Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel

by Matt Carter

Overview

Eighteen-year-old Aidan Salt isn’t a superhero. With his powerful (and unpredictable) telekinetic abilities he could be one if he wanted to, but he doesn’t. He’s unambitious, selfish, and cowardly, and he doesn’t want to have to deal with all the paperwork required to become a professional superhero. But since the money, fame, and women that come with wearing the cape are appealing, he decides to become the first supervillain the world has seen in more than twenty years: Apex Strike.

However, he soon finds villainy in a world where the heroes have long since defeated all the supervillains. While half the world’s heroes seem to want him dead, the other half want to hire him as their own personal villain to keep them relevant. Choosing the latter course, Aidan enters a world of fame, fortune, and staged superhero fights that is seemingly everything he ever dreamed of . . . at least until he sees what truly hides behind the cape-and-mask lifestyle.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781940456508
Publisher:	Talos
Publication date:	04/19/2016
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Matt Carter & Fiona J. R. Titchenell are married sci-fi, horror, and YA writers, who together have co-authored The Prospero Chronicles series. Matt has also written Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel, while Fiona has written Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know Of). They live in sunny San Gabriel, California, with their pet king snake Mica.

Editorial Reviews

01/25/2016
Carter’s quirky riff on the coming-of-age novel depicts a superhero-dominated world history with a bumptious potty-mouthed narrator named Aidan Salt, from Hacklin’s Hall, Ind. Eighteen and full of teenage rebellion, Aidan discovers his super powers and dons the moniker Apex Strike to train with other wannabe supervillains, in order to become worthy opponents and justify the demand for superheroes. Half of this sporadically amusing strung-out caper deals with Aidan’s stomach-wrenching boot camp experiences on Death Island (the location of which is never specified), resulting in celebratory drug- and hormone-fueled wallows. The rest presents equally noisome choreographed melee between heroes and villains, harrowing drug withdrawals, and Aidan’s gradual realization that opting out of high school mediocrity by adopting the supervillain lifestyle isn’t the nirvana he’d expected. After all of Aidan’s overheated adolescent wish fulfillments, Carter’s simplistic ending seems deflated; a whimper instead of the roar Aidan/Apex had hoped would change his world. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"Almost Infamous has a tough job: telling a compelling story where most, if not all, of the characters are bad guys. But Matt Carter makes it seem effortless, offering a funny, dark, and thoroughly enjoyable story about friendship, heroism, and the lengths to which we’ll go to disrupt the status quo when needed."
—San Francisco Book Review

"Matt Carter has crafted an engrossing, enthralling, set of scurrilous lies about my chosen profession. In spite of myself, I couldn't put it down. I will crush him."
—King Oblivion, Ph.D., author of The Supervillain Handbook

"A clever premise...irresistible reading."
—Booklist

“One hell of a fun read! Highly recommended for fans of superhero fiction and comic book lovers, especially if you enjoy the gritty stylings of comics like Garth Ennis’ The Boys. I had an absolute blast with this dynamic tale of sex, drugs, and supervillainy.”
—BiblioSanctum

"Almost Infamous has a tough job: telling a compelling story where most, if not all, of the characters are bad guys. But Matt Carter makes it seem effortless, offering a funny, dark, and thoroughly enjoyable story about friendship, heroism, and the lengths to which we’ll go to disrupt the status quo when needed."
—San Francisco Book Review

"Matt Carter has crafted an engrossing, enthralling, set of scurrilous lies about my chosen profession. In spite of myself, I couldn't put it down. I will crush him."
—King Oblivion, Ph.D., author of The Supervillain Handbook

"A clever premise...irresistible reading."
—Booklist

“One hell of a fun read! Highly recommended for fans of superhero fiction and comic book lovers, especially if you enjoy the gritty stylings of comics like Garth Ennis’ The Boys. I had an absolute blast with this dynamic tale of sex, drugs, and supervillainy.”
—BiblioSanctum

From the Publisher

04/15/2016
The world has not seen a villain since the end of the War on Villainy in 1993. More than 20 years later, 18-year-old Aidan Salt knows that his telekinetic abilities could help him become a professional superhero, but he does not have the desire, the drive, or the patience for the mountain of paperwork that would be required. So, he decides the only way to achieve fame without tedium is to become the first supervillain in decades: Apex Strike. Aidan finds that some superheroes truly want him defeated, but others want to use him to stage fights to make their own influences relevant. The salary and status seem to be everything he dreamed of, but Aidan soon learns that wickedness was not eradicated with the supervillains and that a nightmare exists behind the masks. VERDICT Youthful protagonists, high-octane action, and hard life lessons create an intriguing look at a superpowered world. Enthusiasts of Pierce Brown's "Red Rising" trilogy may find that the lighter tone of Carter's (coauthor "Prospero Chronicles" series) first solo novel does not take away from its strength.—KC

Library Journal