Up next is my review for C.T. Phipp's The Rules of Supervillainy. Gary Karkofsky is an ordinary guy living in a world where supervillains, zombie uprisings and kaiju attacks are deemed to be mundane annoyances, though his own life will change dramatically after the Night Walker, Falcon Crest City's longtime protector, dies and Gary finds his magical, sentient cloak. Imbued with superpowers, Gary decides to embark on his life-long dream of becoming a supervillain...if he can get his wife to agree to it.
This book is a fun, funny read (or listen, I got a review copy of the audiobook). It's an ode to geek culture, and the nerd references come fast and furious. Buffy, Star Wars, Alien, and bunch of others I probably missed, not to mention superheros large and small referenced or parodied. The jokes hit more than they miss, with some genuine laugh out loud moments. The casual inclusion of several LGBT characters is also a nice touch.
My one issue with the book is it struggles to find a consistent tone. Gary, AKA Merciless, the Supervillain without Mercy, almost defies categorization. He's not evil enough to be a supervillain, and not good-natured enough to be a superhero, or even a true anti-hero. The way he flip flops from helping the heroes to hurting them and back makes him almost seem bipolar at times. The book is too funny to be serious but too violent and nihilistic to be a straight up comedy. Didn't turn me off to the book, just bugged me a bit.
The audiobook is narrated by the ever-dependable Jeffery Kafer, who is a perfect fit for the sardonic superhero genre, and he does good work here. So if you like superheros (and who doesn't in this day and age), check it out!
-Mike, out
