Alpha #1

From Cinebook's 9th Art line comes this sharp European spy thriller, Alpha: The Exchange — a CIA-branded tale of intrigue brought to life by the assured linework of cover artist Iouri Jigounov. The cover sets the mood perfectly: a dark-suited man holds a tense, wide-eyed blonde woman close against a backdrop of blood-spattered hundred-dollar bills, suggesting that whatever deal is going down, the stakes are very much life and death. With writing credits from Pascal Renard and Jérôme Saincantin, this 2008 Cinebook release looks like exactly the kind of cool-headed, continental espionage drama that fans of the genre will want on their shelf.