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Users: A Superhero Novel #1
Users I: My Angels Have Demons
A pandemic is spreading through the streets of Seattle. Drugs run rampant through its population and no one knows this better than Carter, an ex heroin junkie, and lifetime User. Born with a super heated heart, Carter can unleash fire through his pores, igniting anything he touches.
After his girlfriend leaves him, Carter's five years of sobriety are put to the test. When a drug deal goes bad, he finds himself in a pickle with the police. After telling a little white lie, that leaves him going head to head with one of the biggest drug cartels in the country, Carter must fight for his life. Will his powers be enough to save him? And will he maintain his sanity and sobriety?
Find out in this first issue of Users.
After his girlfriend leaves him, Carter's five years of sobriety are put to the test. When a drug deal goes bad, he finds himself in a pickle with the police. After telling a little white lie, that leaves him going head to head with one of the biggest drug cartels in the country, Carter must fight for his life. Will his powers be enough to save him? And will he maintain his sanity and sobriety?
Find out in this first issue of Users.
- GenresSuperheroes
154 pages, Paperback
First published November 11, 2014
17 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 7, 2014
I really like the concept of Users. Plus the imagination put I to it. Stacy turned a bad life situation into a kind of super hero book, almost comic like if you can picture it that way. But not funny comic, superhero comic.
The Book itself is about addicts that have speciall abilities. Users , perfect name by the way, are ppl with abilities like the main character Carter, he's fire, meaning he can throw fire from his hands and later once he learns to control them, a whole lot more. Their are pushers, screamers, movers, sniffers, etc. The books very creative . It by no means makes a addict out lightly,cool or anything like that, he writes it for what addiction is about. Yes Carter is a heroin addict.Clean for five years but just keeps messing up anyways, living that addict lifestyle, he just can't really get it together even clean. When his Ex, Fox, who wants to have powers but doesn't, so we think, turns herself into some type of hero from buying special toys ill call them, help her to accomplish what ppl with powers can. She's teamed up with Alaric who is this huge guy that's basically invincible ,strong as hell , and like I said basiclly immortal . He can crush you with a punch.He's a bounty hunter. Carter finds out Fox, his Ex isn't the person he thought and he kills her by accident. (don't want to give that secret away) sorry you'll have to read it. But it's a very surprising turn in the book. Carter has to go into hidding.He ends up with all addicts and users of one type or another at a camp. kind of like a rehablitation place. He really starts to learn about himself and his powers that he never even knew had way more to them, he just never had anyone to show him or push himself to the limit. yea he's really cool as a kinda of super hero but it his habits, his life,it's a wreck, because even though he's cleanse just falls into those bad habits over and over, and sure he almost relapses in the beginning. very interesting chapter.
This book tells you all the bad that can come from addiction, well a lot of it but also the good if you can admit and accept help even if you think your undeserving which a lot if addicts do and surrender to it. . Finally Carter gives in, accepts he finally has people around him who care and want to see him better himself people just like him who become like family even though they put him through he'll when he first arrives at the camp.
I think this book makes it easy to understand a addict, their actions, and way they think. It's a great book for someone who has a addict in their family or a friend, to understand what they do no about addiction. It's also good for addicts to read, be it their clean or your not. Not that I no any who would take the time to read but it could shed some healthy light on the subject. Maybe want them to get help. give them hope.
I think Stacy has a great idea here writing this book on a subject he clearly knows a lot about and turned it into a kind of story that you can enjoy and learn from. As he said himself, it's a kind of therapy for him. I myself can't wait for the next book.
I totally recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
As they say never forget where you came from but keep moving forward.I think this is Stacys moving forward. Great job by the way!
I was given a copy for a honest review.
it'll be out in the next couple weeks, I believe Nov. 16th.
Buy it you won't regret it. Great read.
The Book itself is about addicts that have speciall abilities. Users , perfect name by the way, are ppl with abilities like the main character Carter, he's fire, meaning he can throw fire from his hands and later once he learns to control them, a whole lot more. Their are pushers, screamers, movers, sniffers, etc. The books very creative . It by no means makes a addict out lightly,cool or anything like that, he writes it for what addiction is about. Yes Carter is a heroin addict.Clean for five years but just keeps messing up anyways, living that addict lifestyle, he just can't really get it together even clean. When his Ex, Fox, who wants to have powers but doesn't, so we think, turns herself into some type of hero from buying special toys ill call them, help her to accomplish what ppl with powers can. She's teamed up with Alaric who is this huge guy that's basically invincible ,strong as hell , and like I said basiclly immortal . He can crush you with a punch.He's a bounty hunter. Carter finds out Fox, his Ex isn't the person he thought and he kills her by accident. (don't want to give that secret away) sorry you'll have to read it. But it's a very surprising turn in the book. Carter has to go into hidding.He ends up with all addicts and users of one type or another at a camp. kind of like a rehablitation place. He really starts to learn about himself and his powers that he never even knew had way more to them, he just never had anyone to show him or push himself to the limit. yea he's really cool as a kinda of super hero but it his habits, his life,it's a wreck, because even though he's cleanse just falls into those bad habits over and over, and sure he almost relapses in the beginning. very interesting chapter.
This book tells you all the bad that can come from addiction, well a lot of it but also the good if you can admit and accept help even if you think your undeserving which a lot if addicts do and surrender to it. . Finally Carter gives in, accepts he finally has people around him who care and want to see him better himself people just like him who become like family even though they put him through he'll when he first arrives at the camp.
I think this book makes it easy to understand a addict, their actions, and way they think. It's a great book for someone who has a addict in their family or a friend, to understand what they do no about addiction. It's also good for addicts to read, be it their clean or your not. Not that I no any who would take the time to read but it could shed some healthy light on the subject. Maybe want them to get help. give them hope.
I think Stacy has a great idea here writing this book on a subject he clearly knows a lot about and turned it into a kind of story that you can enjoy and learn from. As he said himself, it's a kind of therapy for him. I myself can't wait for the next book.
I totally recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
As they say never forget where you came from but keep moving forward.I think this is Stacys moving forward. Great job by the way!
I was given a copy for a honest review.
it'll be out in the next couple weeks, I believe Nov. 16th.
Buy it you won't regret it. Great read.
April 12, 2015
The best things about this book are the synopsis and the cover. And, unfortunately, the cover looks like it’s been taken from the CW TV show The Arrow – the profile reminds me a lot of Stephen Amell’s character.
I have to say from the outset that I could not finish reading this book (and it was only 154 pages long, so I think that says a lot). I tried, I really did. But after the fourth prologue and the fourth switch from third person to first I just couldn’t take it any more. I was swallowing the silly little grammar mistakes that should have been spotted long before the final edit (the use of “your’s” instead of “yours” and “who” instead of “which” are two that spring to mind; not to mention the random commas where they shouldn’t be and the missing commas where they were needed!), but the many many prologues (written in first person) placed after every couple of chapters was crazy.
The character was odd – in the first person prologues I found him interesting and engaging, but when the storytelling switched to third person, which it did for the chapters, I found him whiny and annoying. The writing was uncomfortable and, at times, boring. I could skip entire pages of descriptions and still not miss anything of the plot.
I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t to be. But, with some work on the grammar and cutting out some of the long-winded descriptions would go a long way to making it far more enjoyable a read.
(originally posted on http://crowfiction.com
I have to say from the outset that I could not finish reading this book (and it was only 154 pages long, so I think that says a lot). I tried, I really did. But after the fourth prologue and the fourth switch from third person to first I just couldn’t take it any more. I was swallowing the silly little grammar mistakes that should have been spotted long before the final edit (the use of “your’s” instead of “yours” and “who” instead of “which” are two that spring to mind; not to mention the random commas where they shouldn’t be and the missing commas where they were needed!), but the many many prologues (written in first person) placed after every couple of chapters was crazy.
The character was odd – in the first person prologues I found him interesting and engaging, but when the storytelling switched to third person, which it did for the chapters, I found him whiny and annoying. The writing was uncomfortable and, at times, boring. I could skip entire pages of descriptions and still not miss anything of the plot.
I really wanted to like this book, but it just wasn’t to be. But, with some work on the grammar and cutting out some of the long-winded descriptions would go a long way to making it far more enjoyable a read.
(originally posted on http://crowfiction.com
December 14, 2016
I really enjoyed reading a superhero book that was not the typical mainstream comic book type of story. The supes being addicts wasn't necessarily so interesting, it was more the fact that the characters just felt like normal folks that made it interesting. Based on the details of the meetings I wasn't too surprised to read at the end that the author had been an addict in the past himself.
A few details that I liked were no cheesy character nicknames, the relative rarity of Scorchers and the variety of powers. I also liked that Carter suffered visible physical effects from using his powers. Overall it was an enjoyable story and I look forward to reading the next installment. If I were to rate the book strictly on these points it would get five stars.
Unfortunately I have to dock it a star due to the numerous grammatical erros. I have really tried not to let this type of thing influence my reviews so much over the last year but when they are so obvious and frequent that they break my immersion I can't ignore them. The biggest repeat offenders here were the descriptions of Carter's body heat escaping the pores in his skin when using his powers. Yhe problem was that at just 12% into the book Carter already "made a fist igniting the pours on his skin". Pours instead of pores came up several more times before the end of the story. Other examples are hind site, walking up to a door to grab the nob, a blue and red stripped tie and so forth. I don't want to beat this to death but my spelling/grammar OCD forced my immersion to break many times.
Fortunately these errors are easily fixed for the Kindle edition even if that doesn't help print copies.
A few details that I liked were no cheesy character nicknames, the relative rarity of Scorchers and the variety of powers. I also liked that Carter suffered visible physical effects from using his powers. Overall it was an enjoyable story and I look forward to reading the next installment. If I were to rate the book strictly on these points it would get five stars.
Unfortunately I have to dock it a star due to the numerous grammatical erros. I have really tried not to let this type of thing influence my reviews so much over the last year but when they are so obvious and frequent that they break my immersion I can't ignore them. The biggest repeat offenders here were the descriptions of Carter's body heat escaping the pores in his skin when using his powers. Yhe problem was that at just 12% into the book Carter already "made a fist igniting the pours on his skin". Pours instead of pores came up several more times before the end of the story. Other examples are hind site, walking up to a door to grab the nob, a blue and red stripped tie and so forth. I don't want to beat this to death but my spelling/grammar OCD forced my immersion to break many times.
Fortunately these errors are easily fixed for the Kindle edition even if that doesn't help print copies.
November 11, 2014
First line:
Prologue
It never ceases to amaze me, how life can be so fragile yet at the same time so tenacious.
"Users" is a different kind of superhero book. Yeah, I know that's an overused phrase, but here it applies. It's not a fun superhero story you'd feel good about your kids reading. This is a gritty, bloody, nasty story full of gritty, bloody, nasty people. And I mean that it a nice, but very honest, way. That's who these characters are.
"Users" tells the story of Carter, a recovering drug-addict who also happens to have superpowers. Interestingly, most of the superheroes in the book are addicts or former addicts, having turned to drugs to help them cope with their powers. Carter is not a nice person: he has a chip on his shoulder the size of Nebraska, he pouts, he whines, he stomps his feet when he doesn't get his way. He feels sorry for himself.
He's a recovering addict. He has a long way to go, and his character is realistically portrayed. As a reader, I don't like Carter. I'm not sure I'm supposed to like him, either.
As for plot and storyline, the author does a fine job in telling an engaging tale of Carter's misfortunes. Particularly, I enjoyed the NA meetings with the other users, and also Carter's time training with the General and the other users. I could have done without the earlier character of the Fox.
Nice job, and recommended.
Prologue
It never ceases to amaze me, how life can be so fragile yet at the same time so tenacious.
"Users" is a different kind of superhero book. Yeah, I know that's an overused phrase, but here it applies. It's not a fun superhero story you'd feel good about your kids reading. This is a gritty, bloody, nasty story full of gritty, bloody, nasty people. And I mean that it a nice, but very honest, way. That's who these characters are.
"Users" tells the story of Carter, a recovering drug-addict who also happens to have superpowers. Interestingly, most of the superheroes in the book are addicts or former addicts, having turned to drugs to help them cope with their powers. Carter is not a nice person: he has a chip on his shoulder the size of Nebraska, he pouts, he whines, he stomps his feet when he doesn't get his way. He feels sorry for himself.
He's a recovering addict. He has a long way to go, and his character is realistically portrayed. As a reader, I don't like Carter. I'm not sure I'm supposed to like him, either.
As for plot and storyline, the author does a fine job in telling an engaging tale of Carter's misfortunes. Particularly, I enjoyed the NA meetings with the other users, and also Carter's time training with the General and the other users. I could have done without the earlier character of the Fox.
Nice job, and recommended.
February 15, 2015
USERS -- Scorchers, Movers and Blinders are just some of the 'superhero' types who struggle for daily acceptance. February 14, 2015
This is the first book I have read by the team of Stacy and Jennifer Buck. This was a story about a world with persons who had special powers who were not always well received by others in this world. Carter, the main character was a former heroin drug addict who still struggled daily with his addictive habits and was struggling to come out the other side and be more productive to himself and to society. He was attending AA meetings but somehow always found himself in another altercation with former buddies from his old life. The story follows Carter as he continues to search for his inner self and let go of his addictive personality which tended to be self destructive. By the end of the story, he had completed his goal of finding his way out of the 'rabbit hole' and finally having the ability to help root out a drug king and finally find a life of friends/comrades and continued sobriety. I enjoyed the story and am looking forward to future chapters of Carter and the other Users who are seeking acceptance and making a life for themselves doing good for the community.
FYI: Received a copy of this paperback in exchange for a review of the story upon completion. Rated this a 3.5 and plan to read future adventures of Carter and his friends.
This is the first book I have read by the team of Stacy and Jennifer Buck. This was a story about a world with persons who had special powers who were not always well received by others in this world. Carter, the main character was a former heroin drug addict who still struggled daily with his addictive habits and was struggling to come out the other side and be more productive to himself and to society. He was attending AA meetings but somehow always found himself in another altercation with former buddies from his old life. The story follows Carter as he continues to search for his inner self and let go of his addictive personality which tended to be self destructive. By the end of the story, he had completed his goal of finding his way out of the 'rabbit hole' and finally having the ability to help root out a drug king and finally find a life of friends/comrades and continued sobriety. I enjoyed the story and am looking forward to future chapters of Carter and the other Users who are seeking acceptance and making a life for themselves doing good for the community.
FYI: Received a copy of this paperback in exchange for a review of the story upon completion. Rated this a 3.5 and plan to read future adventures of Carter and his friends.
March 30, 2015
Review coming soon!
Received from author via audiobookreviewer.com for an honest review!
Received from author via audiobookreviewer.com for an honest review!
May 13, 2015
A fast-paced thrill ride.
December 3, 2017
I listened to the audible version of this book, so I'll start with a critique of the narrator.
Narration:
While the narrator's normal speaking voice sounds a lot like how I imagine the voice of the protagonist, the acting was way off. Several times during this short book I found myself laughing due to unintentional humor as a result of awkward acting at presumably tense moments.
The story:
I really wanted to like this book. I'm a fan of superhero novels and don't shy away from darker subject matters like addiction, etc. I should have been all over this. Unfortunately, this book, in spite of it's short length, was a struggle to finish. The organization was a mess. Two to three hours into a recording that is less than six hours long, the author suddenly announces things like "Prologue" and "Epilogue." Then at the end of of the book we get "Epilogue #2." This kinda made me feel like "I don't think these words mean what you think they mean."
Law enforcement weren't portrayed believably (paraphrased "Let's keep this off the record... I'm also law enforcement... undercover" a lie. They just say okay and don't ask for identification or anything.), and as a person who lived half their life in Seattle, the description of the setting didn't resonate with my experience there. It sounded more like descriptions of bad neighborhoods in Chicago (a city I've also lived in). On top of that, the descriptions were mostly cliche and overused within the text. This might have been tolerable with a different narrator, but the combination of bad acting and tired descriptive text made this a challenge to work through.
Narration:
While the narrator's normal speaking voice sounds a lot like how I imagine the voice of the protagonist, the acting was way off. Several times during this short book I found myself laughing due to unintentional humor as a result of awkward acting at presumably tense moments.
The story:
I really wanted to like this book. I'm a fan of superhero novels and don't shy away from darker subject matters like addiction, etc. I should have been all over this. Unfortunately, this book, in spite of it's short length, was a struggle to finish. The organization was a mess. Two to three hours into a recording that is less than six hours long, the author suddenly announces things like "Prologue" and "Epilogue." Then at the end of of the book we get "Epilogue #2." This kinda made me feel like "I don't think these words mean what you think they mean."
Law enforcement weren't portrayed believably (paraphrased "Let's keep this off the record... I'm also law enforcement... undercover" a lie. They just say okay and don't ask for identification or anything.), and as a person who lived half their life in Seattle, the description of the setting didn't resonate with my experience there. It sounded more like descriptions of bad neighborhoods in Chicago (a city I've also lived in). On top of that, the descriptions were mostly cliche and overused within the text. This might have been tolerable with a different narrator, but the combination of bad acting and tired descriptive text made this a challenge to work through.
December 8, 2019
Excellent book that takes a unique spin on the super hero genre
Right off the bat, the superhero genre is overplayed, but Users does something special: it create a unique spin on the superhero story. Carter is a deeply flawed recovering addict, which makes him all the more relatable. Make no mistake, you end up rooting for Carter and you never question that his heart is in the right place. But at no time during the book do you ever want to picture yourself in his shoes.
Right off the bat, the superhero genre is overplayed, but Users does something special: it create a unique spin on the superhero story. Carter is a deeply flawed recovering addict, which makes him all the more relatable. Make no mistake, you end up rooting for Carter and you never question that his heart is in the right place. But at no time during the book do you ever want to picture yourself in his shoes.
November 29, 2020
Two Stars ... mainly for coming up with a few twists on the Superhero theme that were new to me.
The writing is leaden, the editing (if there was any) is appalling, typos are scattered throughout and I finally gave up on page 48 after:
"Eric was a known degenerate with a record a mile long. No one, especially the police, would believe a word that came out of his filthy mouth.
With Eric secure in the hands of the authorities ..."
Eric was killed two pages earlier.
The writing is leaden, the editing (if there was any) is appalling, typos are scattered throughout and I finally gave up on page 48 after:
"Eric was a known degenerate with a record a mile long. No one, especially the police, would believe a word that came out of his filthy mouth.
With Eric secure in the hands of the authorities ..."
Eric was killed two pages earlier.
November 25, 2016
It starts with a prologue in first person at a shrink's office but for some reason when Carter starts to tell the story it switches to third person. Who tells a story about himself in third person? To make it better the story he's telling even switches to another character's point of view! This ineptitude screams Amateur right at the beginning, which made the rest hard to read because I started thinking like a critiquer not a reader. The rest is really two stories smushed together; neither held my interest much. It could also use some editing, like where I think it said dredges of humanity instead of dregs.
June 15, 2016
Good read
Despite it being a superhero book,it showed realism with a mix of action and fantasy. It gives you a sense of what it is like to be an addict and how dangerous it is. What it take to beat addition is what is in your very soul.Recommend this book to anyone who wants to beat odds against you that seem impossible to beat and survive. Isn't that what winning is surviving.
Despite it being a superhero book,it showed realism with a mix of action and fantasy. It gives you a sense of what it is like to be an addict and how dangerous it is. What it take to beat addition is what is in your very soul.Recommend this book to anyone who wants to beat odds against you that seem impossible to beat and survive. Isn't that what winning is surviving.
November 5, 2016
A worthwhile read for superfiction fans
I thought I was the only recovering addict writing superhero fiction but turns out I'm in interesting company. This is a well told tale but could use another edit pass for typos and formatting. Still, I kinda wanna reach out to the authors and put together some kind of anthology of addict superhero stories
I thought I was the only recovering addict writing superhero fiction but turns out I'm in interesting company. This is a well told tale but could use another edit pass for typos and formatting. Still, I kinda wanna reach out to the authors and put together some kind of anthology of addict superhero stories
June 14, 2016
Fun read
Great action, storytelling and conflict. I strongly suggest you get proofreaders. There were many instances of typos and homonyms
; peaked instead of peeked, to instead of too, etc.
Great action, storytelling and conflict. I strongly suggest you get proofreaders. There were many instances of typos and homonyms
; peaked instead of peeked, to instead of too, etc.
June 25, 2016
Absolutely loved it. I really enjoyed the human aspect of the characters. Carter isn't perfect, far from it. He struggles with everyday life, like each of us.
Very unique approach. Can't wait to read more.
Very unique approach. Can't wait to read more.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews