How bad can things get in a militant compound after all the children kill their parents?  Pretty bad it seems.  Continuing on from the first volume, Johnnie Christmas and Ed Brisson chronicle the tale of a group of children who get turned on to the wrong path by one of their own.  It is a tale of the apocalypse yet one that takes a novel approach as the apocalypse has not yet taken place.  There are many books on the stands today that feature apocalyptic tales, many of them published by Image Comics much like this very title is.  The Walking Dead, Lazarus and East of West are just a few examples of books that deal with the subject, but none do it like Sheltered does.  Post-apocalyptic scenarios are fascinating both on the page and on the big screen, but none have taken the approach of looking at the lead up to one, only the after-effects.  It sets this book apart from the ever-increasing sea of titles in the market and that is a good thing.

The volume starts out with a look at a moment that takes place before Lucas’ uprising.  It follows a man named Cliff who is just trying to make a buck for him and his family.  He might not be the most stand-up guy, but he tries.  His latest money-making scheme takes him to Safe Haven just after the chaotic events of the last book and from that moment on, the books pace is a mile a minute as he finds himself hunted by Lucas and the other children.  But things are not going as perfect as Lucas thought they would, as some of the kids are not listening to him, and inside the compound, Victoria and a few holdouts know that Lucas is losing his mind and what he is spouting is pure crazy.  They also know that Lucas murdered Chris, one of their own, though the whole compound believes it was Victoria and her friends.  Soon, things start to unravel in more ways than one.

With this volume Brisson and Christmas give the book a bit of a new perspective and add a new player to the book in the form of adult, Cliff.  We have seen what it is to be inside the compound looking out, and with Cliff’s introduction we now see what it is like to look within.  It turns out that no matter how you look at the little community of Safe Haven, it is anything but.  While the first volume really gave us a view of how mob mentality works in a closed setting, this book also shows the reader just how persistant and dedicated to their new cause the children can be as they hunt Cliff down over the countryside.  It is an interesting little character study Brisson presents when all the shackles are removed from these children and they are essentially allowed to run free and do as they please.  Some of them turn out to be level-headed, others scared and unsure while a few, like Curt, become sociopathic to one degree or another.

The book, while being a drama, is also quite horrific as well.  What Brisson and Christmas put down on the page, watching these children embrace the chaos of the situation, leads to some disturbing imagery and insane acts.  Murdering their parents was one thing, hunting strangers another, but when they start killing their own members, that is something else.  The brutality of it is shocking at times, but the creators find it essential to tell this tale, and in the end, it works as you cannot turn away.  The book keeps your attention and it is more than some titles are able to do.  They also manage to keep the paranoia and suspense going through the roof, never really letting it come down for a moment and with the book’s pacing being quite brisk because of it, it makes it hard for you to put it down.

There are three characters that stand out far more than anyone else in the book and that is Victoria, our heroine, Lucas, the villain and the leader of the uprising and Curt.  Victoria is logical, level-headed and the leader of the opposition, however small it might be.  She knows that Lucas is not who he presents himself to be, but his powers of persuasion are strong and he holds the trust of the majority of Safe Haven.  Lucas is akin to Big Jim in Under the Dome.  He thinks he knows what is best and he has a plan and will do anything to enforce it.  Curt on the other hand is an entirely different beast, being murderous and clearly as crazy as they come.  There is no redeeming feature to be found in Curt, but he keeps your interest piqued because there is no telling what he will do next and despite him being a child, you want something bad to happen to him.

Just where Christmas and Brisson plan on taking this book is a little unclear at the moment.  Whether those mysterious volcanoes erupt and the apocalypse comes to pass like Lucas predicts or the FBI swoops in and just takes them all out, it will be one hell of a ride.  Also unknown is how long the creators can keep the book going, but if they keep delivering the high level of quality storytelling that they have been doing so far, people will keep tuning in.  Apocalyptic tale it just might be, at least in Safe Haven.

4.5 out of 5