The best villains are always the guys who think they’re the heroes. For example: General Zod, Thanos, Erik Killmonger and Light Yagami were all misguided creeps who thought they were doing the right thing. 

In Trapped!, the first novel in Richard D. Bailey’s ongoing historical horror series (read my review here), Dr. Vladislav Volkov wanted to prevent WWII by creating an army of wolf-human hybrids. And now, in the second book, he wants to save humanity from itself by turning humans into subservient sheep—literally. 

Volkov had good intentions (I guess), but he was a madman warped by the horrors of war. Rumors of grotesque animal experiments followed him like a dark shadow—abhorrent acts that would disgust even the infamous Josef Mengele. 

Over the years he created boar, bear and armadillo hybrids along with werevolks, vampire cats and one sexy kangaroo lady. His flock of sheep people were just the latest attempt to reimagine the world we live in. Note: the author never attempts to explain how Volkov does this. The mad doctor merely has a “recipe book of mixes and serums” tucked away in a safety box somewhere. 

Trapped! Again! takes place 25 years after the first novel ends. It was now the swingin’ mid-sixties—Lyndon Johnson was president of the United States, Tom & Jerry were on TV, Bob Dylan picked up an electric guitar and the Beatles were set to perform at New York’s Shea Stadium. 

Along with his white-cloaked minions (affectionately called the Klueless Klutz Klan), a former Cuban intelligence officer, a French chef and (briefly) Jim Jones, Sun Myung Moon, David Berg and Charles Manson, Dr. Volkov was in Georgia planning his sheeple invasion at Grimclaw Manor, a large two-story, antebellum plantation house.

Naturally, his mad scheme couldn’t go unheeded. A global ministry of spies and government agents (and one journalist) were dispatched to infiltrate Grimclaw Manor. The Primal Pack, a superhero-like group comprised of former Volkov animal hybrids, were also on the case.  

With so many minions, monsters, superheroes and spies running around Volkov’s mansion, Trapped! Again! could easily have spun out of control. As he did with the first novel, Bailey decides to let each of his characters tell the story through their own experiences. It’s not exactly Rashomon (the 1950 movie by Akira Kurosawa), but it helps the reader contextualize the fractious narrative. 

And, of course, the whole thing’s a goddamn hoot. Volkov was a cagey smartass, the quippy Primal Pack were a lot like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the consortium of global gatecrashers each had their own lovable eccentricities and foibles. The novel eventually ends with a frenzied Silver Age slugfest that checked all my fanboy boxes. I’m really looking forward to the third book in the series Trapped! Finale! coming soon. 

[ Trapped! Again! / By Richard D. Bailey / First Printing: January 2025 / ISBN: 9798306162454 ]