Superheroes Anonymous

Everybody in Chicago has a "superhero sighting" story. So when a villain attacks editorial assistant Gail Godwin and she's rescued by superhero Blaze, it's a great story, and nothing more. Until it happens again. And again. Now the media has dubbed her Hostage Girl, nobody remembers her real name, and people are convinced that Blaze is just her boyfriend, Jeremy, in disguise.

Gail's not so sure. All she knows is that when both Jeremy and Blaze leave town in the same week, she's probably doomed. Who will save her now?

Yet, miraculously, the villains lose interest. Gail is able to return to her life … until she wakes up strapped to a metal table by a mad scientist who hasn't read the news. After escaping—now more than human herself—she's drawn into a secret underground world of superheroes. She'll have to come to terms with her powers (and weaknesses) to make it in the new society, and it's not easy. After all, there's a new villain on the rise, and she has her sights set on the one and only Hostage Girl.

Superheroes Anonymous (Superhero Fantasy)

By Lexie Dunne

Harper Voyager Impulse

ISBN #978-0062369123

Price $6.99 (paperback)

323 Pages

Rating 4-Stars

“Good Writing, And Interesting Concept.”

I like a novel with a strong female lead. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t have one. Gail Godwin, better known as Hostage Girl because super villains like kidnapping her just to bring super hero Blaze to rescue her. Now that Blaze – or her boyfriend, Jeremy Collins – has moved from Chicago to Florida, Gail believes her days as Hostage Girl will cease and she can lead a normal life. She’s wrong, of course. Dr. Mobius kidnaps her and shoots a concoction of radioactive chemicals into her, which we know is going to turn her into a super hero, if he isn’t careful. His reason is to force Blaze back. There is a raid and … well, let’s not tell the whole plot.

The author’s writing is very good, and though the concept is interesting, it just doesn’t get my attention. I was bored most of the way through the book, but wanted to see how it ended. It didn’t. Gail is arrested, and the book is continued to the next novel. I hate novels that don’t come to a final conclusion. Why must the reader be forced to buy “the next book” to see how the first novel ended? Harper Collins, the publisher of this book should know better. Shame on them! I didn’t want to give the book a 3-Star, which it truly deserved, and certainly wasn’t going to give it a 5-Star, so I settled on 4-Stars because of the author’s writing is good. Can I recommend it? Maybe comic book fans will enjoy all the super villains and super heroes, but I’m not sure if even they will give it a 5-Star, but I’ll let them decide. They can do the recommending also. I can only recommend the author’s writing ability, not the story.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH