Here it is: the last superhero fiction roundup of 2020. This is just a small sample of the new superhero fiction released in the last two months and includes beginnings, continuations, and conclusions of different series. As usual, I haven’t read all of these books personally, so please look at the previews and reviews before purchasing.
This is, incredibly, my sixth superhero roundup this year! I put them out on a bimonthly schedule and (surprisingly) managed to be mostly on time. If you missed any, here’s a roundup of the roundups:
It was a lot of work, so I think next year I’ll be switching to a quarterly schedule and posting once every three months. We’ll see how it goes. In the meantime, check out these cool-sounding books!
*This post contains affiliate links.
Hammer and Tongs and a Rusty Nail: A Tor.com Original (Wild Cards)
Ian Trigillis
For over 25 years, the Wild Cards universe has been entertaining readers with stories of superpowered people in an alternate history. When a mysterious stranger approaches Wally Gunderson, a.k.a Rustbelt, about running for Jokertown City Council, he doesn’t think twice about it. His first move? Hiring an unlikely campaign manager – Mordecai Albert Jones, the Harlem Hammer. Together they’ll discover the ins and outs of local politics, and whether conspiracy theorist Sparkjob is actually crazy… or just on to something?
Cute Mutants Vol 3: The Demon Queer Saga
SJ Whitby
“I let the mask fall away from my face. I let them see me. Dylan Taylor. Chatterbox. Mutant and monster. Teen Magneto. This is one of those pivotal moments. There’s a metaphor for this. I learned about it in history. The name of some river in Rome.”
Here we go again. The Cute Mutants are back, bigger and badder than ever. Even better, we’re in charge of ourselves now. We’ve got a headquarters, gear, and an actual budget.
Except, we’ve also got EMID—the American Extrahuman Monitoring and Intelligence Division—breathing down our necks to track down mutants for them. Even worse, there’s rumours of a mysterious killer with superpowers and a grudge against the rainbow community. And then there’s the promise from our last boss. The threat of war. Humans vs. mutants.
The dream was to thrive, but maybe all we can hope for is survival. Whatever that takes. I think I’m beginning to understand the saying, “the end justifies the means.” There used to be a line between heroes and villains, didn’t there?
Conjuration: A Kid Sensation Novel (Kid Sensation #9)
Kevin Hardman
Jim (aka Kid Sensation) counts himself fortunate in that his friends have always been there for him, and he – in turn – tries to be there for them. That’s why it is with a great deal of enthusiasm that he looks forward to attending an event honoring his friend, the teen warlock Kane. However, his plans are immediately complicated by two factors.
First, an emissary from the nigh-omnipotent group of beings known as Incarnates unexpectedly appears on his doorstep. It is an arrival that, while not unwelcome, introduces a certain amount of unpredictability and chaos in his life.
In addition – and of much greater concern – his friendly visit with Kane is utterly derailed by a mysterious and deadly force that attacks randomly…and with murderous intent.
Focused on keeping the body count from rising, Jim quickly realizes that he is dealing with an adversary capable of destroying the entire world – and determined to do so. Even worse, it also becomes apparent to Jim that this enemy is beyond his ken, and even his vaunted super powers may not be enough to avert the global cataclysm that is coming.
The Girl on the Phoenix: A XCUniverse novella
Xavier Cruz
Rain longs for a purpose in life. She’s spent her twenty-two years stuck on an island in the middle of a lake, training to use her sovereignty over the skies, but for what? Her life has been great, but when she looks out over the green waters that surround her home, she feels desperate for something so much more…until an enormous phoenix lands on her island, one day, and her world unravels into a predestined nightmare after a murderous archer takes away everything she’s ever loved. Now, as Rain journeys to get answers to the questions that plague her heart, she’ll have to decide whether to hide and let the world crumble, or become worthy of being the girl on the phoenix.
In this fast-paced and stunning prequel to XCUniverse: Catalyst, Xavier Cruz journeys into the ancient past to uncover the origins of Catalyst’s main characters and the XCUniverse itself.
