SSkorkowsky

If I was to compare this book to anything else I’m experienced with, I’d have to go with The Tick. Set in a world where superheroes are common, Gary Karkofsky acquires a magical cloak that once belonged to a legendary superhero. Now armed with fantastic powers and zero experience with them, Gary transforms himself into a supervillain named Merciless: The Supervillain Without Mercy.

The story is a fun romp through many of the superhero tropes, as we follow Gary along on his journey. Gary is a self-confessed villain, but he’s not exactly a bad guy. He’s terribly in love with his wife, he has a lot of moral hang-ups that prove he isn’t as evil or near as merciless as he romanticizes himself being. In many ways he’s just a regular guy that is fed up with his job, his government, police, and much of his society. So now he just wants to call the shots and be rich. I think most readers can sympathize with such sentiments, however Gary is someone who actually gets a chance at it.

We have a wide array of colorful characters, ranging from silly rival supervillains, mad scientists, henchmen, psychotic antiheroes, godlike super heroes, and everything in between. I chuckled regularly while listening and even laughed out loud a few times.

I have only one complaint with the book and that’s the end, meaning it doesn’t wrap up. Instead, it opens the doors to the next installment without fully resolving the first set of problems. While many people don’t mind a cliffhanger ending, I just don’t like it when they take me by surprise.

The version that I read was the Audible audio edition read by Jeffrey Kafer. Kafer does a fantastic job with timing and injecting the perfect amount of emotions into the work. His characters all have distinct voices, which makes listening to it all the more enjoyable.