A gifted neurosurgeon saves a boy's life, later to learn that the child has become a serial killer. Worse, the surgeon is accused of the murders. What now? He decides to turn rogue: quits the hospital, buys a gun, and searches for the monster while evading the police. But who is the monster? Through 18 volumes, we meet the monster countless times: not just in the beautiful young man whose seductive cocktail of nihilism wins him recruits and keeps him just out of Dr. Tenma's reach but in honchos in the shadowy Czech movement plotting to create bermenschen, "upstanding citizen" characters, the marginally deranged author of some peculiar children's books, and the doctor's selfish ex-financee. Verdict Urasawa's brilliant thriller pits character against character in nasty and complex cascades of violence, yet we understand and sympathize with every individual. The quadruple twist ending defies anticipation, holding up a challenge: What should we all do? Highly recommended for adults.-M.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.