Review by Frank Plowright

Jerry Hauser’s curse is that he’s constantly mistaken for Darren Hart, mega-famous self-help guru whose billboard advertising Jerry constantly sees as he drives his taxi around town listening to his passengers comment on the resemblance. Hart sells out stadiums with his offensive me-first message, but Hauser barely makes ends meet and has to sneak furtive glances at the daughter he has no contact with.

There’s little attempt to disguise where novelist writing team of Jesse Kellerman and Owen King are heading when Hart’s car breaks down and he needs a taxi, but that’s the dropping-off point, and it’s what plays out that matters. What Jerry discovers is that Hart’s life is very different from what he’d assumed, although readers will have figured out corruption was ingrained, and in taking on the role he’s jumped into a firepit. However, Jerry’s hardly a saint himself and his past is catching up.

Artist Marianna Ignazzi is great at underselling the circumstances, violent though they sometimes are, making it seem as if everything we see is normal, when it’s anything but. Her cast are perfectly defined, from the supernaturally glamorous to the people with more selective appeal, and there’s a grace to the way the scenes switch from location to location.

Self-Help proves a clever title beyond Hart’s activities, as pretty well everyone we meet follows their own agenda with no concern for other people, all the way down to the motel receptionist. What makes Jerry sympathetic is that he’s made mistakes, but when his conscience clicks in, it’s a mighty powerful force. Kellerman and King may sound like your local estate agents, but they’ve plenty of experience in producing a plot with a bucketful of surprises, just not for comics before now, and any crime fan is really going to enjoy what they have to offer.

The downside? This is just the first five chapters. There’s more to come.