For his first creator-owned work since the groundbreaking [b:Surrogates|6868193|The Surrogates|Robert Venditti|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1252955839s/6868193.jpg|175069], Venditti delivers a taut thriller that elevates the genre within the comics medium. After Dr. Laura Regan's research partner is murdered and she is blamed for the crime, police, the FBI, cyber-detectives, and mercenaries hunt for the CDC researcher. Why does everyone want Regan dead? What are the upper echelons of the federal government trying to hide? Who are the mismatched quartet of inter-agency spooks trying to protect Regan? The nuanced and extraordinary art of Huddleston enhances Venditti's intelligent, tension-filled script. Paranoid and addictive, The Homeland Directive provides a level of suspenseful excitement rarely encountered this side of a [a:John le Carre|5098981|john le carre|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] novel. Let's just hope they do a better job with the movie version than they did with The Surrogates. ( )

Somewhat predictable. Taps into the American conspiracy zeitgeist. Political background is thinly drawn, as if the author did not want to point fingers at the obvious right-wing nut-bar Republicans that are clearly at the heart of the conspiracy. The dodging of real American politics is kind of a letdown. Time to call out the fascists and fanatics for what they are and take it to where they live... ( )

I really wanted to like this book. It has such an interesting premise being set in the US right after 9/11 and there's murder, intrigue, and conspiracy...and the government may be behind it all. But...it draws way too much inspiration from V for Vendetta and from political thrillers like Enemy of the State.

The story, while well written, is predictable if you've read "V for Vendetta" before or any political thriller where the government has gone bad. It follows the same basic pattern and there's just no suspense or drama to it really. The art style is also a bit overwhelming and distracting at times. It's very well done, but the variations in style, from being done in charcoal drawings for the political meetings (which are really quite nice and unique) to being computer generated, make it difficult in some scenes to know what's going on.

I'll give the book 3.5 stars because it is well written and there are some interesting scenes drawn...I just wish it was a bit more unique in its storyline ( )