“12 midnight at Metro Manila.
Try to remain calm if you suddenly spot a tikbalang speeding down EDSA or a manananggal swooping across the Makati skyline. While partying at the Fort, never ever let the enkanto at the bar buy you a drink.
Yet, there are deadlier things than walk the streets of this city.
One of them now demands blood and sacrifice.
When crime takes a turn for a weird, the police call Trese”*
This volume is not like the previous Trese graphic novels. While the foundation of the plots of Murder on Balete Drive and Unreported Murders were based on entirely different cases, the cases presented in Mass Murders were all connected to one another, revealing the intricate web of the Trese clan and Alexandra’s heritage. In my past reviews of Trese, I have been constantly looking for something to explain how Alexandra Trese became who she is in the present, along with the mystery of how the kambal are so devoted to her in the first place. After a year of waiting (for those who followed Trese since it first came out in 2008), or more appropriately, 3 days for me (since I bought the first two volumes first), those niggling questions finally got answered.
I am not going to spoil anything by typing in Alexandra Trese’s family history and everything, but I have to say that I really enjoyed this volume. This is my favorite yet from the series, and the difference in thickness between this book and its predecessor (Unreported Murders only had 88 pages which definitely left me hanging) was really good for me who wanted to read more of Alexandra and her adventures. For people who love learning about the history and background of the characters they are reading about, this book would prove to be an enjoyable one, though like most series books, answers only enough questions to leave you thirsting for more. I don’t mind this, since I very well intend to read all the Trese books in existence. Budjette Tan’s writing was splendid. The dialogue, the plot, the little twists and descriptions, everything, was perfect. Gah. I can’t spazz enough.
Another thing. If you enjoy reading superhero comic books and the like, I’m pretty sure you’ll like Mass Murders as well. It is exactly as its title suggests. There are a lot of action scenes that hardly require any speech bubbles because KaJo Baldisimo’s drawings make you understand what is going on at once. There’s a lot of fighting and gore, which I find really cool because, in my opinion, most of the paranormal stories I’ve read have helpless victims who never see the light of the next day. Having a strong heroine who the monsters are afraid of is an idea I really love.
Reading Mass Murders for me is like.. okay, I was about to say pizza, since after you’re done with the whole thing you still want more, but I think that only applies to me and other very hungry people, but you get the point. I really loved this, and I am more in love with the series than ever. 5 stars!!!
PS. Incidentally, this is my thirteenth post. Reveling the coincidence thus far ^__^
In a nutshell…
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