An enjoyable visit to a world where superheroes live, curse, and sleep together.
A novel about the personal lives of superheroes.
Will Donner used to be Century Man, a superhero, much like his wife, Supernova, who’s capable of incredible feats in the name of justice. After his powers mysteriously vanish, Will is left to photograph the work of his former supercolleagues, known in the book as “metahumans.” His photography work is celebrated—“I had the Pulitzers and Newsweek covers and Century City Journal front pages to prove it”—but things aren’t quite like they once were. This is particularly true for his sex life, because, in his current state, it would be dangerous to bring his wife to orgasm: “If I come, I’ll hurt you. Bad. You know this,” she tells him. In attempts to regain his powers, Will undergoes treatments such as “hyper-neural steroid mass-injection…and the photoelectric vacuum saturation,” which helps him maintain a modicum of hope in this wild world. And what a world it is. Superheroes have corporate endorsements—Supernova, who has appeared in TV ads for Verizon Wireless, is currently in talks to become a Calvin Klein spokesmodel—and tourists flock to Century City to see their favorite heroes in action. Meanwhile, as the government grows distrustful of superpowers, a popular porno featuring metahumans leaves Will and his wife excited. Graphic (“Deidre opened my pants and hauled out my erection”), foulmouthed (“Bullshit. If you had a free pass and could fuck anyone, who would it be?”), and imaginative, Beauchamp’s (Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, 2013) novel builds a city of superheroes who behave more like professional athletes. The worldbuilding sometimes requires heavy explanations, which might leave readers longing for excitement. A chapter devoted to Meta-Con (second only to Comic-Con as the nation’s biggest comic book convention) proves to be no more insightful than waiting in line at such an event. Still, those willing to look past the slower portions will find a heady exploration of superhero relationships that goes well beyond the tights.
An enjoyable visit to a world where superheroes live, curse, and sleep together.Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-1939156440
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Ink Smith Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
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