The supporting cast include ingénue Celeste, a nightclub singer with a secret, who is also the Ghost's private obsession and the love interest of his alter-ego. There's Gideon Reece, the doer of dirty work and chief thug for the Roman, NYPD Detective Felix Donovan and his perceptive assistant Mullins, and a splendidly understated museum expert, named Arthur Wolfe, who is the only person to be entrusted with the Ghost's true identity. It's a small cast, but one that does what it needs to do, filling out the at times quite claustrophobic world that the Ghost moves in, and providing natural bridges between the set piece action sequences. It is in those that are the book succeeds the most, creating vivid imagery of the Ghost taking brief flights using crude rocket boots, and cutting down part mechanical part otherworldly Moss Men, using explosive flechettes. There's an enticing noir violence permeating the entire book, which is in harmony with the relatively low tech at the Ghost's disposal, and to society in general. Looking into a world without the Internet and mobile phones is quite refreshing. The negatives are occasional bits of fast and loose plotting, such as when the Ghost is being chased by what are described as "goons" and makes his escape using a bi-plane, only to find that the "goons" are in aerial pursuit. In the space of a page and a half they've apparently developed piloting skills. But this sort of thing does not really detract from the overall appeal of the book. Unlike the secret of the Roman, which was something I found lacking in originality, as if the author thought it didn't really matter if he used such a hackneyed plot device.

Ultimately, Ghosts of Manhattan felt as if it could have stood another hundred pages, thus allowing room for better, more fulsome explanation and expansion of what promised to be a fascinating alternate history setting. But this is just the beginning, and George Mann delivers a start which is fun, flavoursome and just occasionally frivolous. I've read comics as novels many times before, and always appreciate when a writer is trying to do something a little bit different. Whether the author can open up his world, and add the degree of depth that would make it something special, remains to be seen. For now, I can recommend this book as an enjoyable, light read, and a cordite riddled introduction to the way things might've been.