Blind Date with a Supervillain: Supervillain Romance Project
H.L. Burke
Juggling life as a superhero with college and a social life is hard, but Shawn Park, AKA Surge, feels he’s killing it. Things look even brighter when he makes a connection with the sweet but shy new barista at his favorite coffee shop. Maybe a guy really can have it all … but appearances can be deceiving.
Apparition just wants her supervillain father to be proud of her, and she’ll do anything to accomplish that: even disguise herself as mild-mannered coffee shop employee Nikki to get close to the superhero he’s stalking. However, between his charming smile and kind words, she finds herself hopelessly drawn tp the good natured Shawn.
As the chemistry between Shawn and Nikki sizzles, the tension between Surge and Apparition grows. If he finds out the truth, they could be headed for something far more explosive than the average breakup.
The Elite: A Supernatural Superhero Academy Series (Aiden Cross: Academy Outcast Book 3)
Alex Villavasso
There’s no way we could have seen it coming. Crown was supposed to be safe, but somehow, some way, a trio of high-level mercenaries gave us the fight of our lives. After a long battle, we managed to fend them off, but not without casualties.
Mr. Hoover fought to protect us all—he saved our lives while risking his own—and now he’s bedridden in a hidden location. Mr. Ferris and the others are optimistic about his recovery, but we won’t know until he opens his eyes.
In the meantime, there’s work to do.
There’s a new threat on the horizon, and as we are now, we don’t stand a chance.
Mr. Ferris has been assigned to watch over us; to train us and make us stronger. We’re all targets, and there’s a mole on the campus leaking critical information.
There’s no telling when or what the next attack will be, but I do know one thing—We’ll be ready.
The Never Army (Chronicles Of Jonathan Tibbs Book 3)
T. Ellery Hodges
At the gates between worlds.
In a war outside of time.
They fight for us.
The man they took prisoner was not the Jonathan Tibbs they remembered.
He said that time was running out.
That the world faced an enemy it could not defeat.
He said everything depended on whether or not they could make a leap of faith.
Then, he asked them for five nuclear warheads.
The Never Army is the final installment in The Chronicles of Jonathan Tibbs — a mind-bending, genre crossing, multiple award winning, action-adventure trilogy.
The Persistence of Memory Book 4: W.I.S.E. Men
Karen Janowsky
One man shouldn’t be alive.
One man shouldn’t be in love.
One man shouldn’t exist.
None of them wanted to be a superhero.
U.S. Army Lieutenant Kevin Rye is the sole survivor of a missile attack on his helicopter in Somalia. His old friend, Rob Fisher, has created a suit that allows him to function. It gives him superpowers and chronic pain.
Corporal Graham Beech, an uncannily talented, womanizing marksman with enhanced senses, has just become a U.S. Army Ranger. His future in the military is bright until he falls in love with his friend, Steven Amato.
They are headed toward a crash collision in a race to stop a terrorist from finding Daniel Hecht, a mythological man who, according to an ancient prophesy, will help save the world from itself.
PART 4 THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY SERIES
Agents of Change: A Menopausal Superheroes Collection
Samantha Bryant
When Last We Left Our Heroes…
Being a Menopausal Superhero doesn’t stop when the novels stop, and this collection of novellas and short stories takes you behind and between the books to dive deeper into the world of Patricia the Lizard Woman, Fuerte, Flygirl, and even Dr. Cindy Liu!
These aren’t your father’s superheroes. Whether you’re already a fan or are just meeting these characters for the first time, the menopausal superhero series explores what it means to be a hero at any age or stage of life. Go behind the cape with familiar character and new heroes in these interlude novellas and stories.
This volume includes –
The Good Will Tour – Hero life is not all fistfights and mad scientists. Even superheroes need good press, especially when the world hasn’t decided whether superpowers are a blessing or…something else.
Flygirl and Fuerte’s next stop on the Unusual Cases Unit’s Good Will Tour is Springfield Women’s Hospital, a place close to Flygirl’s heart and a place redefined for Fuerte by his change. Autographs and gladhanding ought to be a cakewalk.
