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A review by ponch22
Goodnight Paradise by Steve Wands, Alberto Ponticelli, Joshua Dysart, Giulia Brusco
3.0
Heard about TKO Studios on a podcast a few months ago & decided to pick up a few of their novels with the coupon code they offered. I finally had time to read one, and I picked [b:Goodnight Paradise|43672246|Goodnight Paradise|Joshua Dysart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548127229l/43672246._SY75_.jpg|67947515] to start with based on its striking cover art and back-cover logline "Venice Beach, California / Sun. Surf. Sex. Money. Murder." It sounded intriguing...
And the story created by [a:Joshua Dysart|63222|Joshua Dysart|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1389368976p2/63222.jpg] is pretty good—Eddie, a homeless alcoholic living behind a Venice house sublet as several Air BnBs, finds the body of a runaway girl and her dog in a dumpster. He vows to figure out who murdered her and gets caught up in a plot that could make an interesting movie.
However, I had a hard time connecting to the story because [a:Alberto Ponticelli|61325|Alberto Ponticelli|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s artwork was difficult to look at at times. His characters would often have faces or bodies that contorted in ways humans rarely do—one character even had brown eyes in one panel and blue eyes in the panel directly below it (though I guess that would be [a:Giulia Brusco|568976|Giulia Brusco|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s fault, not Ponticelli's). There were other characters who looked completely different between close up, medium, and long shots.
So while the mystery Dysart created was compelling, and the exploration of themes like homelessness, capitalism, yuppies, and mental health was interesting, the art was just so disappointing.
And the story created by [a:Joshua Dysart|63222|Joshua Dysart|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1389368976p2/63222.jpg] is pretty good—Eddie, a homeless alcoholic living behind a Venice house sublet as several Air BnBs, finds the body of a runaway girl and her dog in a dumpster. He vows to figure out who murdered her and gets caught up in a plot that could make an interesting movie.
However, I had a hard time connecting to the story because [a:Alberto Ponticelli|61325|Alberto Ponticelli|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s artwork was difficult to look at at times. His characters would often have faces or bodies that contorted in ways humans rarely do—one character even had brown eyes in one panel and blue eyes in the panel directly below it (though I guess that would be [a:Giulia Brusco|568976|Giulia Brusco|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s fault, not Ponticelli's). There were other characters who looked completely different between close up, medium, and long shots.
So while the mystery Dysart created was compelling, and the exploration of themes like homelessness, capitalism, yuppies, and mental health was interesting, the art was just so disappointing.