Strontium Dogs #1: Bad Timing

by Rebecca Levene

Johnny Alpha and a mismatched band of Strontium are press-ganged into doing the dirty work of Don 'Chick' Delater, mutant, crime boss and professional psychopath. Delater wants the Dogs to track down... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844161102
• ISBN13: 9781844161102
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Black Flame
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.5" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

A Darn Good Read

Huge fan of the Strontium Dog comic series that I am, I was practically slobbering over this book. It didn't disappoint. It was great to see Johnny Alpha in action again, especially after all hopes of seeing the character in action again were removed when 2000AD (the comic that the story used to appear in) made the idiotic and pointless move of killing him off. Anyway, the book is a great read. It's got all the usual Strontium Dog elements that you know from the comic - a ruthless and psychopathic villain, crooked background deals, a danger fraught hunt, fascinating mutants, a heck of a lot of futuristic hardware, time distortions and a weird universe to set it all in. The action is pretty fast-paced and the book doesn't really slow down. There's always the desire to read the next chapter, even though you've told yourself you need to put it down and go to work now. It also captured the characters exceptionally well. I loved the portrayal of Johnny Alpha in his older, more cranky form, right down to his lack of interest in sex or any other form of enjoyment and his total dedication to the hunt. Middenface McNulty was the usual brawling drunkard, but unlike in the comic, you got to see a little bit of what was going on in his mind and what made him tick (which apparently isn't a lot). Durham Red was also convincing in her ruthless and treacherous way. All in all, these characters really worked. I would recommend this book to any fan of the series, or anyone who likes to read books about non-stop mayhem. Rebecca Levene, the author, is clearly someone to look out for. I hope she does some more Strontium Dog books soon.

Bad Timing

150 years from now the world is quite a different place. For one thing due to the detonation of a very large nuclear bomb humans have had a tendency to mutate. Unwelcome by their more normal brethren the mutants must find a way to survive doing jobs no one else wants or dares to do. Our bad-ass mutant in question, Johnny Alpha has chosen to be a bounty hunter. He, along with several other hunters, is tricked into a meeting with one of the most wicked crime bosses in the galaxy. In exchange for their lives dangerous Durham Red the vampiress, confused Jo/Joe the man woman, Min Qi Man the simian (get it? Min Qi Man?), and several other mutants must go to the planet Epsilon Five to retrieve their target. Sounds kind of simple and straightforward...right? It would be if a time bomb of titanic proportions hadn't exploded there. The aftereffects of the bomb left a field of time distortion in which time speeds up for anyone or thing not from the planet itself. For every day they are on the planet Johnny and his mismatched team age a year. Even if they survive the hazards of the planet itself, time is running out, literally for the team. Packed with nonstop action, well ok it paused here and there for time distortion, Bad Timing is right on time for a good read.