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Joshua Dread #2
The Nameless Hero
The second book in the series! From the moment Joshua Dread receives an invitation to Gyfted & Talented, the mysterious program for kids with superpowers, his plans for a normal summer turn upside down. Evil maniac Phineas Vex is still alive—and he wants Joshua dead. So if G&T can help prepare Joshua for battle, he's all in. And so are Sophie and Milton.
Except they get more than they bargained for. The truth is that Joshua and his friends have been chosen to form the greatest superhero team of all time. That is, if they make it through G&T's rigorous training.
Suddenly Joshua is thrust into the media spotlight, and it's not as glamorous as people think. And what will happen if his supervillain parents find out that the new celebrity superhero is . . . Joshua?
No one ever said fighting evil would be easy.
Except they get more than they bargained for. The truth is that Joshua and his friends have been chosen to form the greatest superhero team of all time. That is, if they make it through G&T's rigorous training.
Suddenly Joshua is thrust into the media spotlight, and it's not as glamorous as people think. And what will happen if his supervillain parents find out that the new celebrity superhero is . . . Joshua?
No one ever said fighting evil would be easy.
304 pages, Library Binding
First published September 24, 2013
34 people are currently reading
350 people want to read
About the author
Lee Bacon
20 books229 followersI grew up in College Station, TX and first began writing in elementary school. I would write stories and poems with the intention of making my classmates laugh. Twenty years later, I used this same technique to write my first kid’s book.
Over the years, I’ve worked a lot of different jobs—farm laborer, art gallery assistant, bartender, assistant literary agent—before settling on the two jobs that I currently hold: Writer and freelance translator. I now live in Brooklyn with my wife and two cats.
Over the years, I’ve worked a lot of different jobs—farm laborer, art gallery assistant, bartender, assistant literary agent—before settling on the two jobs that I currently hold: Writer and freelance translator. I now live in Brooklyn with my wife and two cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 3, 2013
Absolutely hilarious! Just as good as the first one. A couple of my favorite lines: "...or as normal as life can get when the houseplant tries to give you a wedgie every time you get close enough" (pg 34) and "it was a good thing there weren't any people in the parking lot this late at night. They might have wondered why a supervillian and a trash can with legs appeared to be dancing outside a tanning salon" (pg 235). Hilarious I say!
February 10, 2021
Fun book meant for a young audience. The book didn’t go the route I expected, but it was enjoyable.
July 9, 2020
For one harrowing summer between sixth and seventh grade, Joshua Dread -- the son of the most feared supervillain duo in the world -- transforms himself into a superhero. What's wrong with kids these days??
May 8, 2014
This book is very good because all things are happening for example you would think is he good but why would he do something bad. So I think you should read this book it's amazing!
February 13, 2015
Not bad. Perfect for Time pass.
November 3, 2018
My name is Milton, and I wasn't invited to Gyfted and Talented like Joshua and Sophie. Luckily, my friends stood up for me, and Gavin let me stay at the summer camp for future superheroes. Even nFinity is here, and my costume includes rockets in my boots! Gavin is calling us the Alliance of the Impossible, but things aren't all rosy. Joshua thinks something strange is going on, since no one's heard of this camp and security cameras watch our every move. We just had our first mission, and I'm a little ticked off. I thought we were a team, but one of us seems to think he's the only hero in the group. How are we supposed to work together and stop the Multiplier from vandalizing all of our country's national monuments? And now one of Gavin's other heroes has stolen some of his files and may be working against us. And we have paparazzi following us everywhere. Geez!
You don't need to read the first book in the series to enjoy this one. As you might be able to tell, the story is a wacky version of a world where superheroes are common. Joshua is the main character, and his life is complicated due his parents being super criminals. His father creates many questionable inventions, and his new robot leaves as much destruction as it does help situations. Sophie's dad is the world's most famous superhero, but he's spending most of his time with a new reality show and his endorsements. The author drops enough clues early in the book, so you shouldn't be surprised by the plot twists. A major villain from book one returns, but he's kept in the background for most of the story. However, he returns with a vengeance, as the plot builds to an exciting climax. The main conflicts deal with the Magnifier and the internal group problems resulting from fame. Overall, the book is entertaining if you're prepared for a light-hearted tale of superheroes. It's a fun read.
