Supervillains Anonymous

Author Synopsis:

The stakes are huge and the hero is short when Hostage Girl returns snarkier than ever in Lexie Dunne's urban superhero fantasy Supervillains Anonymous

New superhero Gail Godwin, the one and only Hostage Girl, is in big trouble: her nemesis Chelsea is loose, her trainer Angélica is dead, and everybody thinks Gail did it. To make matters worse, Davenport Industries has thrown her into a prison that just happens to be full of the very same supervillains who used to kidnap her on an almost daily basis.

Outside, things aren't going all that great either. There's a conspiracy that runs all the way to the bedrock of the superhero community, and it's affecting everybody Gail loves. With her friends in the crosshairs, it's up to her to escape and get to the bottom of things. Subterfuge, crime-fighting, and running away from everybody you know should be a cinch, right?

Wrong. Gail faces off against hero and villain alike just to stay alive. And you know what they say about supervillains: if you can't beat them…join them.

Supervillains Anonymous (Super Hero/Villain Fantasy)

By Lexie Dunne

Harper Voyager Impulse

ISBN #978-0062369147

Price $6.99

340 Pages

3-Stars

“Good Writing, And Great Cover.”

In the last novel, SUPERHEROES ANONYMOUS, we left Gail Godwin, aka The Hostage Girl, in prison for the super villains. Eventually she escapes, and learns that the radioactive chemicals Dr. Death had administered have somehow been transforming her into a “super” person. But she needs help with the process.

Unfortunately, the second story does not improve from SUPERHEROES ANONYMOUS, even though SUPERVILLAINS ANONYMOUS starts out with a nice pace, it quickly slows down, and by the end of the story we don’t see any real progress in the series. Gail Godwin hasn’t improved her situation at all. I gave the first novel a 4-Star rating for the author’s writing, but that just doesn’t carry this second novel. I’m still surprised that a big publishing company like HARPER COLLINS allowed these books under their imprint. The best part of this book is the cover, and I’ve seen it before on a better novel from a HARLEQUIN imprint. I can’t honestly recommend this book, or the series.

Tom Johnson

Author of PARTNERS IN CRIME

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