xander hears what has come through the mirror and been allowed loose in this reality, he knows he’s got to get this thing back to its own time and place or Wonderland City will shatter and implode. This thing doesn’t work well within the confines of this reality’s “rules”. Of course, Xander doesn’t want Jean Michel’s help but the damn man won’t stop trying to protect him even though everyone knows exactly what kind of weapon Xander is. The push and pull between these two men is just saturated with sexual tension.

I’ve said about all I can say about this story without revealing spoilers and I really don’t want to ruin it for anyone. Trust me when I say that Xander is more than I could have imagined and the ending blew me away, in more ways than one. The author’s interpretation of some beloved favorites like the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, and the Ace of Spades is truly brilliant and shouldn’t be missed. The grittiness and the sheer darkness of this story is utterly magnificent.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews