MOSTLY HERO

In this short work, Burns—winner of the Man Booker Prize for Milkman (2018)—departs from her usual source material.

Given that Burns has published three novels about political violence in Ireland, the fact that she’s written a madcap action-adventure superhero noir love story might make zero sense—or complete sense. With traces of her hallmark wordplay and circular storytelling style, she drops readers into a comic-book world of tropes, where every move is a double cross and every betrayal is revenge for a previous wrong. Our two main characters, superhero and femme fatale, are at odds because bad guys bought a spell from evil wizards that has made femme try to kill superhero 40 times. Meanwhile, everyone else in town is out to kill superhero, too, including world-dominating villains Great Aunt and Monique Frostique, a host of henchmen, and maybe even the eastside gang. The campy setups are funny, but the drama feels real, almost Shakespearean at times, as Burns reveals layers of personal history riddled with angst, whimsy, and passion driving these stock characters. Superhero is “confounded—by loving a woman who loved him back but who was trying to kill him without knowing she was trying to kill him.” Femme laments that those she loves are “sweet—and yet a murderer! And yet sweet! And yet a murderer!” Some characters’ backstories are retold too often, but there’s plenty of tension and intrigue behind the gunplay, gore, and mystery of who’ll survive the mayhem. Burns also sets herself free to drop in supernatural elements and John Woo–level shootouts as she pleases, letting characters kill after they’ve been killed and come back to life after lethal gunshots. Amid the goofy effervescent feminist dark comedy there’s enough humanity and tenderness to keep you hooked.

A farce with guts and truth that aims for the heart.