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Birth of a SuperVillain
It's been a decade since the first ultra-enhanced human beings were forced to abandon covert military operations. Advancing public technology and new government legislation made continuing to operate in secrecy untenable, and so they mainstreamed, becoming the world's first superhero group - the Order of Champions. They are the ten mightiest individuals on the planet - beloved by the masses and feared by their enemies. And their world is falling apart.
The superheroes have become complacent - secure in their own sense of invincibility. They are arrogant and alone and increasingly rocked by scandal. They have grown wealthy in their new role and stagnant from being restrained on a leash against what they were created to do. They are gods among men, but must suffer being kept like pets. That is, until their most powerful member is unexpectedly murdered by an unknown assassin. The shocked heroes suddenly find themselves aligned against a new adversary - a supervillain. And the massive secret hiding behind this new threat will forever alter the world.
The superheroes have become complacent - secure in their own sense of invincibility. They are arrogant and alone and increasingly rocked by scandal. They have grown wealthy in their new role and stagnant from being restrained on a leash against what they were created to do. They are gods among men, but must suffer being kept like pets. That is, until their most powerful member is unexpectedly murdered by an unknown assassin. The shocked heroes suddenly find themselves aligned against a new adversary - a supervillain. And the massive secret hiding behind this new threat will forever alter the world.
426 pages, Hardcover
Published September 15, 2024
26 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Scott Spangler
7 booksScott Spangler earned his technical degree at DeVry Institute of Technology and BSBA at Rockhurst University. He has been writing for well over 35 years, finally publishing his first book: Portal to the Gods in 2005. He does his best to scribble on all his other projects in every free moment - particularly while sitting at soccer practices and other kid activities several days per week. When he isn’t writing, he is working out at the gym, or else spending hours upon hours doing genealogy research.
Scott makes his home outside of Kansas City with his loving wife, Malinda, three kids, and beloved dogs Archie and Milo. He is an avid sports enthusiast but lists writing as his favorite activity - it’s much easier on the body than all the years of rugby, racquetball, softball, and golf. He has been working in the field of pharmacy automation for over 25 years and would love to become a full-time writer.
Scott makes his home outside of Kansas City with his loving wife, Malinda, three kids, and beloved dogs Archie and Milo. He is an avid sports enthusiast but lists writing as his favorite activity - it’s much easier on the body than all the years of rugby, racquetball, softball, and golf. He has been working in the field of pharmacy automation for over 25 years and would love to become a full-time writer.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 6, 2023
Half spy thriller, half slow burn hero novel
When I read the synopsis for this book, I was intrigued. Flawed heroes, a mysterious killer, and a global conspiracy? This book had all those and a lot more. Too much more. The heroes were original, with unique powers and names so as not to be compared to Marvel or DC. There were some pretty good fight scenes. But unfortunately there were more problems than good parts. First off, there was way too much background detail. There were pages and pages of history for South America that had no impact on the story. They could have been completely removed or shortened to a paragraph or two to provide background on a bad guy. Not to mention, said bad guy only makes it a few chapters anyway. The author spent way too much time describing areas of the city or the history of it. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing a little background of an area to know why it's important, but this was Stephen King levels of background and description. There were a ton of editing mistakes as well. Extra commas and missing quotation marks are usually not a big deal, but this book was filled with them. There were also a ton of italicized words that didn't need it. Certain words used with emphasis is fine, but this had an italicized word on almost every page. The heroes themselves were interesting enough, but they never fought together as a group. Yes there were times where several of them worked together, but there was never a full team assembled. Not to mention, for this team to supposedly be the best of the best, they kind of suck at their jobs. In South America, they miss a witness hiding in a closet. In the main city they take out a gang, but at least two gang members make it through the supposedly secure perimeter. The final fight, for as cool as it was, could have been over much faster if one hero hadn't shown up late for unknown reasons and another hero was out of town. The main villian's motivations aren't fully explained either. I'm guessing that will come in Book 2. You have to read all the way until the end to find out some of his reasons for wanting the heroes dead. The plot itself is overly complicated for a fairly simple end goal: create a supervillian. This book couldn't figure out if it wanted to be a slow burn global spy thriller or a superhero action movie. It was too long to be a spy thriller and too slow to be an action movie. I really hope Book 2 is better than this one.
When I read the synopsis for this book, I was intrigued. Flawed heroes, a mysterious killer, and a global conspiracy? This book had all those and a lot more. Too much more. The heroes were original, with unique powers and names so as not to be compared to Marvel or DC. There were some pretty good fight scenes. But unfortunately there were more problems than good parts. First off, there was way too much background detail. There were pages and pages of history for South America that had no impact on the story. They could have been completely removed or shortened to a paragraph or two to provide background on a bad guy. Not to mention, said bad guy only makes it a few chapters anyway. The author spent way too much time describing areas of the city or the history of it. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing a little background of an area to know why it's important, but this was Stephen King levels of background and description. There were a ton of editing mistakes as well. Extra commas and missing quotation marks are usually not a big deal, but this book was filled with them. There were also a ton of italicized words that didn't need it. Certain words used with emphasis is fine, but this had an italicized word on almost every page. The heroes themselves were interesting enough, but they never fought together as a group. Yes there were times where several of them worked together, but there was never a full team assembled. Not to mention, for this team to supposedly be the best of the best, they kind of suck at their jobs. In South America, they miss a witness hiding in a closet. In the main city they take out a gang, but at least two gang members make it through the supposedly secure perimeter. The final fight, for as cool as it was, could have been over much faster if one hero hadn't shown up late for unknown reasons and another hero was out of town. The main villian's motivations aren't fully explained either. I'm guessing that will come in Book 2. You have to read all the way until the end to find out some of his reasons for wanting the heroes dead. The plot itself is overly complicated for a fairly simple end goal: create a supervillian. This book couldn't figure out if it wanted to be a slow burn global spy thriller or a superhero action movie. It was too long to be a spy thriller and too slow to be an action movie. I really hope Book 2 is better than this one.
Displaying 1 of 1 review