Customer Reviews

Down These Mean Streets (Spider-Man (Pocket Star))

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first Spider-man novel by Keith R.A. DeCandido (known by his followers as KRAD) in a very long time. I have to say his writing and story telling has improved with each book. I'm a police officer in the United states and thought his protrayal of the job was pretty accurate with nods to the paperwork, lack of funding, public outrage, as well as the positives such as a love of the job and for the most part great co-workers. This is a lot more relastic approach to Law enforcement than shows like "CSI" and even "law and order". CSI is nothing like true crime scene analysis.

These characters were a lot richer than most comic book adaptions. Most of the time all the cops love the super-hero or hate the super hero. This book has people who have been hurt by these super hero battles.

I'm more of a fan of DC characters such as Batman, Green Lantern, and superman. The recent JLA books by pocket are no where near KRAD's work here. I still like KRAD's "Articles of Federation" and his "Lost Era" entry but this is a good book which is a bit shorter than those two books.

This book also seemed more like a set-up to another book to me also. KRAD often does leave little threads which he can pick up in later books and has done so in the Star trek universe sometimes to surprising measures.

A quick and fun read. All of the characters 'sound' right, and KRADs knowledge of the characters and their history is evident.

My only complaints are how late in the book the main villain was introduced, and I felt that the cops in the story got a little too much of the focus.

I loved how KRAD described the act of swinging through the city on a web-line and the fact that MJ was involved in the main story and not just in some unrelated sub-plot.

The story leaves itself open for a sequel, and I hope to see one soon.

If the Marvel novels continue, I'd love to see some coordination between the various stories and heros and supporting characters ala the recent Star Trek book universe.

DeCandido has been labeled by Trek fiction fans as the second coming of Peter David, which is an apt description but a bit unfair since it shortchanges the fact that DeCandido is a damn good storyteller. He started out his professional novel publishing career with a Spider-Man novel and he returns to it here with this novel. The storyline follows some of the current comic book continuity with Peter teaching high school science, Mary Jane pursuing an acting career and Aunt May knowing Peter Parker equals Spider-Man. A new gamma-radiation treated version of ectasy is on the market and its killing people left and right--after they "Hulk-out" and Peter realizes that in order to stop the deaths, he'll have to find the source of the drug and put it out of business. DeCandido's great strenght in writing novels set in universes not of his own creation is that he's able to capture the voice and nuances of each character and that strength is on display here. But within that context, DeCandido is able to put his own stamp and interpretation on the characters and, for the most part, that works really well. Make not mistake--this novel is not going to win any awards for best fictional novel published this year, but it's a fun, fast-paced and enjoyable read that any fan of Spider-Man should enjoy.

DeCandido does a good job with this Spider-Man novel.
I read this book shortly after reading Christopher Bennett's 'Drowned in Thunder' and liked this one much better. Although I still find that the author's prose style could be improved, most of his sentences were well written.
As other reviewers have noted, DeCandido's focus on the police officers, Mary Jane, and web-swinging is much appreciated. The wide background of these characters and plot-aids help ground Spider-Man in his own New York. The presence of real people outside of Spider-Man's life who can interact with him on a real level make the story seem more realistic.
Although the main super villain isn't revealed (or even seriously discussed) until closer to the end of the novel, Spider-Man does get his kicks in. He gets to fight a rather exhausting list of 'gamma-heads' doped out on the new Triple X drug and while these fights aren't anything like a mega super villain bash, they're still fun. Though of course, there is no 'mega super villain bash' in the novel at all. The whole thing reads more like the first half of a set.
One more important point
(Potential Spoiler)
Peter interacts with students in his freshman general science class, trying to get them to stay clear of the drug and help in the fight. Both turn away from his help and their cases are left rather hopeless. Although this may be disappointing for the reader, it was refreshingly realistic.

Perhaps it's just the shadowing but when I picked up my copy of 'Spider-Man: Down These Mean Streets' at the local bookstore I began to wonder whether Spidey had taken to carrying a weapon...albeit in his pants? Perhaps he was just overly pleased to be on the cover? I just don't know. What I do know, disturbing Spider-crotch aside, is that I thought it was a great piece of artwork and better portrayed the prose novel appeal to a more mature audience. Compare it, for instance, to Jim Butcher's 'Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours'which suffers from looking like a comic page drawn for kids but is actually another Spider-Man prose novel aimed at an older demographic. With such a cool cover and the story being penned by Keith R.A. DeCandido, known as Krad to his fans, I was eager to begin reading.
Unlike most Spider-Man novels where he has a set villain to thwart Krad takes this novel into the realms of mystery by not revealing who the bad guy is. What we have instead is a new, designer drug named 'Triple X' (no, the side effect isn't that it makes one as dumb sounding as Vin Diesel) which is a combination of ecstasy and gamma radiation (yep, the stuff that turned Bruce Banner into The Hulk) and turns people into rampaging monsters. Spider-Man, mostly in the form of Peter Parker, sets about trying to solve who is behind the manufacturing of this drug, while working with the police to contain the outbreak, and it's only in the final few chapters that we find out the Spider-Man villain responsible. Although I enjoyed this approach the final battle between Spider-Man and the main villain is all too short and felt more rushed than any ending to a novel I can recall reading.
It should be noted that Peter Parker no longer works for the Daily Bugle in this book but is a high school science teacher and, as such, some of the story plays out like an offshoot of the movie 'Dangerous Minds'. This isn't actually a bad thing as it grounds the story and adds a touch more realism to the proceedings and should make it more appealing to those who aren't huge superhero fans.
So, all in all, what we have is a crime story mixed with teenage rebellion and angst, sprinkled with a healthy dose of mystery and topped off with some superhero frosting...quite the recipe. It's also one that DeCandido almost cooks to perfection but the story ends up a tad underdone due to a rushed Spider-Man/villain climax. And, let me tell you, if there's one thing I don't like in life it's a rushed climax! Ooer!!

I am a huge Spider-Man fan. I know pretty much all there is to know about the wall crawler. I had just finished reading "Spider-Man: The Darkest hours" and was impressed. It was a great book. I decided that I would keep on the streak and move to this book.

"Down these Mean Streets" was a disapointment to me. The plot itself was very good, but the exacution was lacking. I encountered several spelling grammar errors which were not caught by the editor. There were also a few parts that were worded funny.

All in all I'm giving it a 2/5. Like I said, good plot, but the writing in and of itself was lacking.

If you're a fan of superhero fiction, you'll probably like the first four-fifths of this book. It's well written, the characters ring true, and the story sticks to the Spidey universe.

The ending, though, is almost like the writer got tired of the whole thing and just wrote a quick ending so he could be done with it.

It is only in this last small part that you find out Doc Ock is the villain. There's a kind of lame connection between Doc Ock and this designer drug which is the main source of the conflict, and the characterization of Ock makes him out to be a kind of tight-assed sissy.

Worse, there's a bogus final scene where the Doc is taken into custody -- by ordinary cops, no less -- that you'll probably hate. Sadly, the epilog is better reading than the main story ending.

It's not often that I really, really wish I'd found a better use for my time than reading a book, but this was one of them.

After being disappointed with a couple of the DC Comics novels of late, I decided to give one of the Marvel versions a try. And I'm glad that I did!

While "Green Lantern: Hero's Quest" and "Superman: The Never-Ending Battle" were both fairly bland, this novel was quite refreshing. For one thing, it was clearly written with a mature audience in mind. That does NOT mean that there is endless swearing (there is some) or unnecessary sex scenes (none), but that the theme and tone are geared toward a thoughtful audience.

This is a drug novel. It might be a science-fiction drug with science-fiction side effects, but it is a drug story nonetheless. Young people die from this drug. And both Spider-Man and the police have to use their wits for detective work just as much as for battle scenes.

As far as I know, I have never read any of Keith R. A. DeCandido's work before, but I would love it if he were to write more of these types of super hero novels. In fact, if this series of books maintains such a mature feel, I would love to see Dean R. Koontz or Christopher Andrews take a crack at one.

My ONLY complaint, the only reason I am not giving this novel 5 stars, is because of the ending. While my favorite elements were the down to earth, realistic issues, when it eventually became evident that a popular Spider-Man super villain was behind it all, THEN I was ready for a climactic battle. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The final fights, of which there were two, were handled very briefly, adding up to only a few pages the first time, and over in essentially one page the second time. A bit disappointing. I wish the author had taken just one more chapter to play up those elements. But ...

Overall, I was very pleased. This book was very refreshing after DC's let downs. Thanks to this novel, I am now looking forward to Christopher Andrews' "Paranormals," which is apparently ALSO a super human story (though not from DC or Marvel). I'll be reviewing that one next!

Comic books and superheores have been around a LONG LONG time. But those who have endured most are the ones who have well developed three dimensional characters. Even though the settings may change, the quintessential nature of the character remains unchanged.

In this book, Keith stays true to the basic nature of Peter Parker as Spiderman, focusing on the classic themes of power and responsibility and how the responsibilities of a super hero overlap and conflict with those of his or her alter ego. In with this he mixes a realistic look at drug dealing as well as the effects of sudden and unexpected power. Of course, there are still exiciting battle scenes around the city.

If you enjoy a well crafted, well plotted, character oriented story featuring a classic Marvel character pick up this book.

Only Mr. DeCandido could seamlessly combine a fantasy topic with procedural police work. As we've seen in his previous novel "Dragon Precinct", this particular brand of cross-over is a forte of Keith's.
Once again, we are gifted with a fun read set in New York City- a place that Mr DeCandido obviously knows very well- centering around one of the most well-known of superheroes- Spiderman.
With this excursion, Spiderman is actually working with the NYPD to quell the explosion of what appears to be a new designer drug hitting the streets.
Suffice it to say that we get a look into the workings of Spiderman's relatively familiar psyche as well as a fresh look at the New York City Police Department.
Mr DeCandido threw in enough twists and turns to keep this story fresh, however, as an avid reader, I was able to guess the final twist well in advance. Nevertheless, if you enjoy Spiderman books and comics, "Down these Mean Streets" is a definate must read.