Spider-Man: The Secret of the Sinister Six (Mass Market Paperback)

by Adam-Troy Castro (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 7-Up In this final volume of a trilogy, Spider-Man faces six super-villains who attack New York City. Brought together by the deliciously evil "Gentleman," the bad guys each battle the webslinger at least once. The most intriguing of the six is Pity, a female with powers of darkness; Spider-Man suspects she might be his sister. Castro does an excellent job of capturing the feel of comic-book action through his prose. The lively scenes feature nearly over-the-top descriptions, balanced by dry and sometimes sarcastic humor. The intense, but playful tone involves readers in the intrigue and the battles, while recognizing that it's all in good fun. Sly nods to popular culture are peppered throughout, including references to characters from beyond the world of comics, such as the sheriff from Fargo and the evil Nazi from Marathon Man; even Scooby Doo and friends show up on the final pages. The daylong attack on New York fills up more than 100 pages, with plenty of quick scene changes and a large cast of supporting characters. Though they can be hard to keep track of, they add to the atmosphere of this bizarre city in which super-powered heroes and villains wage life and death battles on a fairly regular basis. Readers who haven't read the first two books in the trilogy will have no trouble catching on: Spider-Man himself sums up recent events in a funny lecture he gives to a ridiculous would-be villain. -Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

First mass-market edition!

Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man, has made an astonishing discovery -- he has a sister! Worse, a manipulative super-villain known as the Gentleman, who had a hand in the deaths of Peter Parker's parents, has somehow brainwashed her into becoming the deadly super-villain known as Pity! Together with Doctor Octopus, Electro, the Vulture, and Mysterio, they've formed the newest incarnation of the super-villain group dedicated to destroy Spider-Man, the Sinister Six. The Gentleman's plan to destroy Spider-Man is about to reach its awful conclusion!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: I Books/Marvel (February 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074345832X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743458320
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,426,113 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mysteries solved, April 30, 2002

By	G. Swift "97jedi" (Southwestern Missouri) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six (Hardcover)

The Sinister Six are still following the directives of the Gentleman, but they are getting restless to resolve his plan. Especially those who are rebelling against his authority, Doctor Octopus mainly.

Spider-Man is still besieged by doubt over the origin of Pity, the newest Six member. Implications from the previous novel in the trilogy pointed to her being his sister, but there are still considerations to support the contrary.

The story moves along very fast, and is the first among the Marvel novels really to have some graphic violence. But it is not too gratuitous, keeping in character with the murderers it is related to. Sometimes the story might seem a bit disjointed due to the narrative style of going back several minutes in time to describe what was happening off-stage, as it were. There are some twists near the end, but they are not too surprising. There is good resolution and updating with regard to the comics, as Castro fills in a bit on what the future holds for our villains after this novel occurs. The very end gives us some revelations that, to me at least, seemed tacked on. A certain character appears to provide these new insights. The only part of this interaction that I liked was the reactions of Peter and Mary Jane to finding this person in their home. Now THAT was funny.

I liked this book, as it really kept to the comic book perceptions of the characters. However, there were an atrocious number of typos, grammar errors, and just poor editing, even for a first edition like this. It really detracted from the reading experience, so my advice is to wait for a later edition; hopefully this issue will be rectified. Spidey fans should definitely like this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully Cheesy, September 21, 2003

By	S. Wade "generaldisarray" (Norman, Oklahoma, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six (Hardcover)

This is a terrific book- it doesn't take itself too seriously, there are some interesting details provided about Spiderman's double life and it ends the series nicely, while leaving room for future superhero adventures of course. Villains get what they deserve and characters who really, desperately needed a happy ending get it. I have to disagree with other reviewers- the ending was as fun and satisfying as the rest of the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Spidey book yet, February 12, 2003

By	"thevampirearmand" (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six (Hardcover)

Mr. Troy-Castro has bested himself in this book. I loved the way he portrayed both Electro and Mysterio, Mysterio especially, with his illness and him being so defensive about it. But the only thing I din not like about this book is that Spidey doesn't get ... beat enough! (Come on, the bad guy should be able to get some glory once in a while!)