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The Crow Novels #4
The Crow: The Lazarus Heart
Sentenced to die for a crime he did not commit, S&M photographer Jared Poe must enter into the world of the dead to discover who murdered his lover, and as he ravages the dark streets of New Orleans to clear his name, he must come to terms with the person he has become. Reprint.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
16 people are currently reading
1071 people want to read
About the author
Poppy Z. Brite
164 books3,614 followersPoppy Z. Brite (born Melissa Ann Brite, now going by Billy Martin) is an American author born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Born a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. His male name is Billy Martin.
He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.
Brite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. They are no longer together.
During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city.
In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. There are things more valuable than life."
Born a biological female, Brite has written and talked much about his gender dysphoria/gender identity issues. He self-identifies almost completely as a homosexual male rather than female, and as of 2011 has started taking testosterone injections. His male name is Billy Martin.
He lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Athens, Georgia prior to returning to New Orleans in 1993. He loves UNC basketball and is a sometime season ticket holder for the NBA, but he saves his greatest affection for his hometown football team, the New Orleans Saints.
Brite and husband Chris DeBarr, a chef, run a de facto cat rescue and have, at any given time, between fifteen and twenty cats. Photos of the various felines are available on the "Cats" page of Brite's website. They have been known to have a few dogs and perhaps a snake as well in the menagerie. They are no longer together.
During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Brite at first opted to stay at home, but he eventually abandoned New Orleans and his cats and relocated 80 miles away to his mother's home in Mississippi. He used his blog to update his fans regarding the situation, including the unknown status of his house and many of his pets, and in October 2005 became one of the first 70,000 New Orleanians to begin repopulating the city.
In the following months, Brite has been an outspoken and sometimes harsh critic of those who are leaving New Orleans for good. He was quoted in the New York Times and elsewhere as saying, in reference to those considering leaving, "If you’re ever lucky enough to belong somewhere, if a place takes you in and you take it into yourself, you don't desert it just because it can kill you. There are things more valuable than life."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
June 3, 2021
Non avevo letto ancora nulla di Poppy Z. Brite, pseudonimo di Melissa Ann Brite, all'epoca della stesura di questo romanzo . Dato il cambio di sesso e il suo nuovo nome, Billy Martin, mi rivolgerò a l*i al maschile.
Il libro fa parte di un ciclo di romanzi dedicati al personaggio de Il corvo, o meglio alla sua leggenda.
Un tempo la gente era convinta che quando qualcuno moriva, un corvo portava la sua anima nella terra dei morti. A volte però accadevano cose talmente orribili, tristi e dolorose, che l'anima non poteva riposare. Così a volte, ma solo a volte, il corvo riportava indietro l'anima, perché rimettesse le cose a posto...
Anche in questo caso, come nel fumetto e nei film, il protagonista, Jared Poe, viene riportato in vita da un corvo per vendicare l'uccisione del compagno da parte di un efferato serial killer che ha preso di mira omosessuali e transessuali. Jared verrà ingiustamente accusato e morirà in prigione per mano di un altro carcerato.
Mi sono piaciute le atmosfere gotiche che mi hanno riportato alla mente le immagini rappresentate sia da James O'Barr che da Alex Proyas, un po' più splatteroso ma con questo autore c'era da aspettarselo.
Di rilevante interesse sono anche tutti i personaggi di contorno e delle loro condizioni drastiche a cui devono sottostare solo perché "diversi".
E' una poliziotta morente che non viene soccorsa dai colleghi perché lesbica.
E' un detective che per cercare un po' d'amore si deve accontentare di una sveltina in un bagno di una tavola calda a miglia di distanza per non essere scoperto.
E' un ragazzo che fa outing ma che viene ripudiato dai genitori e si trova costretto a prostituirsi per poter mangiare.
E' un omosessuale che viene accusato d'omicidio senza alcun beneficio del dubbio perché il verdetto è stato emesso da una giuria benpensante e timorata di Dio.
Il killer stesso si sente insozzato dalle aure delle sue vittime. Usa termini molto forti come "lesbica di merda", "frocio del cazzo" o addirittura le chiama "cose".
Mi è piaciuto molto. Molto cupo. Molto triste. Molto riflessivo.
Nota personale: E' bello quando all'interno dei libri ci sono citazioni di altri testi o di album musicali.
Poppy in questo libro cita Sandman, Vol. 1 e un album che non avevo mai sentito prima:
Black Tape for a Blue Girl - Remnants of a Deeper Purity (1996)
Il libro fa parte di un ciclo di romanzi dedicati al personaggio de Il corvo, o meglio alla sua leggenda.
Un tempo la gente era convinta che quando qualcuno moriva, un corvo portava la sua anima nella terra dei morti. A volte però accadevano cose talmente orribili, tristi e dolorose, che l'anima non poteva riposare. Così a volte, ma solo a volte, il corvo riportava indietro l'anima, perché rimettesse le cose a posto...
Anche in questo caso, come nel fumetto e nei film, il protagonista, Jared Poe, viene riportato in vita da un corvo per vendicare l'uccisione del compagno da parte di un efferato serial killer che ha preso di mira omosessuali e transessuali. Jared verrà ingiustamente accusato e morirà in prigione per mano di un altro carcerato.
Mi sono piaciute le atmosfere gotiche che mi hanno riportato alla mente le immagini rappresentate sia da James O'Barr che da Alex Proyas, un po' più splatteroso ma con questo autore c'era da aspettarselo.
Di rilevante interesse sono anche tutti i personaggi di contorno e delle loro condizioni drastiche a cui devono sottostare solo perché "diversi".
E' una poliziotta morente che non viene soccorsa dai colleghi perché lesbica.
E' un detective che per cercare un po' d'amore si deve accontentare di una sveltina in un bagno di una tavola calda a miglia di distanza per non essere scoperto.
