What do you think?
Rate this book
Frank
Eve Lee seeks to find out what really happened to her missing lover during the Frank Slide, one of Canada's deadliest natural disasters. A historical murder mystery. Eve Lee is in a self-destructive spiral. Her big plans for a new life in Frank have not turned out at all the way she had planned. Eve hits rock bottom when her former lover disappears under dubious circumstances. Pulling herself from the bottom of another bottle, Eve plays detective to find out the truth. Was it murder? And will she be able to find answers before the evidence and suspects are buried alongside her under Turtle mountain?
112 pages, Hardcover
Published May 10, 2018
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
May 25, 2018
What distinguishes this book from a lot of other historical fiction is Ben's flouting of expectations. The book is brightly coloured with high-contrast, and the language is anachronistically modern. This invigorates the reading with it's fresh approach and allows you to see the human drama at the forefront, rather than a parade of historical details. (Though those are still there and fascinating all on their own!)
January 24, 2020
Na prvotinu Bena Rankela, partnera Fiony Staples, mam policeno uz nejakou dobu, tak to byla druha vec na mym to-read listu. Dvakrat sem si o ni neuspesne "psal" k Vanocum a nedavno na me vyskocila za par korun na BetterWorldBooks, takze sem nevahal.
Frank je Murder mystery, ktery se odehrava ve stejnojmenem hornickem mestecku v Kanade na zacatku 20. stoleti. Konkretne chvili pred jednou z nejvetsich katastrof v kanadske historii zpusobenych sesuvem pudy (landslide).
Pribeh je kratkej a jednoduchej, takze nema moc cenu se o nem rozepisovat. Zapletka je vcelku genericka, takze nijak extra neprekvapi. To, ze je pribeh kratkej moc nepomaha tomu nejak pochopit motivace postav a sympatizovat s nima, takze je to vec, kterou clovek precte jednou a staci. Rankelova kresba je dost specificka, stejne jako barevna paleta, takze to nemusi sednout kazdymu. Jedina zajimava vec je ve finale historickej kontext, na jehoz pozadi se tenhle smyslenej pribeh odehrava.
Nejak me to neurazilo, takze neni duvod to hejtit, ale kdybych si to nikdy neprecetl, tak sem o nic neprisel.
Frank je Murder mystery, ktery se odehrava ve stejnojmenem hornickem mestecku v Kanade na zacatku 20. stoleti. Konkretne chvili pred jednou z nejvetsich katastrof v kanadske historii zpusobenych sesuvem pudy (landslide).
Pribeh je kratkej a jednoduchej, takze nema moc cenu se o nem rozepisovat. Zapletka je vcelku genericka, takze nijak extra neprekvapi. To, ze je pribeh kratkej moc nepomaha tomu nejak pochopit motivace postav a sympatizovat s nima, takze je to vec, kterou clovek precte jednou a staci. Rankelova kresba je dost specificka, stejne jako barevna paleta, takze to nemusi sednout kazdymu. Jedina zajimava vec je ve finale historickej kontext, na jehoz pozadi se tenhle smyslenej pribeh odehrava.
Nejak me to neurazilo, takze neni duvod to hejtit, ale kdybych si to nikdy neprecetl, tak sem o nic neprisel.
June 7, 2018
I grew up just a few hours from the site of Frank's Slide and have driven on the highway through the rubble countless times. It's a fascinating story and it blows my mind every time I see it. Setting a murder mystery on the night of the slide is rather genius and I was genuinely surprised by the big reveal. I wasn't so fond of the art style. The two main characters are both women but I didn't realize that until someone referred to them by their names and even then I wasn't sure for one of them. Gender isn't always important to a story but this is set in 1903 and one of these women runs the coal mine which seems like it would have been a big deal. No mention was made of it being unusual and I wonder if that was the case in the real town of Frank. I liked the bright, acid colours and that the text was easy to read but the art just wasn't my cup of tea. Bravo for bringing a true Alberta story to light and giving the rest of the world something more to worry about! Lol!
May 8, 2018
A slow burn murder mystery that that fails to escape your consciousness. 10.5/10
June 26, 2018
Interesting story that could have used more time to tell the story. Wonderful artwork definitely help this piece.
May 25, 2018
A compelling murder mystery set against one of the greatest tragedies in Alberta's history. I really enjoyed the story and the art was unlike any I've seen in recent comics/graphic novels!
January 29, 2020
An interesting take on mystery. Misdirection has me guessing till the end. Wanted more clarity and finality in the resolution but understand why the author chose a more ambiguous ending as it fit the main character.
Really enjoyed the art, particularly the little images drawn in margins and between characters (don’t know what they’re called).
Wish the story had been a bit longer though so the characters had a bit more time to develop.
Overall: I liked it.
Really enjoyed the art, particularly the little images drawn in margins and between characters (don’t know what they’re called).
Wish the story had been a bit longer though so the characters had a bit more time to develop.
Overall: I liked it.
July 20, 2018
Frank is a perfect fusion of contemporary style with fascinating historical content and smart storytelling. More than any other graphic novel, this feels like the perfect bridge to the medium for anyone curious who hasn't yet taken the plunge.
February 6, 2020
Read for Popsugar 2020 "Book Set in a Country Starting with C" - this is set in Canada.
An interesting historical fiction murder mystery set during the Frank Slide in the early 1900s. I thought I had the story figured out, but the ending was a bit of a twist I didn't expect.
I'm so conflicted on the art - on one hand, the coloring is mostly fantastic. Little pops of hot pink are basically a beacon saying "HEY! PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!" and the pages after the slide and ones with really moody blue shadows and bright yellow lights are incredibly effective. However, there is only one line weight used in the book, and that combined with the kind of shaky lines and how WEIRD everyone looks make it looks like a cheap MS paint hack job - nothing like the gorgeous, modern cover.
It's a fun, quick little read and definitely worth checking out if you have a spare 20 minutes sometime!
An interesting historical fiction murder mystery set during the Frank Slide in the early 1900s. I thought I had the story figured out, but the ending was a bit of a twist I didn't expect.
I'm so conflicted on the art - on one hand, the coloring is mostly fantastic. Little pops of hot pink are basically a beacon saying "HEY! PAY ATTENTION TO THIS!" and the pages after the slide and ones with really moody blue shadows and bright yellow lights are incredibly effective. However, there is only one line weight used in the book, and that combined with the kind of shaky lines and how WEIRD everyone looks make it looks like a cheap MS paint hack job - nothing like the gorgeous, modern cover.
It's a fun, quick little read and definitely worth checking out if you have a spare 20 minutes sometime!
February 15, 2021
I’ve never read a graphic novel novel before so I had to change my mindset and embrace a different style . I like the setting of Frank . Anyone who grew up in Alberta certainly will know the history of the Frank Slide and this was a murder mystery set during that time . I chose this for a book challenge as this month I’m reading only Canadian (and mostly Alberta) authors.
June 14, 2018
AS the editor, I am biased. But, in my opinion, Ben has crafted a compelling mystery story about a woman dealing with grief and looking for answers to help her. Ben's approach to a story set in 1903 is refreshing and demonstrates his qualities as a graphic novelist.
July 25, 2018
This story was very poorly constructed. I had no idea what the motivation of characters were or even the relationships. It also barely touched on the slide itself and was just a huge disappointment. Glad I didn't order it for our library.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews