Human Target: Final Cut by Peter Milligan, Javier Pulido, Dave Stewart 2002

            Human target was like a thriller movie, and appropriately so. Hollywood assassinations and a human chameleon protagonist made for a pretty wild ride. There’s a serial killer going around targeting celebrities. First he sends a note, like a ransom note before the kidnapping, demanding money, pay up or die. As if they’re used to these kinds of veiled threats, most shrug it off, until the killer delivers. That’s where our protagonist, Christopher Chance, comes in, a very literal human chameleon. He surgically adorns the persona of the celebrity under threat and waits for the opportunity to turn the tables and apprehend the culprit, taking acting to a whole new level. I was quite taken with Milligan’s writing. He takes you inside Chance’s head where countless plastic surgeries and deep role immersion have taken a significant psychological toll. Chance struggles with who he is/was outside of his work, where he has to quite literally become another person. Murder, mystery, scandal, drama, this book had it all. I cant tell if the Hollywood setting was ironic, clever or both. When I explained the plot to someone else after reading, I realized how implausible it all was. Though, I think it’s some indicator of success that I really didn’t care or even consider that while reading and I genuinely enjoyed it.