Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan

I had never heard of Rutu Modan before I read this graphic novel, but she is a legend in her home country Israel, and judging by this novel, she deserves the accolades that come her way.

Set in Tel Aviv after a suicide bomber has laid waste a bus station, it throws together a female soldier and a young man whose father is suspected of being killed in the bombing. But has he? The young man Koby and the the young woman who was Koby's father's girlfriend try to solve the mystery of his death but are given the runaround by the wealth of characters that inhabit the troubled country of Israel.

The graphics are superb and the written text real and unsentimental as you would expect. Some readers may be offended by a love making scene later in the book, but it didn't bother me. It is for senior secondary and young adults, but I am sure younger audience would be interested too.

I shall be looking out for other titles by Rutu Modan although some would say this is not her best book.

Published by Jonathan Cape

See an interview with Rutu Modan

Reviewed by Bob