Trade Marks: The Walking Dead Book Five

I have a colleague who is kind enough to loan me his Walking Dead hardcovers. I appreciate it, as he has saved me well over a hundred dollars so far. I was very interested to see where Robert Kirkman would take the saga in the post-prison era. For the most part, I was not at all disappointed. We meet some new characters and bump into some old friends. There are plenty of threats in both human and zombie form, and several narrow escapes. It is Kirkman's ability to continually manufacture suspense that impresses me the most. Some of the "How do know I can trust you?" exchanges between survivors get a bit repetitive and I have a theory that the apocalypse was started by a carpeting of F-Bombs. Nonetheless, it's a terrifically engaging story, and Charlie Adlard's artwork is beginning to grow on me. My main complaint is the pacing. It is still too brisk for me. A fast moving plot, mixed with super-compressed storytelling does not allow the reader to fully invest with the characters. I feel detached from everyone but Rick and, by extension, Carl. Maybe that's the way Kirkman wants it, but I'm not so sure. Trade Mark: B+