Crossroad Blues

LIBRARY JOURNAL -- Blues historian Nick Travers has been trying to raise funds for a documentary about famous bluesman Guitar Slim but is sidetracked by attempts to locate a particularly well-versed professor of music history who has gone missing. Little does Travers know that his path will take him into the dreaded shadows of dark blues legends such as the cryptic Robert Johnson and up against eccentric characters, including a mystical black albino and a goat-loving hit man who looks and sounds like Elvis Presley. Enveloped in an ominous, surreal world of greed, secrets, and ruthless men, Travers is soon in over his head and forced to take action when his kidnapped girlfriend is used as a negotiating chip by murderers. Verdict Best-selling author Atkins ("Quinn Colson" series) and artist Finnegan (Lost Fair Gone Down), with letterer Peteri (Witchblade), realize a stark recounting of an Atkins novel of the same name, featuring black-and-white artwork that is coarse and blunt and a script that at times is static and ambiguous. Blues and urban legend buffs may find this entertaining.