"Black Orchid"

Black Orchid (Neil Gaiman)

There's one great moment in Black Orchid, and it appears right off the bat. (It's also spoiled in the introduction, which I recommend you skip). Unfortunately, once this great moment is passed, the shock, interest, and forward momentum it generates is disappated as the story wanders around and becomes boring and, in the last chapter, nonsensical. In this last chapter, the heroine's ex-husband - a gun runner with no combat skills - somehow and without explanation becomes Billy Badass, sneaking around the jungle blow-darting mercenaries and sneaking up on and murdering a character who's presented as a great hunter. Even worse is the ending, which I am about to spoil:

At the end, the bad guys, paid mercs and thugs, catch up with our heroine, who they've flown down to Brazil to kill or capture, and have been following her through the jungle for days. When they finally catch up to her, they refuse to kill her, because "she's beautiful". Then they leave. Seriously. This is really what happens.

Apparently this is one of Gaiman's first books, and he obviously got better, but I honestly can't even recommend this for Gaiman completions. You're not missing anything except some nice art and one great moment, and that falls pretty short of the price of admission.

Grade: D