Hero Engine: A Super Hero Urban Fantasy

by Alexander Nader

"...true to Nader's style, once again I found myself in the throes of his spot on detail, description, and ass-kicking analogies."

Jim Quig has one love, his job as a cop.

He's fine with superheroes getting all the credit while he protects the streets. So when the director of the Super Hero Initiative (SHI) needs Jim’s help in solving a mystery, he’s not interested. It’s not his problem that an ancient artifact called the Hero Engine has been destroyed and the after effects are causing mass chaos. The director however, doesn’t take no for an answer and soon Jim finds himself trying to solve the mystery. Who destroyed the Engine, and why has one hero gone off the deep end, leaving levelled cities in her wake? Follow Jim as he and his partner, the only one to ever go through the engine and come out powerless, delve into the world of superheroes and find themselves in an adventure of a lifetime.

422 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2015

About the author

Writes novels about the dark things floating around in his head because the demons won’t let him sleep otherwise. Jokes are his weapon of choice, but will resort to deflection in times of emergency. Did you know Maine is closer to Africa than any other state?

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 5 star book all the way!!! An extremely well written story with great characters. And the idea that some humans are granted powers after they walk through a machine (the Hero Engine) is brilliant.

The plot of the story deals with a cop, Jim Quig, conducting an investigation as to why a superhero has gone berserk and destroyed much of Seattle. He also has to find out who destroyed the Hero Engine. Quig is partnered with Ann Pretorious and she has some secrets of her own. Do yourself a favor and grab this book. You won't be disappointed.

And I don't know the author, I've never met him and I purchased this book through Amazon.

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://koeur.wordpress.com/2015/09/1...

Publisher: Booktrope

Publishing Date: June 2015

ISBN: 2015139781601

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4.2/5

Publisher Description: Jim Quig has one love, his job as a cop. He has to be fine with the fact that the superheroes get all the credit while he protects the streets. When the director of the Super Hero Initiative (SHI) needs Jim’s help in solving a mystery, he’s not interested. It’s not his problem that an ancient artifact called the Hero Engine has been destroyed and the after effects are causing mass chaos.

Review: “Cool” Jim Quig is hired by SHI to find out why a Hero has gone bonkers and is razing every city she turns up in.

The character development and the movement is excellent in this novel. As the characters gain in depth, the story line moves towards completing the mystery. The idea that normal humans are vetted in order to enter the Hero Engine and become super human, is very creative and sets the stage for successive novels. The world building is that good.

“So why you no give 5 stars!?”. Too many grammatical errors to overlook with some scattered logic in scene development. This novel needed to go through a final editing/beta process before publication. Still, a great read and a very talented writer. I look forward to more from this author.

[David M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Hero Engine Thursday of last week. It was suggested to me by a friend who knows I like watching many of the Superhero flicks out there, and I tend to keep a personal collection of them in blue ray as well. *Shrugs* I prefer to watch them whenever it suits me. I’m also an all-around Science Fiction fan, so that helped this book glean my interest. Now that I have read it, I’d also suggest it for teen, YA and anyone with interests in Sci Fi, Fantasy, and Mystery.

Mr. Alexander did a great job making the story believable. He presents a down on his luck cop, Quig, A hero, named Gravitess, and a prim, although not entirely proper, partner named Ann, all tied in an inescapable war that takes its toll on everyone it comes in contact with.

He did a great job explaining the hows-and-whys of the superpowers, which for me, an avid D&D fan, is important. I’ve read books with psionic abilities so outrageous, I couldn’t believe it made it past whoever it was who published it, to stories written by authors that clearly didn’t do their research. Mr Nader is neither of these. Here’s a taste of teleportation that is right on the mark in my personal opinion:

“…head spins, equilibrium fucked; my stomach turns like I’m mid-all night bender. I puke on Miles’ loafers. My ears thrum with a constant ‘wvumph’ sound. Couple that with blurred light tracers and I feel like someone’s waving a lightsaber in front of me. I blink and try to focus on Miles’ face, upper lip curled up to his eyebrows.”

Not to be misunderstood as boring, I personally found the first ten chapters or so a bit slow, and it took me that long before I was immersed enough in the water to start surfacing. From there on, it was good and worthy ride to shore. His story moves well, weaving through a variety of dialogue driven short chapters while jumping from character to character. He does well with balancing tension and action while keeping the reader guessing right up to the end. Here is an excerpt for your snacking pleasure:

“Would you like me to come in as backup, Sir?”

“Nah, I’ve got Ann and Old Faithful here.” I turn to flash the driver the gun on my hip.

He smiles appreciatively. Dudes with guns always have an appreciation for dudes with guns. That’s written in a law book somewhere. Murphy’s or Newton’s or Attraction’s; someone’s.

I clear my throat. “But, uh, you wouldn’t happen to have an extra piece, would you?” The driver wiggles in his seat and hands over a Glock holstered in a belt clip.

I hand the gun to Ann. “You know how to use this?”

“Do I know how to use that?” She drops her head to the side with a smirk. “The Initiative has the strictest training regimen of any group in the world, and that’s before you go into the Engine. I have more weapons training than you do.”

I nod in appreciation. Dudes with guns always appreciate girls with guns.

All–in-all this was well worth the read,and the price I paid for it. I’m not a particularly detective-type-story-reader, and I rarely get through such a book. I think that fact speaks volumes.
But don’t take my word for it, formulate your own opinion by experiencing it for yourself!

[Terminally · Rating 3 out of 5]

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A Copy of this book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Alright lets get this new review show on the road, with the book blurb, of course!

"Jim Quig has one love, his job as a cop. He has to be fine with the fact that the superheroes get all the credit while he protects the streets. When the director of the Super Hero Initiative (SHI) needs Jim’s help in solving a mystery, he’s not interested. It’s not his problem that an ancient artifact called the Hero Engine has been destroyed and the after effects are causing mass chaos. The director however, doesn’t take no for an answer and soon Jim finds himself trying to solve the mystery. Who destroyed the Engine, and why has one hero in particular gone AWOL? These are just some of the questions Jim needs to uncover the answers to. Follow this cop as he delves into the world of superheroes and finds himself in an adventure of a lifetime."

So I am gonna level with everyone here: I love me a good super hero romp. I also happen to enjoy a good detective story when its blended with something else, such as said super heroes, supernatural elements, magic, and such.

When I saw the blurb for this I was intrigued. The idea of a human non powered detective investigating supers was an interesting idea to say the least.

However, by the end of the story I was left feeling..ambivalent. Let me be clear, its not a bad book by any means. The story is decent, the characters are well rounded and fleshed out for the most part (some of the side characters and supers are pretty much mentioned or shown once and then never again), and the mystery is well developed. By all accounts I should have enjoyed this more then I did.

But by the end, I was just happy to be done. This book is straight average for me, and the worst part is I cannot point to any single thing that makes it that way. The eponymous Hero Engine is not even really central to the story, an entirely different event is. So the blurb is not even really true in that regard.

I don't really have a lot to say about this. Technically its decent, but that's just it. Its decent. Not "must read" and not "avoid at all costs". Just average in every respect. I don't regret my time with this book, but I would not read it again either.

This book gets a 3/5 for me, an average rating. If you have an interest in a super hero detective story give it a try. Its a quick read and short for sure. Now, I will mention that the EPub I got was REALLY terribly formatted. Like, page headings mid point in paragraphs instead of the bottoms of pages, and paragraphs just broken up in weird ways. I am not sure if any other eBook version will have the same issue, but be aware of that.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my normal kind of book. It’s a step outside my normal box and I liked the story. It’s a detective story, but it’s a detective that is solving mysteries involving superheros. Weird, huh? Well, that’s what makes it intriguing. It’s a different spin. Like I said, it’s not my normal book.

It took me a little big to get into the groove – new characters or authors usually take me a minute to adjust, but not long. The characters are developed. There is a back story and a past that both protagonists want to forget. Neither protagonist really is all involved with their co-workers, so when they both switch jobs, so to speak, to investigate a super hero falling off her rocker, they get along fairly well. It’s the kind of relationship that was built from adversity. “Cool” Jim Quig is a guy I can related to. He revealed himself to be from the same era I am and he was not all powerful. He didn’t save the day. He didn’t even necessarily solve the mystery, but he was a very relateable character and I liked him very much.

The superheros are jerks. You know, ultimate power and all that. You’d think that before they’d have been made superheros (yes, they are made via a machine that was discovered) they could have done a complete psych eval to root out the propensity for jerkiness.

badge3v4Anyway, I have got to say that this was a good story. This is a one book story, no sequels. There is no cliffhanger because the end is the end. I can tell you that the author did a pretty good job at hiding the villain. For the longest time I thought it was one character and then it shifted to a different character. I had a good time reading this book. It might not have been all roses because of the death and mayhem, but it was pretty darn interesting. Good job, author.

[AnnaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool Jim just wants to be a good cop. So what if the superheroes get all the credit. It doesn't bother him. Much. What's a good cop to do when the Heroes start going a little nuts, when shadowy men offer them the chance to stop them and help the world? They join up. They get a strong partner. They try to save the world.

This story is a different type of superhero novel. It's more XFiles than Superman. I really liked the characters, the setting and the plot. The tech was interesting, the powers were cool, and the resolution was satisfying.

The only "negative" for me was it needed a better proofreader. Otherwise, it was excellent.

It had a smooth, film noir type feel to me.

Altogether, a very good story.

**Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.**

[Laney McMann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a serious fangirl of Nader’s Beasts of Burdin trilogy, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Hero Engine. But true to his style, once again I found myself in the throes of his spot on detail, description, and ass-kicking analogies.

The main character, Jim Quig, takes us on a roller coaster ride of a story that had me laughing, guessing, and loving it until the end. Well done.

[Jennifer Jamieson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Snappy dialogue gives this tale a unique voice, but the characterization of the dialogue leaves some spots a little rough.