What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Pocket Books Novels
Iron Man: Femmes Fatales
MORE DEADLY THAN THE MALE
Millionaire industrialist Tony Stark has rejected the lucrative munitions trade that put his company on the map. But he can’t just turn away when the antiterror organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. asks him for help in its battle against the sinister forces of HYDRA. As the next step in its quest for global domination, the international terrorist cabal is plotting to use cutting-edge technology in a devastating attack on New York City.
The source of their advanced Stark Industries.
Against such fearsome firepower, the city’s only hope lies with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and with the ultimate human the golden avenger known as Iron Man. But when the man behind the metal mask falls prey to the schemes of two tantalizing temptresses, both as stunning and seductive as they are lethal, a fatal chink in his armor is revealed–a flaw that could lead to his downfall and the city’s doom.
Millionaire industrialist Tony Stark has rejected the lucrative munitions trade that put his company on the map. But he can’t just turn away when the antiterror organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. asks him for help in its battle against the sinister forces of HYDRA. As the next step in its quest for global domination, the international terrorist cabal is plotting to use cutting-edge technology in a devastating attack on New York City.
The source of their advanced Stark Industries.
Against such fearsome firepower, the city’s only hope lies with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and with the ultimate human the golden avenger known as Iron Man. But when the man behind the metal mask falls prey to the schemes of two tantalizing temptresses, both as stunning and seductive as they are lethal, a fatal chink in his armor is revealed–a flaw that could lead to his downfall and the city’s doom.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
6 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 21, 2022
Back off skank, I'M the mysterious European facially disfigured love interest in this story, not you!
While it was mildly amusing to pay a visit to Tony in his skirt-chasing and boozing days, and see also his involvement in the formation of S.H.I.E.L.D. with old-school cigar-chomping Col. Nick Fury, the split focus between the titular Femmes Fatales was a drawback for me, as were the truly awkwardly written sex scenes. The narrator did the best he could with the material as written, due credit to him.
"Dames..."
January 26, 2021
This is a good Iron Man novel, though I had some issues trying to place it within any continuity that existed at the time. The technology and culture seem contemporary, but Tony's relatively new to super-heroing, the Avengers aren't so much of a thing, Nick Fury is still a cigar-chomping WWII vet with an eye-patch and his pals are commandos who howl, etc. Tony's weakest spot is women, which is where the title comes in. Thank goodness he has Pepper (who gets to mix it up with the baddies, too, in this one) on hand to keep him in the game. Excelsior!
January 12, 2014
Well, it's a light read, but then, it's a novel about a comic book character. If you're a fan of Iron Man, SHIELD, or the Marvel Universe, it's a fun read. Iron Man and Tony Stark almost seem after thoughts, as much of this focuses on Nick Fury, SHIELD, and Madame Masque, among other Marvel espionage characters. Don't look for a lot of cameos by other Marvel heroes, they're largely, if not entirely, absent.
Also, a note for fans of the movies (which I liked, too), this is NOT the movie version. There's no AI Jarvis, and Nick Fury isn't black and bald.
It's a simple, fun book. I recommend it for comic book fans, hero fans, and if you just like a fun adventure.
Also, a note for fans of the movies (which I liked, too), this is NOT the movie version. There's no AI Jarvis, and Nick Fury isn't black and bald.
It's a simple, fun book. I recommend it for comic book fans, hero fans, and if you just like a fun adventure.
February 16, 2017
I enjoyed this book. Very strong 3½ stars.
For the big part of the story, it felt like the main events weren't yet unfolding, for some reason. There is constantly something happening, but you keep waiting for the big picture to reveal itself.
The end may have been a bit of a letdown, after all the action in the previous chapters, but there was also a sense of relief that all the confusion and stress Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), as well as his allies in S.H.I.E.L.D., were going through, was finally coming to an end. (Only it never ends for our heroes, does it? There's always the next villanous plot arising...)
For the big part of the story, it felt like the main events weren't yet unfolding, for some reason. There is constantly something happening, but you keep waiting for the big picture to reveal itself.
The end may have been a bit of a letdown, after all the action in the previous chapters, but there was also a sense of relief that all the confusion and stress Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), as well as his allies in S.H.I.E.L.D., were going through, was finally coming to an end. (Only it never ends for our heroes, does it? There's always the next villanous plot arising...)
