It is perhaps a contemporary American trait that any such reworking should involve conflict. The plot eschews the opportunity to reimagine Alice in a strange and whimsical manner, in favour of straightforward Hollywood violence. Clearly writing with the movie and game versions in mind, Beddor dispenses with complexities like characterisation and devious plot twists. Instead, what is presented is a tale where everyone is exactly who they seem. Black and white, good and bad with no shades of grey to trouble readers. Even within these self-imposed limitations, there's invention worthy of note. The Mad Hatter is replaced by Hatter Madigan, a cross between the most recent incarnation of Van Helsing and the Scarlet Pimpernel. There's also Dodge Anders, a Wonderlander boy in love with Alyss, The Cat, a shape-shifting feline assassin who has, quite literally, nine lives, and a suffocating Wig-Beast brought to life by the mad bad and dangerous to know Queen Redd. Alyss, cast out of Wonderland during a Coup by her evil auntie, ends up as the adopted child of the Liddells. Her tall tales about her homeland are watered down and misrepresented in books by the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson -- Lewis Carroll's real name -- who is shown in a manner which hints at paedophilia. Meanwhile, Hatter Madigan, who has also escaped Wonderland, arrives in a different country, and then spends years trying to track the princess down. By the time he finds her, she is in her mid-twenties and about to marry. Over the years, Alyss has forced herself to think of her past as a dream. Until it comes crashing back into her life, and she's dragged through a puddle, to emerge in Wonderland's Pool of Tears.

Reworking classics must always be done with guile and finesse, neither of which is in evidence here. The author seems to have found himself in a position where he knew the right people to get the book published, and they were blinded by his lights. The idea is not a bad one, in fact, The Looking Glass Wars could've been a triumphant blast of fresh air. If only Beddor's skill matched his daring. But, to successfully rework a story as well regarded as Alice In Wonderland, requires a level of skills and experience which are beyond most first time authors. Beddor is clearly a man of many talents, and had he thought with his CEO hat on, he might have employed someone whose primary skill was as a writer. Instead, he did the job himself and produced a sloppily plotted hodgepodge of ideas, which fails to convince.