E' un ragazzo che fa outing ma che viene ripudiato dai genitori e si trova costretto a prostituirsi per poter mangiare.
E' un omosessuale che viene accusato d'omicidio senza alcun beneficio del dubbio perché il verdetto è stato emesso da una giuria benpensante e timorata di Dio.
Il killer stesso si sente insozzato dalle aure delle sue vittime. Usa termini molto forti come "lesbica di merda", "frocio del cazzo" o addirittura le chiama "cose".
Mi è piaciuto molto. Molto cupo. Molto triste. Molto riflessivo.
Nota personale: E' bello quando all'interno dei libri ci sono citazioni di altri testi o di album musicali.
Poppy in questo libro cita Sandman, Vol. 1 e un album che non avevo mai sentito prima:
Black Tape for a Blue Girl - Remnants of a Deeper Purity (1996)
November 26, 2023
I haven't read this since high school and decided to re-read it again with a friend.
There's elements of it I still enjoy as much as I did when I was younger and "edgier" and constantly chasing my next fucked up read. Sadly, overall, my enjoyment of the book has waned with age.
The constantly jumping POVs made it hard for me to feel tied to the story at all, and so much effort and time was spent on the killer that I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel by the end of the book. So much detail was put into his thoughts and his killings and barely any into Jared's return.
The sparse few times we get to see Jared seek revenge, we barely get a few lines, and each death is over before it really begins.
Jared barely had a story arc, and the remaining effort that wasn't spent on the killer was used up on fleshing out Lucrece and also Frank Gray (who went nowhere, why spend so much time building him up if he's not going to be anything important?)
And I couldn't have been more disappointed in the final revenge on the killer. This sick guy who has tortured, raped and haunted the trans community (in great detail) gets crushed to death, one measly line. That's it. No details, just: "they crush the life from the man that has robbed each of them of the thing that they loved above all else."
As poetic as that is, it's bullshit. I don't want to sit through a whole book of reading about him torturing people without some sort of retribution. We don't get to read any of the fear and pain he felt at the end like we had to read with each of his victims.
I enjoyed the imagery, the setting, gothic elements, and some of the characterisations in the book, but overall, I felt a bit disappointed in my return to this read. I just wish the story was stronger. I think it would have worked better as a comic instead of a book.
Makes me nervous to re-read any other Poppy Z Brite stuff I loved so much in my teen years.
There's elements of it I still enjoy as much as I did when I was younger and "edgier" and constantly chasing my next fucked up read. Sadly, overall, my enjoyment of the book has waned with age.
The constantly jumping POVs made it hard for me to feel tied to the story at all, and so much effort and time was spent on the killer that I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel by the end of the book. So much detail was put into his thoughts and his killings and barely any into Jared's return.
The sparse few times we get to see Jared seek revenge, we barely get a few lines, and each death is over before it really begins.
Jared barely had a story arc, and the remaining effort that wasn't spent on the killer was used up on fleshing out Lucrece and also Frank Gray (who went nowhere, why spend so much time building him up if he's not going to be anything important?)
And I couldn't have been more disappointed in the final revenge on the killer. This sick guy who has tortured, raped and haunted the trans community (in great detail) gets crushed to death, one measly line. That's it. No details, just: "they crush the life from the man that has robbed each of them of the thing that they loved above all else."
As poetic as that is, it's bullshit. I don't want to sit through a whole book of reading about him torturing people without some sort of retribution. We don't get to read any of the fear and pain he felt at the end like we had to read with each of his victims.
I enjoyed the imagery, the setting, gothic elements, and some of the characterisations in the book, but overall, I felt a bit disappointed in my return to this read. I just wish the story was stronger. I think it would have worked better as a comic instead of a book.
Makes me nervous to re-read any other Poppy Z Brite stuff I loved so much in my teen years.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2024
Le atmosfere del film "il corvo" , con una storia nello stile unico di Poppy Z Brite. Una lettura da riscoprire.
May 9, 2022
This is great pulp, better than a franchise tie-in novel has any right to be. The plot ticks along without wasting any time, keeping itself tense and focused. The characters are perhaps not the most original or well-developed in all of literature, but they're given a bit of dimension and made memorable by brief interludes of backstory and free indirect discourse. Brite's description ranges from "lush" to "furiously purple, but in a really cool way, y'know? you feel like you're *there*". Given the shoutout to Caitlin Kiernan's novel SILK, I think it's fair to speculate that Brite may have been influenced by his friend's work in some aspects of prose style and subject matter here-- there's just a Kiernan-esque cadence to a lot of the sentences, paragraphs, dialogue, etc. and the way Brite incorporates dream sequences seems similar to a lot of Kiernan's stories.
Take a drink/hit/whatever every time 1.) a window dramatically shatters as someone bursts through it; 2.) someone is gutted/eviscerated; 3.) someone fires a gun.
Sadly, most of the homophobia and transphobia in this 1998 release feels entirely relevant and up to date. The fact that the main antagonist is a delusional, bigoted serial killer who believes trans and genderqueer people are a secret cabal plotting to take over the world and turn everyone into androgynes is--- well, one might go so far as to call it prescient.
Take a drink/hit/whatever every time 1.) a window dramatically shatters as someone bursts through it; 2.) someone is gutted/eviscerated; 3.) someone fires a gun.
Sadly, most of the homophobia and transphobia in this 1998 release feels entirely relevant and up to date. The fact that the main antagonist is a delusional, bigoted serial killer who believes trans and genderqueer people are a secret cabal plotting to take over the world and turn everyone into androgynes is--- well, one might go so far as to call it prescient.
