Tuesday was National Superhero Day, and personally, I feel like we’re all heroes just for getting through another day of Covid-19. I hope everyone reading this is staying safe. If you’re looking for some superhero-themed escapism, here are a few of the latest novels I’ve discovered while searching the internet.
It’s a slightly shorter post than usual, but my wrists are still bothering me, so I’m trying to stay off the computer as much as possible. (But I’ve ordered a new ergonomic mouse and keyboard and have started dictating my current novel, so hopefully, things are looking up.) As usual, I haven’t read all these books personally, so check out the samples and reviews before purchasing.
This post contains affiliate links.
Super Adjacent
by Crystal Cestari
Fahrenheit’s Ghost: A Superhero Urban Fantasy (The Heroes of High Tide Book 1)
by Trish Heinrich
A weapon of mass destruction in the whisper of a child
When a savage crime boss attacks her family, Colleen vows to do whatever it takes to protect them. Even if it means stealing a superpowered person from a sadistic millionaire.
A top government agent, Karen has lied and killed in the name of justice. Kidnapping, then, isn’t a stretch. Especially if it’s someone who threatens the country she’s vowed to protect.
But when Colleen and Karen discover that the person they’ve been sent to capture is a child, they find themselves on the run from ruthless men who will stop at nothing to control the horrifying powers within the innocent girl.
Fahrenheit’s Ghost is the first, thrilling book in The Heroes of High Tide, a new superhero series from the author of The Rise of Heroes Trilogy. Fans of AL Knorr and Bella Forrest will be hooked on this new series.
Suit up and get your copy of Trish Heinrich’s gripping novel today!
Reformed: Supervillain Rehabilitation Project
by H.L. Burke
Once a villain, always a villain?
Optimistic and idealistic superhero Prism is determined to redeem her father’s legacy by rebooting his supervillain rehabilitation program. To do so, she sets her sights on Fade, the relapsed supervillain who was the reason the government canceled the original program in the first place. However, when she petitions for Fade to be released into her custody, she finds out things might not be as simple as she thought.
Convicted of an unforgivable crime, Fade received a choice: surrender to trial and possible execution or endure a memory erasure so he could start fresh. Now with no recollection of his time before incarceration, Fade doubts he has the ability to be anything but the villain the public believes him to be.
A series of attacks by a mysterious power-swapping villain points back to Fade’s past and the crime that cost him his freedom and memory. With her father’s legacy and her own reputation on the line, even Prism has to wonder: can a villain truly be reformed?
Prime Identity (Prime Justice Trilogy Book 1)
by Robert Schmitt
Jake Grayson is a middle-aged man from Chicago who is trying to live a normal life in a world of super-humans. He has a stable job, three teenage children, and a wife whom he loves infallibly. He would like nothing more than to pretend he didn’t have to routinely evacuate his office because of skirmishes between heroes and villains.
All that changes, though, when he discovers his wife is super-human—by being swapped into her body. Now, he has to find balance in the life he’s been forced into, one filled with violence, suffering, and pain, contrasted against the duty he feels out of love for his wife to be every bit the hero she was.
PRIME IDENTITY is an adult sci-fi/urban fantasy novel that takes a personal and nuanced view of what a world of super-humans might look like. It’s a tale of loyalty, duty, and prejudice; a must-read for fans of the superhero, science fiction, or urban fantasy subgenres.
Planet Hero: Civilian
by M.A. Carlson
Welcome to Planet Hero! Attention Civilians! In the event of Superhero on Villain battling, seek immediate shelter. And if a Villain decides to kidnap you, hold you hostage, or attempts to rob and/or kill you, please remain calm, Heroes will arrive shortly. Thank you for your support!
Dr. Davis Malory never planned to become a hero or a villain. He never planned on obtaining superpowers. He certainly never planned on being transported to a world filled with such people. And he most definitely never considered that he would have to become one if he ever wanted to find a way back to Earth.
But Planet Hero doesn’t care about what Davis wants. If he wants to survive everything that is about to be thrown at him, he’ll have to cultivate his superpowers and learn to navigate this new world or going home will be the least of his worries. Davis’s days as a Civilian are officially over.
Disclaimer: This is a LitRPG or GameLit novel containing video game elements and rules.
Black Hellebore (Heroes of Falledge Book 1)
by Nicole Zoltack
Falling in love might prove more dangerous than any supervillain.
All Nicholas Adams wants is to pay respects to his dead girlfriend and leave Falledge. A heroic attempt ends with a laboratory explosion and Nicholas’ death. Thankfully, a witch—yes, witches are real even if this one is a little inept—brings him back to life, but he’s a, well, a superhero now.
Deputy Julianna Paige has her life sorted out, or so she thinks. Seeing Nicholas, the boyfriend of her deceased twin, brings back all kinds of memories. As they work through their grief and attempt to solve a series of murders, sparks fly.
But Nicholas isn’t the only one changed in the explosion, and a supervillain is bent on destroying Falledge and killing the Black Hellebore, Nicholas’ superhero persona.
Will Nicholas survive long enough for love to bloom?
Has anyone read these books? Know of any good recent superhero releases that I missed? Let me know in the comments!
Stay safe, and happy reading.
Kristen Brand 
Oooh, I like when new superheto stories address the collateral damage caused by those well-meaning caped crusaders. Like, what happens to all those innocent civilians working or living in the buildings that keep getting smashed, or those cars that keep getting flipped? And who’s gonna pay for all that property damage??
I highly recommend the Strong Female Protagonist webcomic (vol. 1 is also in book form) for more discussion of the ethics of super/villain fights, and the unintended tragedies they cause.
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*superhero
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I agree! Insurance premiums in superhero universes must be crazy expensive.
I think I started Strong Female Protagonist years and years ago. I need to pick it back up. Seems like something I would like.
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