Superman's Cape [Kindle Edition]

Brian Spangler (Author)

Book Description

An Amazon Top 300 (Nov 2012) - A Paranormal Thriller

When Sara Connely is asked what life is like today, she answers with the simple words, 'life goes on.' The life she and her boys enjoyed the last dozen years is gone. Sara struggles to cope with the death of her husband and doing so with two young boys, and no money, is almost too much to ask.

Life does go on, but when Sara's oldest boy becomes lost in Croatan National Forest, life comes to a stop.

Twelve-year-old Kyle Connely doesn't know the woods. He doesn't know the wildlife. He doesn't know how to get home. Lost in the wilderness, he faces dangers the likes of which he has never seen. Kyle's time is running out. A hurricane is looming, and in its path is the coastal forest he is trying to survive.

Jacob Hanson has a gift. An intuition. An insightfulness. And it has helped him find success. But his gift turns into a curse as he becomes an unwilling participant in Kyle's plight.

What Jacob Hanson doesn't know is he also holds the key to Sara's past and the lifetime she lost with her husband.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Brian Spangler has written a mesmerizing and powerful tale about love, redemption, and the mysteries of life and death. Superman's Cape is at once heartbreaking and inspiring." ~ IndieReader.com - Five out of Five Stars

 

"For a touching story that resonates deep and treads the line between paranormal and suspense, you won't do better than Superman's Cape!" ~ Kindle Fire Department 
 

"SUPERMAN'S CAPE was at it's most riveting for me when following Kyle's plight, which got so desperate that my hankie got all into a twist." ~ Joseph Haschka - Amazon Top 500 Reviewer

"Spangler descends into Poe-like territory ... stomach churning and bone chilling." ~ Kirkus Reviews

"Spangler delves deep into all manner of physical and emotional pain as his characters attempt to come to terms with life in the aftermath of tragedy." ~ Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

A writer trapped in an Engineer's body, Brian was born in Philadelphia and enjoyed the greater Philadelphia area until career motivated a move south.

Now living in Virginia with his wife and children along with three cats, a parrot, lizard, chinchilla and the occasional wild animal visiting late at night.

While growing up, a passion for writing was discovered that influenced many short stories, poems and song lyrics for that garage band that never made it on the radio.

Currently, Brian works as an Engineer and Enterprise Architect and enjoys time with family as well as reading and writing.

Existing and and upcoming titles
Superman's Cape
An Order of Coffee and Tears
Glass Horses
Fallen Pages
Cradles In Prison
The Sound

Even Monsters Need Love

The Devil Orders Takeout

Also visit me online at writtenbybrian.com

Product Details

• File Size: 444 KB
• Print Length: 338 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0073A5CJO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,641 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The woods is no place for sissies February 11, 2012

By Joseph Haschka TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

"I know about things that will happen, or rather before they happen." - Jacob, in SUPERMAN'S CAPE

"Kyle held onto the bones of the animal and pulled harder. He pulled until he was face to face with the rotting meat that was its insides. He pulled so that he was lying on the dead animal. Kyle squirmed on whatever gave him the traction he needed to bring his knees up and crawl ... The flies and white pustule worms he uncovered clung to his shirt and skin like passengers. They crawled over his arms, leaving their maggot trails as they inched along." - from SUPERMAN'S CAPE, on escaping a bog

Six months previous, Kyle and his younger brother Jonnie watched their father Chris get gunned down by a drugged-out thief while the trio waited in line for an ice cream at the local DQ. Even 4-year old Jonnie's blue blanket, his "Superman's Cape", couldn't stop the hemorrhaging from his Dad's fatal wound.

Now, in a fit of anger and frustration at the hard straits in which he, Jonnie, and their mother Sara have been left by Chris's murder, Kyle runs away from the abject trailer they're forced to inhabit and into the woods, the Croatan National Forest in North Carolina. Kyle becomes lost, and his predicament quickly degrades from precarious to dire. And, there's a hurricane coming.

The story of the missing boy is carried by the local news outlets, including WJL-TV. The station sends out a live-coverage team headed by Jacob Hanson, who's otherwise the chief on-screen Weather Guy. Jacob has an unusual gift; he can "see" things before they happen.

SUPERMAN'S CAPE was at it's most riveting for me when following Kyle's plight, which got so desperate that my hankie got all into a twist. That said, my impression was that the author, Brian Spangler, intended the paranormal aspect of the storyline to comprise the main plot thread, and it too was engaging albeit perhaps a bit forced when it veers in an unexpected direction.

The reason I'm knocking off a star is that there's yet another subplot involving two other members of Hanson's team and the WJL-TV van that's so irrelevant as to be an unnecessary distraction and, by the book's conclusion, totally forgettable and ultimately forgotten.

There's no subtlety to SUPERMAN'S CAPE, but that's OK. It's a quick and entertaining read.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Tale of Survival February 7, 2012

By Amy Willingham VINE™ VOICE

Format:Kindle Edition

'Superman's Cape' by Brian Spangler is a very touching story about survival for a family that has been rocked with tragedy. Sara Connely has been dealt a hard hand in life and she struggles deal with the pain and everyday life with her two sons after the horrifying death of her husband. 6 months ago her husband was shot down at a Dairy Queen in an attempted robbery, and if things couldn't get worse her two boys are witnesses to their father's death. As Sara tried to cope with reality her two boys, Kyle and Jonnie, are hit the hardest. The oldest Kyle is angry at everyone while the youngest Jonnie won't say a word. In the midst of an argument Kyle storms off into Croatan National Forest right when a hurricane is supposed to hit the coast.

Jacob Hansen is not your normal weather man; he is a man with a gift. He can see things before they happen and has intuitions especially regarding Kyle. Jacob is thrown into the Connely's family search for the missing boy as an unwilling guest. But as he knows their hardship Jacob can do more than help find the missing boy, he can help heal the family's spirit.

Will Jacob ever find Kyle? How will Kyle survive in the woods all by himself? Will the Connely family move on with their grief or will Kyle's disappearance be their breaking point? To find out pick up a copy of 'Superman's Cape' by Brian Spangler.

I found the writing style to be easy to follow and at times humorous. I practically enjoyed the part where Kyle makes `friends' with some maggots. I honestly found myself engrossed with the story and finished it faster than I would have thought. The characters are well liked and even developed but he reason why I'm not giving it 5 stars is I found the story at times to be a little unrealistic and other times hurried to move on to the next point. But don't let that shy you away for the story is different and creative and well worth the read.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Potential February 6, 2012

By Francine1898

Format:Kindle Edition

Superman's Cape is a first novel for emerging author Brian Spangler. It's a dramatic tale with a touch of the supernatural. Unfortunately more than a touch would have helped this novel to keep my attention. I found the writing and editing to be very choppy. There was no smooth transition from one scene to another. Furthermore, there didn't seem to be a reason for some of the scenes. Even though the book has supernatural elements, some of the scenes and dialogue are very unbelievable. The main character, acting strange due to his misunderstood "abilities", does something totally off-the-wall at one point and yet the characters with him just follow along as if all is normal. It's as if the author manipulated the situations to tell the story at the price of a cohesive storyline. Some parts that were meant to be humorous only served to feel forced. One amusing situation however was when Kyle, the little boy who is lost, has an infection- filled cut and names the maggots inhabiting it after his classmates. How many of us would love to do that?
One of the things that draw me into a novel is when I become invested in the characters. I didn't ever do that in this novel, instead hoping at one point that one character would get killed during an animal attack just so the book would end or get more exciting.
I did love how the author used Superman's cape as a metaphor for the family's growth after the loss of the father, the cape changing color from blue to red and finally, cleansed by the rain, back to blue. Also well done was the description of Kyle's deterioration, both mind and body, while lost in the woods.
I would love to read another book by this author using the same main character, Jacob, but centered more on his "gift". Brian Spangler has a lot of potential as an author and I'll be watching to see him grow.

More About the Author

A writer trapped in an Engineer's body, Brian was born in Philadelphia and enjoyed the greater Philadelphia area until career motivated a move south.

Now living in Virginia with his wife and children along with three cats, a parrot, lizard, sugar-glider and the occasional wild animal visiting late at night.

While growing up, a passion for writing was discovered that influenced many short stories, poems and song lyrics for that garage band that never made it on the radio.

Currently, Brian works as an Engineer and Enterprise Architect and enjoys time with family as well as reading and writing.


Existing and and upcoming titles

Superman's Cape
An Order of Coffee and Tears
Glass Horses
Fallen Pages
Cradles In Prison
The Sound
Even Monsters Need Love
The Devil Orders Takeout


Also visit me online at writtenbybrian.com