October 27, 2019
Actually really surprised by how much I loved this, both because I am generally wary of Crow spin-off media and also because I have kind of a love-hate relationship with Brite. Although I'm beginning to think that Lost Souls is actually his worst/most misogynistic book, but it's also the one everyone wants you to read because it's halfway to being Vampire Chronicles fanfiction. This one actually has *gasp* multiple queer female characters and . I suppose you could make the argument that it's still bad because . I could have probably done without a few of the POVs - it felt a bit cluttered there for awhile - but overall I think it's a really good book and definitely keeps the mood of the original Crow while updating it to focus on queer characters. Also really love that Brite dedicated the book to Caitlin Kiernan, I love her stuff and I thought it was really cute.
July 5, 2012
It was by complete accident I came across this in a closing down bookshop sale. It was the book which started my love affair with Poppy Z. Brite's writing.
He has such a unique way with words and addresses some really out there issues in his writing. The books are always unique, macabre and beautiful...exactly what I like to read!
I feel as though this book could have stood on its own, without the attachment to 'The Crow' franchise and context, and still come across as a really great read.
He has such a unique way with words and addresses some really out there issues in his writing. The books are always unique, macabre and beautiful...exactly what I like to read!
I feel as though this book could have stood on its own, without the attachment to 'The Crow' franchise and context, and still come across as a really great read.
July 18, 2025
This was fairly ridiculous and, by the author's admission, more commercially driven than it was a labor of love (nothing wrong with that--we all gotta eat). That said, PZB (now Billy Martin) is always entertaining and I have found the creative trajectory of this author/artist to be completely fascinating. This was one of the few of his previous efforts I'd yet to read, so I guess I can now cross it off the bucket list.
Want to read
June 25, 2015This leather bound hard cover is limited to 1000 signed copies.
The book is signed by:
Poppy Z. Brite
John Shirley
The book is signed by:
Poppy Z. Brite
John Shirley
August 20, 2022
I've never once encountered a sequel or spin-off of The Crow that I didn't hate and wish I could erase from my memory. It was Brite's name that lured me in first, I had owned a couple books by him, but only really knew him through reputation in goth literary circles--the queer circles I was in weren't fans of his, interestingly enough (valid, his work is...polarizing.)
This novel was one of those brilliant and rare cases of a tie-in becoming it's own beast; this trashy, dimly lit, New-Orleans-humid, mess of twisted iron, pleather, and black lace rang like a Gen-Y tribute to O'Barr's original work, but also as it's own nasty, black-nail-polished horror novel. The purple prose and over the top gore can easily come across as juvenile, however the masterful balance of name dropping subculture personalities and artworks was just enough that as a queer goth, I felt immediately at home with Jared and the twins, but not so much that it felt poseur and distracting.
Is it five-stars for literature? Absolutely not. Did this book thoroughly succeed at at what it set out to do, and then some? Yes.
This novel was one of those brilliant and rare cases of a tie-in becoming it's own beast; this trashy, dimly lit, New-Orleans-humid, mess of twisted iron, pleather, and black lace rang like a Gen-Y tribute to O'Barr's original work, but also as it's own nasty, black-nail-polished horror novel. The purple prose and over the top gore can easily come across as juvenile, however the masterful balance of name dropping subculture personalities and artworks was just enough that as a queer goth, I felt immediately at home with Jared and the twins, but not so much that it felt poseur and distracting.
Is it five-stars for literature? Absolutely not. Did this book thoroughly succeed at at what it set out to do, and then some? Yes.
January 15, 2025
5 Stars
I love The Crow. It is my favorite movie, comic book, all of that. And I've wanted to read Poppy Z Brite's novel in the The Crow universe for a while now, and it did not disappoint.
The thing I loved the most about this book was the characters. Jared Poe, AKA The Crow, was an excellent version of the character and I had a blast reading about him. Lucrece was also a brilliant character whom I had a wonderful time reading about, and I wanted to know even more about her life! The villain was excellent and all of the side villains were good as well.
The setting of New Orleans worked wonderfully and I felt like I visited the city, even though I've never ever been there.
Also, there's a scene where Clive Barker is namedropped and a character is reading The Great and Secret Show. One of my favorite authors mentioned in a The Crow novel... can it be better?
This was an amazing book that I most likely will reread in the future!
And yes, I read it in one sitting.
I love The Crow. It is my favorite movie, comic book, all of that. And I've wanted to read Poppy Z Brite's novel in the The Crow universe for a while now, and it did not disappoint.
The thing I loved the most about this book was the characters. Jared Poe, AKA The Crow, was an excellent version of the character and I had a blast reading about him. Lucrece was also a brilliant character whom I had a wonderful time reading about, and I wanted to know even more about her life! The villain was excellent and all of the side villains were good as well.
The setting of New Orleans worked wonderfully and I felt like I visited the city, even though I've never ever been there.
Also, there's a scene where Clive Barker is namedropped and a character is reading The Great and Secret Show. One of my favorite authors mentioned in a The Crow novel... can it be better?
This was an amazing book that I most likely will reread in the future!
And yes, I read it in one sitting.
November 12, 2007
I probably would have really dug this when I was 18. Unfortunately, I read it at about twice that age. What once would have seemed really goth and moving now comes across as trying too hard. Kudos for sympathetic portrayals of alternate sexuality, although one expects nothing less from Ms. Brite.
May 23, 2010
If Poppy Z. Brite and James O'Barr had a baby, that baby would be too good for you.
July 28, 2011
i went into this thinking i'd hate it, but i actually really enjoyed reading this one.
June 21, 2025
Review of The Crow: The Lazarus Heart by Poppy Z. Brite
(Published 1998 – Based on the mythos created by James O’Barr)
The Crow: The Lazarus Heart is not your typical tale of vengeance—it’s darker, stranger, and far more emotionally raw. Written by Poppy Z. Brite, the gothic prince of 90s alt-lit, this novel takes the iconic revenge-fueled myth of The Crow and spins it into something more poetic, queer, and feral. It’s a ghost story with teeth, inked in blood and mourning, and soaked in the sweet rot of sorrow.
Our protagonist is Jared Poe, a New Orleans-based tattoo artist and performance poet, who’s arrested for a crime he didn’t commit—the brutal murder of his lover, Benjamin. Jared is executed. But death, as always in The Crow universe, is not the end. He is brought back by the titular crow to avenge Benjamin’s murder and uncover the twisted, truth-blurring conspiracy behind it. But this is no ordinary resurrection: Jared doesn’t just return with vengeance; he comes back with grief that sings like a dirge, and memories that cut like blades.
What sets The Lazarus Heart apart from other entries in The Crow universe is its deliberate queerness, its Southern Gothic textures, and its visceral sensuality. Brite (a pseudonym for Billy Martin), known for cult horror novels like Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse, pours his signature decadence and nihilism into every page. New Orleans isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a character, pulsing with sin, sex, and sanctity. The language is lush, the violence graphic, and the pain intimate.
There’s something deeply mythic about Jared’s journey—it’s not just about revenge, but about identity, guilt, redemption, and the impossibility of returning to who you once were. The Crow in this story is more than a symbol of justice—it’s a specter of everything Jared has lost and everything he must become to confront the truth.
Brite’s prose is poetic and muscular, weaving intense visuals with internal agony. It’s not an easy read—it bleeds. But for readers drawn to stories that live at the intersection of horror and heartbreak, The Lazarus Heart delivers a rare intensity. This is vengeance drenched in sorrow, identity tangled with pain, and resurrection as both miracle and curse.
In essence, The Crow: The Lazarus Heart is a queered, lyrical, and deeply personal take on the vengeance-from-the-grave trope. It reads like a love letter written in ash and tears—devastating, beautiful, and unforgettable. Brite doesn’t just tell a story; he opens a wound and dares you to look inside.
(Published 1998 – Based on the mythos created by James O’Barr)
The Crow: The Lazarus Heart is not your typical tale of vengeance—it’s darker, stranger, and far more emotionally raw. Written by Poppy Z. Brite, the gothic prince of 90s alt-lit, this novel takes the iconic revenge-fueled myth of The Crow and spins it into something more poetic, queer, and feral. It’s a ghost story with teeth, inked in blood and mourning, and soaked in the sweet rot of sorrow.
Our protagonist is Jared Poe, a New Orleans-based tattoo artist and performance poet, who’s arrested for a crime he didn’t commit—the brutal murder of his lover, Benjamin. Jared is executed. But death, as always in The Crow universe, is not the end. He is brought back by the titular crow to avenge Benjamin’s murder and uncover the twisted, truth-blurring conspiracy behind it. But this is no ordinary resurrection: Jared doesn’t just return with vengeance; he comes back with grief that sings like a dirge, and memories that cut like blades.
What sets The Lazarus Heart apart from other entries in The Crow universe is its deliberate queerness, its Southern Gothic textures, and its visceral sensuality. Brite (a pseudonym for Billy Martin), known for cult horror novels like Lost Souls and Exquisite Corpse, pours his signature decadence and nihilism into every page. New Orleans isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a character, pulsing with sin, sex, and sanctity. The language is lush, the violence graphic, and the pain intimate.
There’s something deeply mythic about Jared’s journey—it’s not just about revenge, but about identity, guilt, redemption, and the impossibility of returning to who you once were. The Crow in this story is more than a symbol of justice—it’s a specter of everything Jared has lost and everything he must become to confront the truth.
Brite’s prose is poetic and muscular, weaving intense visuals with internal agony. It’s not an easy read—it bleeds. But for readers drawn to stories that live at the intersection of horror and heartbreak, The Lazarus Heart delivers a rare intensity. This is vengeance drenched in sorrow, identity tangled with pain, and resurrection as both miracle and curse.
In essence, The Crow: The Lazarus Heart is a queered, lyrical, and deeply personal take on the vengeance-from-the-grave trope. It reads like a love letter written in ash and tears—devastating, beautiful, and unforgettable. Brite doesn’t just tell a story; he opens a wound and dares you to look inside.
January 12, 2023
Okay, so this is not The Brothers Karamazov but I liked this book a lot. It is some of the finest pulp I’ve ever read.
When you open this book it’s like stepping into a dirty and dangerous city, on a dark and rainy night. Bums are trying to get some heat from burning barrels, dealers are doing their shady business on every corner and street hookers are trying to act as though they aren’t freezing to death. The clubs are playing music by Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure or Joy Division. There’s heavy rain all the time. "Outside the house the storm is battering the city." If you like expressions like these you will feel right at home. This is the setting.
I first came into contact with James O’Barr’s The Crow when one of the assistant professors recommended it to me alongside other great graphic novels like Black Hole or Ghost World. Since then I have written some academic papers about it and let me just tell you that the backstory is quite heartbreaking and the material is just one of a kind. (Look into it!) Even as a kid I had a fascination for the trashy tv show because I sensed there’s actually something meaningful behind all the kitsch and questionable acting.
It seems that the highly talented writer Poppy Z. Brite was a fan of the graphic novel as well and it’s great that we got a spinoff story in the same fictional universe. I liked everything about this. I got everything I wanted from this. There is a serial killer with a messed up mind, there is a downbeat detective and then there are three main characters that have a unique connection. Behind all the style and clichés there are some gut wrenching moments. What surprised me as well was how friggin gory and brutal it got.
It is a shame not many people will give this a chance or even find this novel because it is just a spinoff of an old graphic novel / movie. It kind of reminded me of a goth music video mixed with David Fincher’s Se7en.
When you open this book it’s like stepping into a dirty and dangerous city, on a dark and rainy night. Bums are trying to get some heat from burning barrels, dealers are doing their shady business on every corner and street hookers are trying to act as though they aren’t freezing to death. The clubs are playing music by Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cure or Joy Division. There’s heavy rain all the time. "Outside the house the storm is battering the city." If you like expressions like these you will feel right at home. This is the setting.
I first came into contact with James O’Barr’s The Crow when one of the assistant professors recommended it to me alongside other great graphic novels like Black Hole or Ghost World. Since then I have written some academic papers about it and let me just tell you that the backstory is quite heartbreaking and the material is just one of a kind. (Look into it!) Even as a kid I had a fascination for the trashy tv show because I sensed there’s actually something meaningful behind all the kitsch and questionable acting.
It seems that the highly talented writer Poppy Z. Brite was a fan of the graphic novel as well and it’s great that we got a spinoff story in the same fictional universe. I liked everything about this. I got everything I wanted from this. There is a serial killer with a messed up mind, there is a downbeat detective and then there are three main characters that have a unique connection. Behind all the style and clichés there are some gut wrenching moments. What surprised me as well was how friggin gory and brutal it got.
It is a shame not many people will give this a chance or even find this novel because it is just a spinoff of an old graphic novel / movie. It kind of reminded me of a goth music video mixed with David Fincher’s Se7en.
November 12, 2020
I can't believe I haven't read this one long before now. Also, Poppy Z. Brite really had a thing about twins.
Jared Poe rises from the dead inside his own mausoleum and embarks on a quest to exact vengeance against those who pinned the blame on him for his husband Benny's murder, sending him to prison where he ends up stabbed to death in the exercise yard. This isn't a cut-and-dried Crow story, and that's a good thing. Jared is warned by Benny's twin, a voodoo dabbling telepath called Lucrece, not to go after the men who hurt him but to instead focus on the man responsible for Benny's murder. Unfortunately the crow, Jared's link to the world of the living, is unable to discover this man because he is shielded by his lunacy, the very thing that has driven him to hunt and kill members of New Orleans's transgender and transsexual community.
It's a Brite novel, so obviously it's beautifully written and stunningly gory, but the book does suffer because of its length (just over 200 pages). Interesting characters are introduced and then never revisited while others have so little input they could have been done away with all together. Aaron, owner of the Eye of Horus, was a particularly strange choice for the epilogue as he'd only been in one previous scene. Everyone had been killed by that point though so I suppose Brite was limited in his character choices. I would have preferred to revisit Robin, a "gutterpunk" who watches her friend Michele be led to his doom in a narrow alley over the top of a "ratty paperback novel" called Silk, a nod to Caitlin R. Kiernan (The Lazarus Heart was also dedicated to her). These gutterpunks are only introduced in one scene and I was left wanting to know more about them. I'm wondering now if there is an overlap with Silk and maybe those characters show up there too - wouldn't that be amazing?
The fate of poor Michele is the one scene I can't seem to get out of my head but perhaps that's because despite the level of gore in this book, it is the most detailed murder. This is the line that lingers:
"The scalpel clangs loudly into the metal tray with all the other instruments and the man's red latex hands pass between Michele's eyes and the parts that have been cut loose and hang on hooks above the table where he can see them, has to see because the man took his eyelids right at the start."
Yeesh.
One character, Frank Gray, a gay detective teetering on the brittle edge of alcoholism, is given almost too much backstory considering what little he eventually adds to the plot. The same could be said of another cop character, a homophobic detective (most of the cops are depicted as homophobic - even the gay detective which proves to be his downfall) called Jim Unger. We see quite a bit of Unger's life - his relationship with his former partner who has recently committed suicide, his reaction to Benjamin DuBois's murder and his feelings about coroner Pam Tierney, a "dyke" who was "currently shacked up with some artist chick from New York City" - yet all we really needed to know was that he has no sympathy for gay people and was more than willing to point the blame at Jared, an S&M photographer who looks "guilty as sin". In Jared's mind, Unger deserves to die for his part in sending him to death row. If Unger had less backstory, perhaps it would have freed up space to concentrate on Benny and Jared's relationship.
Despite this being a Crow story, wherein the protagonist's relationship to their brutally killed loved one is usually central, we do not get to see many glimpses of Benny and Jared together and in love. We are shown their first meeting, which - although intriguing - is pornographic rather than romantic, and we know they were married (in their eyes, if not in the eyes of the bigoted law) and lived together, but that is really about all we do know. Benny is a very interesting character, an orphaned waif who runs away to New Orleans with his twin brother (later to become his sister) after burning down their dead grandmother's house and hopping on a bus. I would have loved to read more about Benny's life in New Orleans and with Jared but instead we have pages and pages of crooked cops drinking themselves into stupors and waking sweaty from nightmares. This is a Brite novel, though - none of this information is boring. I just wish the book could have been long enough to explore more of the world and the characters it creates.
Another point that may sound like a criticism but really isn't: Jared barely seems to be the protagonist (I would instead bestow that honour on Lucrece who is far better fleshed out and hence more sympathetic) and is in reality a crappy Crow. He is so invested in his side quests of finding and killing Jim Unger and District Attorney John Harrod (whose death is brilliant by the way, naked in the front seat of his car, his head blown clean off leaving a "...jagged few inches of spine jutting out between dead shoulders"), he allows Lucrece to be captured by the very serial killer he's attempting to track and is so physically damaged by the time he finds him, he has been slowed down and Lucrece is already dead. Then his crow is easily killed and Jared flops to the floor like a wet, useless fish. Lucrece saves the day - what left there is to save - by coming back from the dead with her own crow, a giant fucker who is leader of the death crows to boot, and finally helping Jared finish off Benny's killer. Brandon Lee he ain't. None of this really matters in the end because Lucrece is such a strong character. Perhaps she should have been the Crow from the beginning.
At its core, rather than a simple Crow vengeance story, the novel is a biting statement about the persecution and hatred of gay people, transsexuals and transgender people in mid-nineties New Orleans. Not only are they charged with murders they did not commit, left to bleed out by fellow cops and ridiculed and attacked at their workplaces, they're hunted by a sadistic lunatic who takes them apart piece by piece. This makes the novel both harrowing and thought-provoking despite the gothic beauty of the prose. The burgeoning onslaught of the eerily-like-Katrina hurricane also ramps up the sense of threat to pulse-quickening levels. Would re-read (but of course, it's a Brite novel...).
A side note: I found a Russian website with a series of beautifully shot photos, crafted to look just like the ones described at Jared's gallery show and they are fucking amazing. www.poppyzbrite.ru
Jared Poe rises from the dead inside his own mausoleum and embarks on a quest to exact vengeance against those who pinned the blame on him for his husband Benny's murder, sending him to prison where he ends up stabbed to death in the exercise yard. This isn't a cut-and-dried Crow story, and that's a good thing. Jared is warned by Benny's twin, a voodoo dabbling telepath called Lucrece, not to go after the men who hurt him but to instead focus on the man responsible for Benny's murder. Unfortunately the crow, Jared's link to the world of the living, is unable to discover this man because he is shielded by his lunacy, the very thing that has driven him to hunt and kill members of New Orleans's transgender and transsexual community.
It's a Brite novel, so obviously it's beautifully written and stunningly gory, but the book does suffer because of its length (just over 200 pages). Interesting characters are introduced and then never revisited while others have so little input they could have been done away with all together. Aaron, owner of the Eye of Horus, was a particularly strange choice for the epilogue as he'd only been in one previous scene. Everyone had been killed by that point though so I suppose Brite was limited in his character choices. I would have preferred to revisit Robin, a "gutterpunk" who watches her friend Michele be led to his doom in a narrow alley over the top of a "ratty paperback novel" called Silk, a nod to Caitlin R. Kiernan (The Lazarus Heart was also dedicated to her). These gutterpunks are only introduced in one scene and I was left wanting to know more about them. I'm wondering now if there is an overlap with Silk and maybe those characters show up there too - wouldn't that be amazing?
The fate of poor Michele is the one scene I can't seem to get out of my head but perhaps that's because despite the level of gore in this book, it is the most detailed murder. This is the line that lingers:
"The scalpel clangs loudly into the metal tray with all the other instruments and the man's red latex hands pass between Michele's eyes and the parts that have been cut loose and hang on hooks above the table where he can see them, has to see because the man took his eyelids right at the start."
Yeesh.
One character, Frank Gray, a gay detective teetering on the brittle edge of alcoholism, is given almost too much backstory considering what little he eventually adds to the plot. The same could be said of another cop character, a homophobic detective (most of the cops are depicted as homophobic - even the gay detective which proves to be his downfall) called Jim Unger. We see quite a bit of Unger's life - his relationship with his former partner who has recently committed suicide, his reaction to Benjamin DuBois's murder and his feelings about coroner Pam Tierney, a "dyke" who was "currently shacked up with some artist chick from New York City" - yet all we really needed to know was that he has no sympathy for gay people and was more than willing to point the blame at Jared, an S&M photographer who looks "guilty as sin". In Jared's mind, Unger deserves to die for his part in sending him to death row. If Unger had less backstory, perhaps it would have freed up space to concentrate on Benny and Jared's relationship.
Despite this being a Crow story, wherein the protagonist's relationship to their brutally killed loved one is usually central, we do not get to see many glimpses of Benny and Jared together and in love. We are shown their first meeting, which - although intriguing - is pornographic rather than romantic, and we know they were married (in their eyes, if not in the eyes of the bigoted law) and lived together, but that is really about all we do know. Benny is a very interesting character, an orphaned waif who runs away to New Orleans with his twin brother (later to become his sister) after burning down their dead grandmother's house and hopping on a bus. I would have loved to read more about Benny's life in New Orleans and with Jared but instead we have pages and pages of crooked cops drinking themselves into stupors and waking sweaty from nightmares. This is a Brite novel, though - none of this information is boring. I just wish the book could have been long enough to explore more of the world and the characters it creates.
Another point that may sound like a criticism but really isn't: Jared barely seems to be the protagonist (I would instead bestow that honour on Lucrece who is far better fleshed out and hence more sympathetic) and is in reality a crappy Crow. He is so invested in his side quests of finding and killing Jim Unger and District Attorney John Harrod (whose death is brilliant by the way, naked in the front seat of his car, his head blown clean off leaving a "...jagged few inches of spine jutting out between dead shoulders"), he allows Lucrece to be captured by the very serial killer he's attempting to track and is so physically damaged by the time he finds him, he has been slowed down and Lucrece is already dead. Then his crow is easily killed and Jared flops to the floor like a wet, useless fish. Lucrece saves the day - what left there is to save - by coming back from the dead with her own crow, a giant fucker who is leader of the death crows to boot, and finally helping Jared finish off Benny's killer. Brandon Lee he ain't. None of this really matters in the end because Lucrece is such a strong character. Perhaps she should have been the Crow from the beginning.
At its core, rather than a simple Crow vengeance story, the novel is a biting statement about the persecution and hatred of gay people, transsexuals and transgender people in mid-nineties New Orleans. Not only are they charged with murders they did not commit, left to bleed out by fellow cops and ridiculed and attacked at their workplaces, they're hunted by a sadistic lunatic who takes them apart piece by piece. This makes the novel both harrowing and thought-provoking despite the gothic beauty of the prose. The burgeoning onslaught of the eerily-like-Katrina hurricane also ramps up the sense of threat to pulse-quickening levels. Would re-read (but of course, it's a Brite novel...).
A side note: I found a Russian website with a series of beautifully shot photos, crafted to look just like the ones described at Jared's gallery show and they are fucking amazing. www.poppyzbrite.ru
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 24, 2018
#16 A book with an animal in the title
God, I forgot how much I love Billy's writing. Ugh, it's just so flowing and beautiful. Whole passages about severed limbs and vivisection read like poetry set to soothing classical music. If only we could find someone with an amazing voice to read all Poppy Z. Brite books, I would fall asleep every night listening to the sounds of Steve and Ghost driving in the dark, to Zillah and Nothing opening a vein to share a drink of fresh blood, to Zach and Trevor's psychodelic fever dream of insanity and talking cartoon animals, to Andrew and Jay discovering their love for each other over a dismembered human head... Every. Night.
And I have gotten into the habit of breaking books up into their chapters and pairing them with other books with the same amount of chapters so that I can read more than one book at a time, but I found myself wanting to power through this one all at once, even though I knew that I would hate myself later. UGH, it was such a tough decision to stop after every chapter and move on to the other book. But, I wanted savor each chapter BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD!
...
Sorry, went off on a tangent there.
The Crow is one of my favorite movies, based on one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. Always has been. And to put that concept together with my favorite author of all time? Yes, please!
God, I forgot how much I love Billy's writing. Ugh, it's just so flowing and beautiful. Whole passages about severed limbs and vivisection read like poetry set to soothing classical music. If only we could find someone with an amazing voice to read all Poppy Z. Brite books, I would fall asleep every night listening to the sounds of Steve and Ghost driving in the dark, to Zillah and Nothing opening a vein to share a drink of fresh blood, to Zach and Trevor's psychodelic fever dream of insanity and talking cartoon animals, to Andrew and Jay discovering their love for each other over a dismembered human head... Every. Night.
And I have gotten into the habit of breaking books up into their chapters and pairing them with other books with the same amount of chapters so that I can read more than one book at a time, but I found myself wanting to power through this one all at once, even though I knew that I would hate myself later. UGH, it was such a tough decision to stop after every chapter and move on to the other book. But, I wanted savor each chapter BECAUSE IT WAS SO GOOD!
...
Sorry, went off on a tangent there.
The Crow is one of my favorite movies, based on one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. Always has been. And to put that concept together with my favorite author of all time? Yes, please!
December 29, 2021
Si estuviese en mi cuenta personal de Twitter probablemente haría algún comentario craso en la línea de "ME LO METÍ POR EL CULO SIN VASELINA NI NADA AAAAAAA".
Afortunadamente, no estamos en mi cuenta personal de Twitter.
Este libro es pulp, desde el estilo recargado y la premisa extravagante hasta la calidad del papel de la copia que conseguí encontrar en IberLibro. Pero es pulp bueno. Brite es un buen autor, y la calidad brilla incluso en los trabajos por encargo como éste. Hay violencia explícita y sangre a raudales, hay personajes atormentados y marginales haciendo cosas terribles, hay una trama adrenalínica de serie B, y hay una historia de amor inmortal, un amor tan intenso que es capaz de patear a la muerte en el culo y sobrevivir a las mayores atrocidades sólo para volver a estar completo. Y, amiga, llevo mucho tiempo buscando una historia así. Es gótica, es recargada, es entretenida y es melodramática, y retrata la situación de la comunidad LGTB+ en los noventa con grandes dosis de violencia, pero también con la ternura y la compasión de alguien que forma parte de ella. Me encanta la película (y me gustó el cómic, aunque admito que menos, porque lo leí bastante después), y esta novela ligera es una heredera dignísima.
Afortunadamente, no estamos en mi cuenta personal de Twitter.
Este libro es pulp, desde el estilo recargado y la premisa extravagante hasta la calidad del papel de la copia que conseguí encontrar en IberLibro. Pero es pulp bueno. Brite es un buen autor, y la calidad brilla incluso en los trabajos por encargo como éste. Hay violencia explícita y sangre a raudales, hay personajes atormentados y marginales haciendo cosas terribles, hay una trama adrenalínica de serie B, y hay una historia de amor inmortal, un amor tan intenso que es capaz de patear a la muerte en el culo y sobrevivir a las mayores atrocidades sólo para volver a estar completo. Y, amiga, llevo mucho tiempo buscando una historia así. Es gótica, es recargada, es entretenida y es melodramática, y retrata la situación de la comunidad LGTB+ en los noventa con grandes dosis de violencia, pero también con la ternura y la compasión de alguien que forma parte de ella. Me encanta la película (y me gustó el cómic, aunque admito que menos, porque lo leí bastante después), y esta novela ligera es una heredera dignísima.
October 19, 2022
Questo è il primo romanzo di Poppy Brite che ho letto. Commento breve senza spoiler.
Ho apprezzato molto la storia nel complesso: il tema della violenza istituzionale verso le persone queer è tratteggiato in modo grandioso, rispecchiandosi in tutti l3 personagg3. Il poliziotto coprotagonista in questo senso è una figura ottima, perché (di)mostra il perché molt3 di noi non abbiano fiducia in quelle istituzioni che in teoria dovrebbero difenderci, ma in pratica sono per lo più parte del problema.
Due cose che ho apprezzato meno, sono la costruzione del personaggio del serial killer (che di fatto ha la profondità psicanalitica di una buccia di banana) e il percorso che prende il personaggio femminile (perché nel finale ho l'impressione che sia stata portata in una direzione e in un insieme di scelte non sue).
Un plus enorme va allo stile di scrittura, che è curato, profondo ed evocativo come molti horror purtroppo non sanno essere. Cosa in cui un po' speravo, visto il legame della storia con Poe.
Nell'insieme è una lettura che consiglio, e proverò in futuro a leggere altro di Poppy Brite.
Ho apprezzato molto la storia nel complesso: il tema della violenza istituzionale verso le persone queer è tratteggiato in modo grandioso, rispecchiandosi in tutti l3 personagg3. Il poliziotto coprotagonista in questo senso è una figura ottima, perché (di)mostra il perché molt3 di noi non abbiano fiducia in quelle istituzioni che in teoria dovrebbero difenderci, ma in pratica sono per lo più parte del problema.
Due cose che ho apprezzato meno, sono la costruzione del personaggio del serial killer (che di fatto ha la profondità psicanalitica di una buccia di banana) e il percorso che prende il personaggio femminile (perché nel finale ho l'impressione che sia stata portata in una direzione e in un insieme di scelte non sue).
Un plus enorme va allo stile di scrittura, che è curato, profondo ed evocativo come molti horror purtroppo non sanno essere. Cosa in cui un po' speravo, visto il legame della storia con Poe.
Nell'insieme è una lettura che consiglio, e proverò in futuro a leggere altro di Poppy Brite.
July 24, 2025
I want to start off by saying that this is one of my favorite authors, and one of my favorite franchises, so I read this with high expectations. When I read the first crow graphic novel, I loved it, and I loved the character. He was selfless, hurting over his fiancé, but someone to look up to. I know that poppy z brite’s books are full of grit and complex to sometimes unlikable characters, but I didn’t expect that from The Crow. The Crow, Jared Poe, I found his character to be shallow, and annoying, I didn’t know anything about him other than the fact that he was pissed at the crow, pissed at the world, and had a 3some with his husband and his husband’s twin sister. Not surprising for a poppy z brite book, but surprising for a Crow book. The only likeable character I found to be was Lucrece, and I think the book would’ve been much better if she was the Crow for the entirety of the book. I also just think the lore of how the Crow works would’ve been explained more through New Orleans’ lens. Overall, I felt that this wasn’t a Crow book, it could’ve been its own stand alone story, I think I expected too much from this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2024
A really pleasant surprise....I mean this is a Billy Martin book so 'pleasant' is probably the wrong word but this was damn good.
I enjoy The Crow but it has never been a favourite, however Martin really makes this his own and tells a great story. A story of queer love and tragedy with a horrific serial killer at its center who targets anyone who is gender non-confirming.
There is nothing more depressing than the words of a deranged loner Serial Killer being basically the entire platform of the modern day Republican Party.
Certain characters are not exactly written how we would today so just keep that in mind and trigger warnings abound for slurs and intense violence.
I enjoy The Crow but it has never been a favourite, however Martin really makes this his own and tells a great story. A story of queer love and tragedy with a horrific serial killer at its center who targets anyone who is gender non-confirming.
There is nothing more depressing than the words of a deranged loner Serial Killer being basically the entire platform of the modern day Republican Party.
Certain characters are not exactly written how we would today so just keep that in mind and trigger warnings abound for slurs and intense violence.
August 6, 2025
This was at times difficult to read (the language and the violence - which went with where the story was going, but some words are a little jarring for me personally).
My jaw literally dropped with what happened to Frank. I thought being the 'hero cop' that he would be safe. That he would figure everything out, arrest the bad guy and maybe move on to a better place where he didn't have to hide who he is (gay). But no, this story was absolutely ruthless. I was something I totally didn't see coming until it happened.
I also thought/ hoped that Lucrece would be safe, but Lethe got her too. This story really was merciless.
My jaw literally dropped with what happened to Frank. I thought being the 'hero cop' that he would be safe. That he would figure everything out, arrest the bad guy and maybe move on to a better place where he didn't have to hide who he is (gay). But no, this story was absolutely ruthless. I was something I totally didn't see coming until it happened.
I also thought/ hoped that Lucrece would be safe, but Lethe got her too. This story really was merciless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
January 14, 2025This book was an intriguing read. The characters were unique and interesting. The setting, a hurricane ravaged New Orleans, added an atmospheric layer to the story, perfectly complementing its dark tone. I found this story was more of a thriller than a mystery and also very gruesome almost gory in some places. I will admit that This was not my favorite Poppy Z Brite book but it is a good one and worth the read, especially for fans of The Crow or Poppy Z Brite.
February 7, 2018
Wow just wow! Amazing novel! Poppy Z Brite never fails to amaze me. This is a wonderful addition to the crow series and I highly recommend it. With elements from exquisite corpse mixed in with the passionate story of the crow, this one is a definite recommendation! Might even make you shed a tear or two!
March 22, 2018
Very well written and I couldn't put it down! Written with a lot of knowledge behind it which makes sense when you read up on the author. Switched gears halfway through and does jump a little - a bit like a part two/sometime later. I would recommend reading it but be warned there is a lot of gore
February 22, 2022
All'inizio pensavo di non capirci nulla, la storia saltava frequentemente da un punto di vista ad un altro senza uno stacco logico ma, una volta avviata, prende veramente bene e ti trascina in questa orrida ambientazione splatter di omicidi e vendetta! Bellissimo!
July 27, 2022
This was my first introduction to the Crow, since my main goal was to read ever Poppy Brite book ever written.
The written word is fantastic, descriptive and deep like Ive known him to be. It didnt disappointz even if I wasnt fully aware of the pre set info.
The written word is fantastic, descriptive and deep like Ive known him to be. It didnt disappointz even if I wasnt fully aware of the pre set info.
March 21, 2023
always gonna love poppy z. brite and his unapologetic gory, gay, and goth stories, so this one was an expected pleasure. quite gripping in some places and some interesting commentary on the ever present subjects of homophobia and transphobia in america. lahved it!
October 23, 2025
3.5 stars.
And then there's the taut, staccato sound of ropes snapping and the man looks up, past Jared, and begins to scream.
March 18, 2019
A PZB rendition of the original story. A great read and fascinating homorerotic legend.
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