Amazonia

Amazonia volume one is the first of a series continuing the adventures of Kathy Austin, a British intelligence agent who investigates paranormal phenomena. This time she's being sent to Brazil to investigate a strange humanoid sighting... possibly an extraterrestrial. She's no stranger to sightings like this, having explored similar scenarios in the previous series Kenya and Namibia.

These are French- Belgian productions published originally in French by Dargaud but translated into English by Cinebook. The authors are Leo and Rodolphe, and some of my readers may remember that Leo and his Aldebaran series are favorites of mine. I've read the previous series Kenya but not the Namibia sequence, so I'm jumping around a little, but these jumped out at me. 

 This one starts off in 1949 when a dying man comes ashore at a dispensary in the Amazon run by an English pastor. He has a photo on him of a strange being in the company of a cannibal tribe, and he doesn't appear to be of this world. The photo is taken to the regional capital where British intelligence is made aware of it and thus Kathy Austin gets involved. She's promptly sent to Brazil to see what's up. Once she arrives it becomes clear that there are other interested parties- namely the Germans. There's apparently some Nazi gold hidden in the rainforest as well, and soon murder and a race to get to the location where the photo was taken ensue. 

 Not a lot happens in this one, it's mostly set up but I like where it's going and the Amazon setting is fantastic. There's an underlying sense that there is an extraterrestrial presence hidden in our world, and traces of it pop up in the various locales of this series. We get glimpses of her personal life as well, and as with many of these productions the interpersonal details are as compelling as the more thrilling aspects. And at five episodes the pace is deliberate and doesn't feel rushed. 

These French- Belgian books don't get a lot of visibility in the US but I find these interesting and eagerly await each translation as they come out. The only complaint is how long it takes! Volume one was published in French in 2016 but this translation just came out- nevertheless I await each installment eagerly and volumes two and three just came out.