Review: Hero Status

Hero Status by Kristen Brand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw this recommended by a friend, Samantha Dunway Bryant, who is herself an author of superhero fiction. It's a genre I enjoy, and the premise sounded promising, so I grabbed the sample. Seeing few copy editing issues (especially as compared with the usual low superhero-fiction standard) and a motivated protagonist in a dynamic situation, I bought the book, and was glad I did.

It reminded me very much of a noir detective novel, with the protagonist getting beaten up repeatedly and having to deal with mobsters in order to help the femme fatale (who, in this case, is his wife). He solves the case through sheer perseverance combined with ingenuity, which is a combination I always enjoy.

The setup with the supers is (as such things go) believable, the plot was textbook, and the protagonist/narrator was appealing and relatable.

This is the start of a series, and although the next one, from the viewpoint of the supervillain wife, isn't as appealing to me as this one, I may well read it and/or others when I'm next in the mood for some well-written superhero fiction.

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