Monster vol 2 by naoki urasawa

Tenma continues his search for Johan, and he hopes he can get through to him or kill him before he can kill anyone else. He crosses paths with a conman, Hekkel, who wants to market Tenma’s medical skills to the underworld — to people who can’t go to a doctor or the hospital. The first patient Tenma is tricked into helping is a terrorist who attacked political leaders just that morning. While investigating Johan’s childhood, Tenma saves a little boy, Dieter, from his abusive guardian, and Dieter refuses to stay in any of the safe places Tenma tries to leave him. Anna, Johan’s twin, and Tenma both close in on Johan’s trail at the same mansion, but threats from Neo-Nazis against a neighborhood of Turks entangle Anna, Dieter, Tenma, and Hekkel in the rescue efforts.

---

There’s so much going on in this volume that it got a little bit hard to keep track of everything and everyone. There are some similar character designs that make it hard to tell some folks apart, specifically Tenma's ex-fiancée and a Turkish woman, both of whom are in this volume. Despite some of these hiccups, the overall story is really engrossing. Urasawa is a master at giving important details in small enough chunks that your interest is piqued, so you keep reading, and then you find another little nugget. As with many of his other series, the synopsis sounds really strange and unworkable, but there's definitely a magic at work here that keeps me glued while reading.

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: VIZ Media
Publication Date: October 21st 2014
ISBN: 9781421569079 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Mystery, ​Suspense, VIZ Media