Red Cat

Detective John March’s brother has hooked-up with a tattooed woman, Wren, on the Internet. Wren is now, apparently, blackmailing him over their illicit sexual rendezvous. As the story unfolds, we become aware that this femme fatale is both actress and playwright, and that her little encounters—with March’s brother and others—have been filmed and just might just be chapters in a noir-tinged performance art piece. Set in contemporary New York, Spiegelman’s prose captures both the push-pull attraction of the city and its gritty denizens, as well as the crackling pitch-perfect dialogue of sibling rivalries—a childhood experienced separately and together—that have gone on for decades. The taut storyline is alternately edgy and nuanced, twisting around corners expected and not. The characters are conflicted, confused and believable.