Finally Barry Reese gives us the third and final volume of his latest New Pulp hero(ine): Gravedigger.
For those are not familiar with Gravedigger, she is a hero with a mission. One of a long line of sinners who have died and been given a second chance of redemption, Charity Grace has three years to take out bad guys or be condemned to hell. Set in the fictional Sovereign City (created by Pro-Se Press publisher Tommy Hancock), she has plenty to work with.
She is aided in this by a small group of agents she has pulled together, which included a past Gravedigger who mentored her. These characters are also part of the storyline as their activities with Charity are shown.
With The Adventures of Gravedigger, Vol. 3, we get the conclusion of the storyline. Charity will finish her three years as a Gravedigger, though we may (probably?) see another (or several?) Gravedigger in Barry’s universe of stories. At the end, Charity will be judged: She will either go to hell, or be allowed to move on to heaven. And like a few past Gravediggers, she may choose to stay on Earth, maybe helping a future Gravedigger. What happens? You’ll need to read this volume.
In the meantime, several things happen in this volume, which has one novel. Gravedigger goes up against a villain known as The King. The outcome of this mission leaves her associates in disarray, and The Dark Gentleman, Barry’s Phantom Detective pastiche, is killed. In the wake of this, Charity learns more about The Voice (we basically get the “origin” of the Gravediggers), the being or force that charged her as a Gravedigger, and stands in judgement.
So I’m glad this trilogy is concluded, but sadden to see the last of this character. But it will be interesting to see if we get another Gravedigger in future stories.
From the updated timeline in this volume, we should see an eighth Lazarus Gray volume, and looks like we will be getting a series of volumes focused on Gray’s group, Assistance Unlimited, but set in the “future” of the 1960s. There are also notations for a volume titled The Second Book of Babylon that looks interesting, as well as another. No idea when these volumes will appear, but I hope soon. No sight of any additional Peregrine volumes.
