Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses Volume 3

LIBRARY JOURNAL (STARRED) -- Annie tells everyoneshe's 26, but she's actually in her late 30s. She lives in the suburbs with herdoting husband and two small children, all of whom she despises. Small-town lifeand a middle-class income is stifling, which is why she doesn't get too upsetwhen a shopping mall security guard who catches her shoplifting recruits her tostart dealing marijuana on his behalf. But Annie's got bigger, darker secretsthan anyone could know. One is her ex, a vicious criminal named Paulo, and theother is her firstborn daughter, a young woman named Beth who, along with herfriends, just stole a fortune from a dangerous mob boss and is hoping Annie'shouse might be a good place to lay low. What follows is violent, tragic,hilarious, shocking, and totally par the course for Lapham (Stray Bullets:Sunshine & Roses, Vol. 2), one of comics' best and most consistentcreators. VERDICT This is the latest in a seriesLapham has produced on and off since 1995, and part of his brilliance as astoryteller is that every volume works as a great jumping-on point. So if youhaven't already jumped on, you really should.