If you crossed "Fables" with a Christopher Nolan movie (plus a dash of "Harry Potter" and Christopher Robin), you might get something like "Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity." 
 Mike Carey crafts a weird and hypnotic fantasy tale where the lines between fantasy and reality turn out to be rather... fluid. There's some graphic gore, shimmering fantastical moments, and a suitably sinister gang of villains -- and Carey keeps bending your brain with the uncertainty of just what is going on with Tom. 
 Years ago, Wilson Taylor wrote a bestselling series of books about Tommy Taylor, a young wizard based on (and named after) his young son. Now Tom Taylor is a jaded adult who hates how the books have overshadowed his life, although he makes a living off of convention appearances and book signings. 
 Then a mysterious fan called Lizzy Hexam publicly casts doubt on the existence of Tom Taylor, leading to a firestorm of hatred; but after Tom is kidnapped and almost killed by a crazed fan, that hatred turns to messianic worship as people start believing he IS the boy wizard. In the meantime, Tom has begun to wonder if the rumors have any validity, and starts hunting for clues. 
 So he retreats to the Villa Diodati along with Lizzy, where a group of mystery or horror writers have also gathered. However, a deadly enemy is approaching the villa with the intention of destroying Tom. And as Tom tries to unravel the secrets of his past, he discovers that the world may be more magical than he thought. 
 "Unwritten Volume 1" only scratches the surface of Tom's half-imagined world, which leaves you guessing furiously about what the heck is going on. Is Tom a real person or some kind of fantasy construct? Who is Pullman and why does he want to kill Tom? 
 The world of "Unwritten" is a lot like our own, but as the story winds on Carey carefully paints dark shadows that get nastier as time goes on -- especially when Pullman goes on a bloody killing spree at the villa. Carey also gives some nods to the Harry Potter series and the [[ASIN:1563890828 The Books of Magic]], and some explorations of just how obsessed people become with stories, and how important those stories are to us. 
 Tom seems like kind of an ungrateful jerk at first, but as the story goes on we see more of how he became that way. The poor guy has no unique identity, as far as the world is concerned, and he seems understandably worried that his entire life has been a fiction. And while we don't know much about her, Lizzy fulfills the "hot librarian" function for... somebody who's trying to help Tom. 
 "Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity" is a solid start to a promising new series, with plenty of gore, brain-benders and the occasional flying cat. Definitely give this a try.