An entertaining tale of superpowered justice.
In this third installment of Holiday’s series, a calculating villain aims to assassinate the titular superhero’s character.
God and Luc (the Devil) have waged war across seven battlefields for centuries. The final battlefield is the city of Carnage Coast, where God’s “champions” face off against Luc’s minions. Travis Holiday, known publicly as the armor-donning Iron Warrior, is one such champion. However, after enduring darkness in his own soul, he’s been largely absent for two years. He rushes back to Carnage Coast when he receives word that the enemy may be too much for Sgt. Rebecca Walters and costumed heroes like Grenade and the Pink Jaguar to handle. The city’s biggest threat seems to come from Candace Loveless, who’s apparently dead seton exposing the Iron Warrior’s true identity. Loveless’ agenda entails kidnapping and even killing innocent people to coerce Travis into submission. Soon, a series of rumors, letters, and videos cast Travis in a bad light, making his allies believe he’s dirty and convincing his girlfriend, Crystal, that he’s cheating on her. While some of what’s being said or shown has elements of truth (Travis’ past does indeed mingle with those of a few villains), the rest is absolutely fabricated, or so Travis claims; surely, this is all part of Loveless’ diabolical plan to turn everyone Travis loves against him. In the meantime, Rebecca and the other heroes clash with assorted villains, including the Simpleton and the mesmerizing Hypnotion. As the good guys rally to keep citizens safe, the threat remains that Loveless will pick one of Travis’ allies as the next abductee in her relentless mission to hurt the Iron Warrior.
A light but unmistakable Christian theme runs throughout Holiday’s novel (and series as a whole). The Iron Warrior is characterized as “God’s fist in the war” and a man “powered by faith.” This particular installment, however, doesn’t go much deeper; Travis primarily fights opponents to assist his fellow superheroes or for personal reasons, with no indication that a divine force is driving him. He asserts that his faith is rock solid (it genuinely fuels his superpowers), but he questions it throughout the story. (“I’ve been resorting to other beliefs. I don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore.”) The narrative teems with colorful heroes and villains: Grenade, who’s married to the Pink Jaguar, wears a yellow mechanized gauntlet; masked bad guy Diversion seemingly clones himself, and each version of himself is a different hue. Candace’s scheme against Travis is frighteningly plausible; characters instantly believe that a video showing Travis in a compromising position is legit, despite how easy it is to fake such images. This all results in a welcome vulnerability for Travis, whose Iron Warrior armor appears indestructible. As Travis struggles with handling anger and occasionally turns violent, Loveless’ machinations provide a potent reminder that the superhero is only human. The dialogue is generally straightforward and refreshingly concise, but the one-liners that invariably pop up in the action scenes usually fall flat, as in the Simpleton’s taunt: “Damn, guy! Looks like you got hit by a parked car…It should’ve looked where it was going, am I right?” This third series entry makes it clear where the next installment (and planned conclusion) will go.
An entertaining tale of superpowered justice.Pub Date: today
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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