Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell YP FIC CAMPBELL

Damien Locke thinks he has his future all figured out, is mom is one of the best Mad Scientist super villains in the city and he’s going to follow in her footsteps. He’s turning 16 and is about to start his career in super villainy attending Vilmore Academy, as soon as he gets his birthright: a thumbprint on his right hand that form a ‘V’. But instead he gets an ‘X’, which means that his father was a superhero and the only way to get his V and reclaim his villainy is to do seriously evil acts, but his father decides to take him in and train him to be a superhero. And when Damien learns of a plot that threatens his new ‘family’ will he decide to be a hero or a villain?

This is a really enjoyable entry into the super hero genre, mainly because Damien’s sarcasm and bravado are so likeable. The dialogue is filled with humor and wit and there are plenty of actual laugh out loud lines throughout. The teen characters are all well developed and fun in their own ways, but the adult characters never seem very deep. The book’s romantic plotlines are surprisingly well handled and feel very genuine even in a super Hero world. The plot takes a while to develop and for a really smart guy, Damien takes a while to figure out things the reader has guessed a long time ago, but the enjoyable humor and characters make up for it. All in all if you like super hero books this is a good read and likely to be the start of a series.



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