This comic is about a troubled family, the Pike family, and the town they live in. The City of Royal City, once a thriving factory town, is slowly disappearing as residents flee for other neighborhoods where they can find jobs. The comic is a continuation of the author's Essex County comic.

Patrick Pike, a fading literary star, reluctantly returns home after his father suffers a stroke. He becomes drawn into the dramas of his two adult siblings, his mother, and his browbeaten father, all of whom are still haunted by the death of youngest brother Tommy. This family saga covers a span of 30 years.

I hated for this story to end. I loved all of the characters and felt like I was a member of the Pike family too. It would be awesome if the author continued the story but I believe that it is completed. Although this is a comic, the character development and intensity of each family member's reaction to the death of Tommy at age 14 could easily have been written as a fiction novel. The looseness of the comic format has not hindered the author. The story has a definite beginning, middle and end. I also liked that the artwork was done in color. Black and white comics just don't grab my attention. ( )

Such a beautiful and melancholy story. ( )

A pedestrian domestic drama and ghost story ends as blandly as it began. ( )

This is the final volume of a comic series. It's the third trade paperback collected volume. It's just wonderful. Royal City is a dying industrial town and the Pike family is a mess. The first volume took place in the present day and the second was mostly flashback to fill in the background of why all the members of this family are so broken and why they all feel such guilt about death of the youngest brother when he was a teenager. This finale is back in the present day with all of them coming to terms with their brokenness as individuals and as a family.

I won't say much more about the plot but I highly recommend this series. It's fairly short at just three books so it's not like you're signing up for a long extended series.

Lemire does his own artwork in this series. The style is familiar from his previous work. It feels a little rough but the emotions he can manage to express through his character's eyes continues to amaze me.
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