You don't need to read the first book in the series to enjoy this one. As you might be able to tell, the story is a wacky version of a world where superheroes are common. Joshua is the main character, and his life is complicated due his parents being super criminals. His father creates many questionable inventions, and his new robot leaves as much destruction as it does help situations. Sophie's dad is the world's most famous superhero, but he's spending most of his time with a new reality show and his endorsements. The author drops enough clues early in the book, so you shouldn't be surprised by the plot twists. A major villain from book one returns, but he's kept in the background for most of the story. However, he returns with a vengeance, as the plot builds to an exciting climax. The main conflicts deal with the Magnifier and the internal group problems resulting from fame. Overall, the book is entertaining if you're prepared for a light-hearted tale of superheroes. It's a fun read.
January 24, 2021
The reason why not 4 stars
I feel like this book moved too fast and some things left unsaid or unexplained the author should have dragged the story out a little more for some more calm scenes. Of course not too calm, I just feel like it's not the best written and could have done better. It also doesn't have the best character development in any of the characters. There's also somewhat of a repeat scene like nothing actually repeated but the characters actions in San dangerous situation. The same characters just randomly pop up in the dangerous situations and that annoys me of how predictable that is.
The reason why 3 stars
I love superpower books...
I love adventure
And I'm a sucker for both
There were twists that I honestly was not expecting and that kept me on edge. I want to fall off my edge I want to be suprised I want a unexpected plot twist. But I did not fall off but I got the plot twist I wanted. This book has received more stars from me that it deserves but I just can't help but like superhero books!
I feel like this book moved too fast and some things left unsaid or unexplained the author should have dragged the story out a little more for some more calm scenes. Of course not too calm, I just feel like it's not the best written and could have done better. It also doesn't have the best character development in any of the characters. There's also somewhat of a repeat scene like nothing actually repeated but the characters actions in San dangerous situation. The same characters just randomly pop up in the dangerous situations and that annoys me of how predictable that is.
The reason why 3 stars
I love superpower books...
I love adventure
And I'm a sucker for both
There were twists that I honestly was not expecting and that kept me on edge. I want to fall off my edge I want to be suprised I want a unexpected plot twist. But I did not fall off but I got the plot twist I wanted. This book has received more stars from me that it deserves but I just can't help but like superhero books!
November 20, 2018
Joshua, Milton and Sophie have been accepted into a camp where they'll be training their gyfts and becoming superheroes - but with Vex still out there, and fame starting to creep in between their friendship, can they survive the first weeks of Summer intact? Bacon continues this entertaining series with another action-packed, though cliched, story that will be enjoyed by young readers hankering for adventure and superpowers galore.
December 31, 2022
Joshua becomes a superstar hero. They call him the Nameless Hero. He loses control of what he does and what everyone expects from him. His friends hate him. Even his parents let him know that he is just what the masses want him to be. The irony is in the fact that Joshua’s parents are Super Villains. In the end, everyone needs to rediscover who and what they are and who really is a friend.
January 21, 2023
A fun super hero book for kids
December 4, 2025
My kids loved this one. Easy fun read.
July 4, 2016
Well to be honest this book was a bit of a letdown. I realise that I might have been a tad to old for this book, and maybe that's why I didn't enjoy it to it's fullest. Though I don't think that's the case, as I have read Tyler Whitesides' Janitors Series and enjoyed it immensely. I think that the book just wasn't written well. Not that it was so bad, but the major problem was we could have improved the quality immensely with very little effort. (MILD SPOILER!) For example, Joshua's main problem is he can't control his power of spontaneous combustion and incase Phineas Vex is alive, he won't be able to defend himself. As a solution, he decides to join the "Gyfted and Talented" to better learn to control his power. Without spoiling too much, the point is he's thrown into a situation where he has to use his powers after absolutely no training what-so-ever and, get this, manages to use his power on whim. Fascinating considering we're at chapter sixteen out of thirty five and at the beginning of the book you had no control. Further more, I feel as if children aren't stupid, and therefore people should treat them as if they are highly intelligent, which they are. One should try to put together a story that isn't so obvious and allow for a few twists to make an interesting read. So it's a bit of a slap in the face to see the blatant, obviously shady guy be trusted blindly without a hint of suspicion. As a matter of fact I foresaw the entire ending by the time I reached chapter twenty. And as I've finished the book I'll give an educated guess to the plot of the next one. But it's a good story and I'll be reading the next one soon, I hope more effort went into it.
