Customer Reviews

Paranormals

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

 

 

Fun superhero book. Not quite as good as Ex-Heroes or Devil's Cape, but definitely worth the read. Interesting characters, powers and nicely written. My only real complaint is... WHERE'S THE DAMN SEQUEL that was promised at the end of the novel?!?

Christopher Andrews is a master of character development, and his gift serves him well in his novel "Paranormals."

"Paranormals" is the story of how the world changes when a mysterious white flash in the sky endows a portion of the population with incredible mutant powers. With a premise like this, "Paranormals" could have very easily turned into a second-rate "X-Men" knock off, but Andrews avoids this trap through his deftly painted characters.

The reader almost immediately feels for these people as we begin to see their motivations and dreams (sometimes quite literally). These paranormal heroes are more than just "the strong guy" or "the dude who can shoot lasers out of his eyes." These are richly executed personalities that drive the plot forward with their interactions as they work to accomplish their individual goals.

That is not to say that Andrews takes himself, or his paranormals, too seriously. The book is full of clever winks to the audience and references to his pop-culture inspirations. In "Paranormals," if a character is going to act like he's Batman, he'll have the decency to call himself on it.

The last page of "Paranormals" suggests an impending sequel. I look forward to meeting up with all of my paranormal friends again in the next book.

Well written book. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the character development and flow of the story. I found myself latched onto the story just like I used to latch on to comic's as a kid.

As a father of 3 small children, making time to do anything let alone read a book from start to finish is no small feat. I value my time, and have precious little of it, but found myself making time to read the book, even at the expense of my sleep!

You have me hooked now Mr Andrews, its time for part 2!

Paranormals was a fun book to read. The idea it is based on is rather clever and unique (at least that I've found). I hesitate to give it 5 stars because while it was good, it wasn't quite great. Worth reading for sure. The book could have benefited from being thicker and giving more development to how the world has changed. Certain things are explained some, but many could have used a deeper explanation.

There is supposed to be a sequel, but I haven't been able to find out anything about it, even on the author's website.

The single thing that annoyed me the most about the book, though it is quite trivial, is that the vortex wave was not nearly as powerful as it was originally described. There was no punching a hole through a mountain.

This is not what you'd call a highly literary work. Characters are intentionally left rather shallow, the plot is ankle-deep at most, and the relationships are, well, essentially nonexistent.

That said, this book isn't really designed to make you stroke your lengthy white goatee as you ponder deeply on what it reveals on the nature of the human condition. It's a book about people with superpowers, lighten up. Basically, you're supposed to yell things like "ka-pow" and "BAM" every third sentence or so until you've recaptured your comic-reading childhood, or possibly run out of recognizable sound effects and are confusing people on the subway by shouting things like "krkrkROW" a "bzzRANG" every 30 seconds.

If the previous paragraph made you laugh or recall specific examples, buy this book. You'll enjoy it. If it made you wonder what I'm smoking, you will derive no entertainment from it whatsoever, so... don't.

This is very well written. A entertaining read. I loved almost every minute. If you like superheros you'll love the way they are portrayed in this.

I found the characters of this book to be solid and well written, the plot was great and easy to follow, along with the well written chapters descriptions throughout the book.

A great and easy to read book, one that i recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre.

Author Laurie Bowler
Titles: Moon Rising, Sunrise to Sunset, The Depths of Darkness, Serena Embracing Darkness, Across the City,

I read this book while on vacation and it really was a great vacation read. The plot is solid, the characters are engaging and the book was an easy read. I won't go into specifics about the storyline since you can read the publishers synopsis and I don't want to give any spoilers. I enjoyed this book and hope there is a sequel.

The superhero novel is not exactly well explored space. With a few notable exceptions (Wild Cards, etc) it has been strictly tied to novelizations of DC/Marvel comics. Paranormals gives a fresh take and creates a new world for the reader. The plot is somewhat reminiscent of the first season of the TV show Heroes but perhaps a little "grittier". Andrews goes on to deftly explore the cultural affects that sudden superhuman powers would have. His world is probably best described as "Dark but rays of light abound" and he eagerly explores those rays of light. Other takes on superheroes have taken it for granted that heroes and villains would be in roughly equal numbers. Andrews books are realistically based on the premise that the first generation of paranormals would be slanted toward the villains. The book then explores the people working to tip that equation back into balance.

The novel has several high points. It's almost self-referential in the characters awareness of their "superhero like" actions. There are a number of references to popular comics and they come off naturally and humorously. I also liked that most of the characters seemed to have unique powers or twists on standard powers.

My only complaint was that some of the plot was a little transparent. But given the quality of the writing and the surprising level of emotional involvement I felt in the characters, that's a minor flaw.

I find myself really compelled about the world and eager for answers to the questions that were open ended. I hope that the next book becomes reality rather then languishing in the writer's head like so many of these books tend to.

Felt a little sheepish about reading a book about superheros. But it is a well written "fun" book, and i'm defiantly enjoying it. Not quite sure it's worth $7 (it is a little cheesy)...but if it's ever on sale for <$5, don't pass this up.