But when Evelyn Mueller arrives, the PR tour gets quite a shakeup. Pushed to the limit by her wife’s cancer diagnosis and denial of experimental treatment, Evelyn shoves back. Will Evelyn find the hero she needs, even if it’s not the one she expected?
Friend or Foe – Patricia O’Neill never asked to be a hero. But when her best friend’s experiments transformed her into the Lizard Woman of Springfield, she answered the call alongside the other victims. Going Through the Change was only the beginning. The menopausal superheroes wanted answers, but getting them didn’t solve their problems and now their secrets are out.
Dr. Cindy Liu never considered if she should do something–only if she could. Now that the consequences of her work have her on the run, she’s forced into an uneasy alliance with a ghost from her past, if only to save herself.
The chase is on in this between-the-novels story. When your worst enemy used to be your best friend, the battle rages inside and out.
Through Thick and Thin – Hidden in the space between chapters lurk other stories—what came before and after, and meanwhile—and the other sides of the stories, including the part our heroines didn’t know. This collection peeks around those corners of the Menopausal Superhero series.
Through Thick and Thin will get you up close and personal with your favorites. Fuerte wasn’t always Fuerte—or male. It’s confession time in “Coming Out as Leonel.” Join Patricia, the Lizard Woman, as she unravels the puzzle of Dr. Cindy Liu’s disappearance in “The Right Thing,” and then see her softer side (and her “better half,” Suzie) in “Underestimated.” Get ready for a wedding, and a heroic rescue, in “Flygirl’s Second Chance.”
Lust: A Genetically Modified Superhero Romance (The Deadly Seven Book 6)
Lana Pecherczyk
Lies among friends…
Liza Lazarus’s devotion to the law is only eclipsed by her loyalty to her vigilante family. The tough, no-holds-barred, city detective crushes it on the outside, but on the inside, she’s losing a battle for her sanity and heart. Sensing lust makes her physically sick. It’s great for catching rapists and murderers, but for finding love? Impossible. Then a childhood friend comes crashing back into her life, and she finds the impossible isn’t so out of reach… if they can get past decades worth of lies between them.
Love among enemies…
FBI Special Agent Joe Luciano has been in love with Liza since they were kids. The kind of soul-wrenching, heart-clobbering love that can send a man insane… except she only ever saw him as a friend. When a secret investigation brings him right into the Lazarus family war-zone, he learns they’re not as virtuous as he once believed. They’re the very criminals he’s been hunting. The more embroiled he becomes with Liza and her vigilante family, the more his black and white world crumbles until he’s forced to make an impossible choice… arrest her, or love her.
Betrayal among family…
As a child, Despair Lazarus was forsaken by her family, and left to the mercy of the evil Syndicate. She became a brutal, heartless warrior, and the Lazarus family never forgave themselves. So when she finally comes knocking at their door, they welcome her with open arms, blind to the danger they’ve invited into their midst. With the Syndicate, old enemies, and the FBI closing in on her family’s secrets, Liza must learn to control her new deadly powers and piece together where the real danger lies… with her lover, her long-lost sister, or herself.
♥ Multi award-nominated series. ♥ Finalist in the ARRA Award for Best Ongoing Paranormal Romance Series. ♥ Each book can be read as a standalone, but is best read in order to appreciate the overarching plot.
The Deadly Seven is a paranormal/scifi romance featuring genetically modified heroes who must find a lifemate or become the deadly sin they are destined to destroy. Perfect for fans of superhero shows like Batman, Arrow, The Flash and Superman… but with more heartfelt and hot romance from the hero and his love interest. If you like reading about fated mates, second chances, a genetically modified band of warriors, alpha heroes and strong heroines, then you’ll fall head over heels for the Deadly Seven. For mature audiences only. Read FREE in Kindle Unlimited.
And that’s it for 2020! Read any good superhero novels lately? Know of any new releases I overlooked? Let me know in the comments.
Kristen Brand 
Have you heard of SuperGuy and SuperGuy 2: Electric Boogaloo by Kurt Clopton? I read them in January and I loved them both. I really hope he writes a third and fourth novel. I highly recommend them.
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