Ink and Possession

Jack's always been the sidekick; the boring, steady, go-along guy whose the perfect audience. Charlie's the fun one with the hip, dark looks, the right clothes and the cool attitude. However, when Charlie's Dad splits, even Charlie's cool is shaken. He's locked into a knot of pain and fury into which Jack is too timid to intrude, and when a stranger runs into him on a London street, Jack fears that Carlie's impulsivity and rage is going to get the both of them neck deep in all kinds of unpleasantness.

As it turns out, Jack's right -- more right than he could possibly know. 'Cause what Charlie's gotten them into is a secret society -- that's supposed to guard the resting place of a demon whose only goal in his dark and twisted life is to awaken a dragon which will unravel the fabric of the universe.

Small detail: the demon's escaped, and the secret society members are dying, fast. They're in need of new members, and suddenly Charlie has all the right moves.

But ...where did he get them? And what gives with that cool black tat that's suddenly insinuated itself all over his back and down his arms?

But soon the bad outweighs the cool, and things get mucho, mucho weird. Charlie's not acting like himself. It may be it's not just his best friend in there anymore... from the black tattoo that flows over his body at times, Jack's figured it out: Charlie's possessed.

And it's up to boring, steady, go-along Jack

                      ...to go to hell and save the world.

This is... a trippy book, with some lighthearted moments that catch you by surprise and make it a little lighter. It may have as much in terms of deconstruction as you might want -- there are a few "whys" in the philosophical realm that get unanswered, but it's definitely fast-paced action and a sidekick character the reader actually cares about.

Buy this book from an independent bookstore near you!

X-posted at Guys Lit Wire.