Read
July 2, 2016It's hard for me to express how much I hated this book, how thoroughly sick of it I am, but my kids loved it. My 5-year-old spotted it on the audio books shelf at our local library several months ago. I insisted that we listen to the first book first, and that was okay, but this was the one with the cool cover that had caught his eye.
What with one thing and another, we wound up not having a lot of time when both kids were in the car over the next two months, so we renewed the book at the library until we were over the legal limit. We finally finished it yesterday, and I dread the day they discover book 3.
Spoilers below.
Phineas Vex is the bad guy. Signs of him appear right at the beginning of the book, so why, why, why didn't the characters find their summer camp invitations suspicious??? It was soooo obvious that Vex was behind it that I felt like screaming at the young characters. I also found myself wanting to line edit as we listened. I could not get out of my editorial mindset.
Now I know that this is a series, so they have to let their arch enemy live at the end. The author wants to keep Vex going for another book. By any other logic they should have offed him when they had the chance.
But the kids loved it. There was cool stuff. There were explosions. Kids with superpowers. Flying cars. I appear to be unmoved by all of that.
What with one thing and another, we wound up not having a lot of time when both kids were in the car over the next two months, so we renewed the book at the library until we were over the legal limit. We finally finished it yesterday, and I dread the day they discover book 3.
Spoilers below.
Phineas Vex is the bad guy. Signs of him appear right at the beginning of the book, so why, why, why didn't the characters find their summer camp invitations suspicious??? It was soooo obvious that Vex was behind it that I felt like screaming at the young characters. I also found myself wanting to line edit as we listened. I could not get out of my editorial mindset.
Now I know that this is a series, so they have to let their arch enemy live at the end. The author wants to keep Vex going for another book. By any other logic they should have offed him when they had the chance.
But the kids loved it. There was cool stuff. There were explosions. Kids with superpowers. Flying cars. I appear to be unmoved by all of that.
October 7, 2014
TCL CALL #: J BACON L
Chris’s Rating: 3 Stars
Joshua Dread and Sophie Justice are mysteriously invited to attend an exclusive summer camp for the “gyfted and talented.” While Sophie (who’s superhero father is too busy with a new Reality TV series to spend time with his daughter) and ungyfted best friend Milton are excited about the prospect, Joshua is uncertain, especially since rumor exists that Vex survived their encounter from book 1. Despite misgivings, Joshua goes, becoming the star member of a new superhero squad. But fame comes at a steep price and the “nameless” hero fights to keep his friendships intact, while overcoming unexpected betrayal.
The Nameless hero is a witty Superhero/Supervillain novel which is likely to appeal to kids more than adults…still it is an enjoyable ride. I didn’t feel like there were any really big surprises…except that from a reader’s point of view (without necessary details of course) I didn’t understand why Vex himself wasn’t double crossed at some point early in the book…except that it would have ruined the story. The Dread Duo’s walking “trash can” robot butler, Elliot, was a nice addition. For children 9-12 who like to laugh while reading about superpowers.
Chris’s Rating: 3 Stars
Joshua Dread and Sophie Justice are mysteriously invited to attend an exclusive summer camp for the “gyfted and talented.” While Sophie (who’s superhero father is too busy with a new Reality TV series to spend time with his daughter) and ungyfted best friend Milton are excited about the prospect, Joshua is uncertain, especially since rumor exists that Vex survived their encounter from book 1. Despite misgivings, Joshua goes, becoming the star member of a new superhero squad. But fame comes at a steep price and the “nameless” hero fights to keep his friendships intact, while overcoming unexpected betrayal.
The Nameless hero is a witty Superhero/Supervillain novel which is likely to appeal to kids more than adults…still it is an enjoyable ride. I didn’t feel like there were any really big surprises…except that from a reader’s point of view (without necessary details of course) I didn’t understand why Vex himself wasn’t double crossed at some point early in the book…except that it would have ruined the story. The Dread Duo’s walking “trash can” robot butler, Elliot, was a nice addition. For children 9-12 who like to laugh while reading about superpowers.
September 2, 2016
This is a children’s book, and I recommend it for children, and will try to review it from a child’s standpoint.