October 16, 2025
It’s just OK. I found it to be a decent story and an intriguing villain plot line, but the casual sexism in the writing was off putting (for example, typically only the women had their outfits or body shapes described). I also was easily distracted by some of the clumsy writing and even a few minor grammatical errors.
July 5, 2016
This was a relatively interesting book. It takes place in the 'formative years' of the Marvel U, when the various teams were being created [per se] in the mid to late 1960s. At the same time, it seems to take place more in the 80s to 90s range in terms of the timeframe involved. At least, that is what it seems like to me [what with Tasers and cell phones being described in places]. But the author says he wrote the story as if it were the 1960s, so there you go.
It moves at a good pace, and the character development [such as it is] is pretty decent. I liked how Pepper was much smarter than Stark gave her credit for being. I also liked how the author focused on Stark's frequent need to recharge his armor; it seemed that after a certain point the writers forgot that Tony often had to recharge his armor. [Granted, he could have developed better power sources that lasted longer, which would require less frequent periods to recharge]. I also thought the author did a nice job explaining why Tony could never have a 'long-term' relationship [because of his chest plate, which kept his heart beating]. At the same time, people 'knowing' that Iron Man and Tony Stark were the same individual is more of a storyline that was told at various times in the 1990s and beyond.
I realize the story is more about Tony Stark and the early days of SHIELD, but I do wish the Avengers could have made some appearances in the story. It would have been fitting, in some respects. But I do get it, though, that they could not be available. Also, would Captain America have been a part of the Avengers at that point in time? I think he would have been, but it would not have been the same without him if he were not. Or even the Fantastic Four [even though HYDRA is not their bailiwick as much as it is SHIELD's and the Avengers'].
I am not really sure what else to say. The artwork on the cover does not quite match the tone in the story itself; the plot is more 'mature' than the artwork would indicate. Plus, the artwork is more in line with more recent ["modern"] renditions of the Iron Man armor and not so much the armor of the 1960s and early 1970s. There is a little bit of language in the book, and some adult situations, per se. Overall, though, it is a relatively 'tame' book. It is kind of amusing, but I have always seen Tony Stark as more of a Republican [conservative?] than a Democrat [liberal?], myself, yet he comes across as being portrayed as a Democrat [liberal] in the book. Also, his switching from exclusively producing munitions to 'other products' occurs 'later' and not shortly he was injured in the heart, so that was a bit more in line with the movies and not so much the comics.
Overall, I did enjoy reading the book. I think the strongest part of the book is how it described the difficulties Stark has had in terms of developing any kind of relationship with women due to his chest plate and his internal injuries. He has always been described as being a "millionaire/billionaire playboy", yet the comics never really considered how much having a chest plate would interfere with one's love life, let alone the fact that he wore a chest plate would reveal his identity as Iron Man.
Another area in which the book did decent job, initially, was in describing the struggles SHIELD went through as it was first being formed. It starts off as being an international organization, separate and complete from the United Nations, right off the bat. I would have to read some of the 'earlier' comics, because I do not ever remember there being a 'Committee' that was in charge of SHIELD or how SHIELD operated, yet there is a 'Committee' in charge of SHIELD in the book. That also seemed more in line with the movie[s] and not the comic[s]. At the same time, though, I thought the author did a nice job describing the struggles SHIELD was having and the need for SHIELD to have superior weapons and technology 'now' in order to fulfill its charter.
I did like the references to Osborne Corporation [OsCorp?], Roxxon, Stane, and other corporations in the Marvel U. I thought those were nice touches that helped ground the novel directly in the Marvel U.
I did think having 'femme fatales' was also a nice touch. I suspected one of them, but not the other. To be honest, I thought both would be assassins or espionage agents, so having both of these characters in the novel was a pleasant surprise.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the novel. I thought the author did a nice job in telling the tale he told.
It moves at a good pace, and the character development [such as it is] is pretty decent. I liked how Pepper was much smarter than Stark gave her credit for being. I also liked how the author focused on Stark's frequent need to recharge his armor; it seemed that after a certain point the writers forgot that Tony often had to recharge his armor. [Granted, he could have developed better power sources that lasted longer, which would require less frequent periods to recharge]. I also thought the author did a nice job explaining why Tony could never have a 'long-term' relationship [because of his chest plate, which kept his heart beating]. At the same time, people 'knowing' that Iron Man and Tony Stark were the same individual is more of a storyline that was told at various times in the 1990s and beyond.
I realize the story is more about Tony Stark and the early days of SHIELD, but I do wish the Avengers could have made some appearances in the story. It would have been fitting, in some respects. But I do get it, though, that they could not be available. Also, would Captain America have been a part of the Avengers at that point in time? I think he would have been, but it would not have been the same without him if he were not. Or even the Fantastic Four [even though HYDRA is not their bailiwick as much as it is SHIELD's and the Avengers'].
I am not really sure what else to say. The artwork on the cover does not quite match the tone in the story itself; the plot is more 'mature' than the artwork would indicate. Plus, the artwork is more in line with more recent ["modern"] renditions of the Iron Man armor and not so much the armor of the 1960s and early 1970s. There is a little bit of language in the book, and some adult situations, per se. Overall, though, it is a relatively 'tame' book. It is kind of amusing, but I have always seen Tony Stark as more of a Republican [conservative?] than a Democrat [liberal?], myself, yet he comes across as being portrayed as a Democrat [liberal] in the book. Also, his switching from exclusively producing munitions to 'other products' occurs 'later' and not shortly he was injured in the heart, so that was a bit more in line with the movies and not so much the comics.
Overall, I did enjoy reading the book. I think the strongest part of the book is how it described the difficulties Stark has had in terms of developing any kind of relationship with women due to his chest plate and his internal injuries. He has always been described as being a "millionaire/billionaire playboy", yet the comics never really considered how much having a chest plate would interfere with one's love life, let alone the fact that he wore a chest plate would reveal his identity as Iron Man.
Another area in which the book did decent job, initially, was in describing the struggles SHIELD went through as it was first being formed. It starts off as being an international organization, separate and complete from the United Nations, right off the bat. I would have to read some of the 'earlier' comics, because I do not ever remember there being a 'Committee' that was in charge of SHIELD or how SHIELD operated, yet there is a 'Committee' in charge of SHIELD in the book. That also seemed more in line with the movie[s] and not the comic[s]. At the same time, though, I thought the author did a nice job describing the struggles SHIELD was having and the need for SHIELD to have superior weapons and technology 'now' in order to fulfill its charter.
I did like the references to Osborne Corporation [OsCorp?], Roxxon, Stane, and other corporations in the Marvel U. I thought those were nice touches that helped ground the novel directly in the Marvel U.
I did think having 'femme fatales' was also a nice touch. I suspected one of them, but not the other. To be honest, I thought both would be assassins or espionage agents, so having both of these characters in the novel was a pleasant surprise.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the novel. I thought the author did a nice job in telling the tale he told.
September 24, 2024
This is a quick and fun read. It was a bit weird in that this is the beginning of SHIELD and Iron Man being in a baby level spy thriller. This tried to have serious moments, but hampered to be a general audience.
October 14, 2024
I got this in audiobook and was a litte excited to hear it. the Narrator(James Patrick Cronin) is not for me. They didn't put a lot of effort into using different voices and putting any emotion into the diaglog.
The story its self was good.
The story its self was good.
February 16, 2023
Iron man has a little too much sexual concepts as I was listening with my son, so that was disappointing, but the story itself was ok.
July 22, 2022
This was a fun action packed Marvel tale. Iron Man/ Tony Stark facing enemies on multiple fronts takes it best he can and does what he does best. A good story for any Marvel or superhero fan
April 29, 2013
One of the problems with studying adaptations is the sheer amount of sludge one must consume. One of the sludgiest genres is the super-hero novel. One could almost write that they are all bad, except that I have not read them all and of dozens I have consumed and cast aside, three are actually pretty good. This is one of the good ones.
The difference is craftsmanship. Many writers are good enough to be published without actually being good writers. I have found two that are excellent at crafting a genre novel. The writers of super-hero novels tend to fall into predictable bad-writing traps, especially not having enough plot to fill the contractual word count, which leads to many paragraphs, scenes, and even whole chapters of filler, plus a tendency to give the backstory of characters who originated in the comics that are used in the novel. This can go on for many pages and stops narrative drive, cold. Robert Greenberger is notable for avoiding the latter entirely and the former mostly, though the first chapter is largely disposable. He also writes in a pleasing, what-happens-next? style that eludes most novelizers. Greenberger writes with such skill that I might have given this book four stars except the endgame (a word used a dozen times in the book) simply does not seem momentous enough to warrant all the action that precedes it.
Even so, I can’t think of a reason in the world why anybody should read this novel who is not an Iron Man fan, with the obvious exception of adaptation scholars. This is not a great book, a must-read, or something that stretches the genre into art, but it is as well-crafted a super-hero novel as you are likely to find.
The difference is craftsmanship. Many writers are good enough to be published without actually being good writers. I have found two that are excellent at crafting a genre novel. The writers of super-hero novels tend to fall into predictable bad-writing traps, especially not having enough plot to fill the contractual word count, which leads to many paragraphs, scenes, and even whole chapters of filler, plus a tendency to give the backstory of characters who originated in the comics that are used in the novel. This can go on for many pages and stops narrative drive, cold. Robert Greenberger is notable for avoiding the latter entirely and the former mostly, though the first chapter is largely disposable. He also writes in a pleasing, what-happens-next? style that eludes most novelizers. Greenberger writes with such skill that I might have given this book four stars except the endgame (a word used a dozen times in the book) simply does not seem momentous enough to warrant all the action that precedes it.
Even so, I can’t think of a reason in the world why anybody should read this novel who is not an Iron Man fan, with the obvious exception of adaptation scholars. This is not a great book, a must-read, or something that stretches the genre into art, but it is as well-crafted a super-hero novel as you are likely to find.
January 25, 2010
Iron Man: Femmes Fatales was an OK read. I had a difficult time with placing the world in which the story takes place. It didn't seem set in the movie time line, nor the comic book ones that I remembered. Also the story was disjointed, less about the titular superhero and more on events and other characters around him. Many names & characters from the comics were used to try and give it the feeling it was set there, but didn't work for me. Since the book is supposed to be set in the early days of the Iron Man story, it felt odd knowing where some of these characters ended up in the present day story lines. It had the feel that a story was written about the origins of SHIELD & the rise of HYDRA, only the publisher didn't think that was 'sexy' enough and needed a 'name' superhero to carry the story. I don't *know* that's what happened, though. I've read many of Robert Greenberger's other stories, and enjoyed them more, so this came as a disappointment from that aspect. Overall, a decent story, but not one that I'll likely read again.
April 14, 2015
Guessing I'm the only chick to like this.
Sure it didn't fit the movie arc nor did it seem to fit most of the comic's line.
But I got to see SHEILD and HYDRA go toe to toe. I got to hear the dry wit of Fury and not Sam J. with an eye patch (not knocking him, he's a great actor, but I don't see Nick in him).
I may not be a Marvel Universe scholar nor a well-read-snob, but Greenberger did a good job writing this.
His son would have been proud.
Sure it didn't fit the movie arc nor did it seem to fit most of the comic's line.
But I got to see SHEILD and HYDRA go toe to toe. I got to hear the dry wit of Fury and not Sam J. with an eye patch (not knocking him, he's a great actor, but I don't see Nick in him).
I may not be a Marvel Universe scholar nor a well-read-snob, but Greenberger did a good job writing this.
His son would have been proud.
November 3, 2015
I read this because Iron Man and if it hadn't been set in the Marvel Universe starring Iron Man I might not have enjoyed it as much. The book was fairly adequate, really. The writing wasn't bad, but the plot did meander for a bit. Some of the characters were really well-rounded, whereas others (in particular the two eponymous femmes fatales) were the most Mary Sue of characters I've read in a long time. It was fine, I enjoyed reading it and it wasn't super long, but nothing special.
October 16, 2009
This book is a little disingenuous. In it, Nick Fury and his Dum Dum boys knock heads with HYDRA for the very first time. In many ways Iron Man is merely an ancillary character in his own novel. Not that I'm complaining. This is Jim Steranko-era SHIELD, and that's a good thing.
April 4, 2011
Not bad, but this type of story lends itself more readily to a more visual medium - either film/tv or comic book. I guess I shouldn't complain as that is the origin of the character - it just didn't come across that greatly int the form of a 300-page novel.
October 28, 2009
As far as Iron Man stories go, this one was barely mediocre at best.
December 9, 2009
5 stars on the fun scale, but only 2 on the savored reading scale. So 3 overall. And I can still read a book in less than a month.
December 9, 2010
It was an OK read for couple of cold december evenings.
July 28, 2012
Really liked this book.
July 31, 2010
Good, fun story.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews