The Crow: Lazarus Heart by Poppy Z. Brite

This is a great take on the whole 'The Crow'... well, what? The only common character is a crow, and likely not the same crow. So not really a series. Theme? Yes, theme is a good way to put it. Started by James O'Barr and perpetuated by those who love the concept and hold it dear to themselves in some way. That sounds about right.

This is a great take on the theme of The Crow. There is pain, murder, death and vengeance. With a couple of unique twists that I really enjoyed. If you're a fan of The Crow and the whole idea behind it (coming back to avenge the wrongful death of a loved one), and if you don't have a problem with books that involve homosexuality and trans gendered characters this should definitely be read. Hell, if you DO have a problem with those things, but you still love The Crow's ideology, get the fuck over it, get a copy and read this book. It's a really beautiful story.

"The man who wears the names of rivers knows that he is no longer like other men, that some part of his fearful work has changed him forever and he can never return to the simple, painless life he lived before.... The invaders are everywhere, and Their agents are everywhere.... In [his] dreams They walk the streets without fear, spreading the androgyne contagion, and the sky burns with the roaring engines of Their warships." In a novel about a serial killer, the evocation of the killer's madness can make or break the book. In The Crow: The Lazarus Heart, Poppy Z. Brite delivers her usual complement of gay/transsexual pale-faced lovelies dressed in black Lycra and lace, giving just enough of a spin to their aesthetics that they are mildly entertaining to read about. But the way she puts the good gory meat into the story is through the character of a mesmerizing serial killer whose unique brand of paranoia serves as a sly commentary on Brite's own fiction. This is a short and relatively simple novel for Brite, but its narrative momentum never lapses: the plot structure hangs together better than in her longer, more ambitious works. It's overwritten in places--Brite wants to use two similes where one will do--but it's fun. And that's what horror is all about.