First, you have a boy who is the child of supervillains, but is recruited to be part of a group of superheroes. That is a classic conflict, but allows the author to point out that not all bad guys are really evil, and not all the good guys are perfect. Everyone has flaws, although some are more glaring than others. In this instance, I would prefer to work with some of the bad guys than some of the good guys, based on character.
Which leads me to a more adult observation – what makes a villain a villain, and what makes someone a hero? There is a point in the book where the bad guys save lives. Does that turn them from supervillains to superheroes?
First, you have a boy who is the child of supervillains, but is recruited to be part of a group of superheroes. That is a classic conflict, but allows the author to point out that not all bad guys are really evil, and not all the good guys are perfect. Everyone has flaws, although some are more glaring than others. In this instance, I would prefer to work with some of the bad guys than some of the good guys, based on character.
Which leads me to a more adult observation – what makes a villain a villain, and what makes someone a hero? There is a point in the book where the bad guys save lives. Does that turn them from supervillains to superheroes?
January 15, 2015
I read the first book in this series and loved it, and the second did not disappoint. I love a good superhero story, and Lee Bacon has a winner with Joshua Dread. Joshua and Sophie are drafted into a "Gyfted and Talented" summer camp, and Joshua's friend Milton decides to forge his way in. New characters are introduced, both heroes and villains, and it all makes for a fantastic sequel. Eagerly looking forward to the third book.
July 16, 2015
The second Joshua Dread was not as good as the first.
Like the first it had a good Idea. The Idea of being a superhero without even your super villain parents knowing is interesting.
The book was badly written. There were constant occasions where the characters "Just survived". It is unrealistic; the fact that no one get's captured or killed in a between Superhero and Super villain situation is impossible.
Like the first it had a good Idea. The Idea of being a superhero without even your super villain parents knowing is interesting.
The book was badly written. There were constant occasions where the characters "Just survived". It is unrealistic; the fact that no one get's captured or killed in a between Superhero and Super villain situation is impossible.
May 7, 2014
I didn't find this quite as good as the first one, and a bit slow in pace in the middle. There are enough un endings to lead to a next, which I see by the Canadian iTunes site, is available for preorder - but only if you can purchase there. My daughter is racing through this second novel, though, and it is humour pus enough to retain her attention.
August 1, 2014
As good as though first book, and perhaps even funnier! The action definitely seemed to get off to an earlier start, and I found the majority of the book really fun and entertaining (though there was a slower section right in the middle). A good, light read, perfect for its targeted audience!
September 22, 2014
Joshua returns for another exciting adventure. Joshua is beginning seventh grade, when he receives a mysterious invitation to a school for Gyfted children.
The plot is a cross between "X-men and Teen Titans." The action is still fun and the added poke at Tabloid media is a good one.
The plot is a cross between "X-men and Teen Titans." The action is still fun and the added poke at Tabloid media is a good one.
July 28, 2015
Another novel in the series of Joshua Dread. This novel a bit heavier in content, but still light in tone! With wittier one-liners, but also a strong internal conflict in the main character, this novel delves a bit deeper for the average young adult reader.
November 20, 2015
Again, the style, writing and characters are more childish than I prefer, but what makes this intriguing is how it explores the life of a public superhero. This book also introduces new powers and characters, which help keep old readers moving along the series.
Read
April 8, 2016This met up to my standards... I loved it. I hated that no one would listen to Joshua. I got mad at the other teammates. I loved the part where Joshua helped nFinity accidentally. This was one of the best series so far. I want to be Joshua dread.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2016
Missing pages
I would give this a 4 star except for on problem it's missing pages!!! In more than one place the story just jumps and you miss some important stuff. Good book but be warned
I would give this a 4 star except for on problem it's missing pages!!! In more than one place the story just jumps and you miss some important stuff. Good book but be warned
Want to read
May 19, 2013Looks good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 20, 2013
Another amazing read!!!
so can't wait for the next one.
totally recommend!
so can't wait for the next one.
totally recommend!
November 15, 2013
It's hilarious but doesn't quite make sense in some parts.
June 5, 2025
Your book is truly amazing I love all of your books you even went to my intermediate school when you grew up
November 3, 2014
all of the books in the series are great.this book is second place also. its full of adventure and friendship
January 13, 2015
Okay book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews