Hero Complex – Jesse J. Thoma

On a backdrop of book pages, an iPad with the cover of Hero Complex by Jesse J. Thoma. At the bottom of the image, a strip of torn paper with a quote: "A super heroine origin story." and a URL: judeinthestars.com.

Athena Papadakis’s first day at her new job certainly takes a turn when she’s kidnapped by a woman made of steel, a man whose face has been fused to a computer and the doctor who was keeping them as healthy as possible, all running away from basilisk-like creatures.

I love superheroes and origin stories can be fun yet even though I usually enjoy Jesse J. Thoma’s books very much, this one didn’t work for me the way previous ones did. It read like a comic book, which in itself is far from bad, but without the drawings it felt incomplete.

The villains are very villainy, the MCs are nice and they have good chemistry. Spero – the computer guy – is an interesting character but my favourite is Galen, the doctor who hears everyone’s emotions. She’s snarky and petty and she kept me entertained.

If you’ve never read Thoma’s books, I’d recommend starting with the Serenity Prayer novels or Seneca Falls, which I didn’t review but remember liking years ago.