What is this about?: Nora is Indigo, a vigilante superhero searching for a cult that is killing children. That becomes a story about Nora’s origins, and the lies on which her life is built.
What else is this about?: Identity and what makes Nora human versus Indigo. The thing is, there’s a … certain something that might have something to say about that.
Blurb
Investigative reporter Nora Hesper spends her nights cloaked in shadows. As Indigo, she’s become an urban myth, a brutal vigilante who can forge darkness into weapons and travel across the city by slipping from one patch of shadow to another. Her primary focus both as Nora and as Indigo has become a murderous criminal cult called the Children of Phonos. Children are being murdered in New York, and Nora is determined to make it stop, even if that means Indigo must eliminate every member. But in the aftermath of a bloody battle, a dying cultist makes claims that cause Indigo to question her own origin and memories.
Nora’s parents were killed when she was nineteen years old. She took the life insurance money and went off to explore the world, leading to her becoming a student of meditation and strange magic in a mountaintop monastery in Nepal…a history that many would realize sounds suspiciously like the origins of several comic book characters. As Nora starts to pick apart her memory, it begins to unravel. Her parents are dead, but the rest is a series of lies. Where did she get the power inside her?
In a brilliant collaboration by New York Times and critically acclaimed coauthors Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Cherie Priest, James Moore, and Mark Morris join forces to bring you a crime-solving novel like you’ve never read before.
Stars: 2.5
Nora is a superhero, Indigo, the kind who lurks in the shadows and literally uses them as her weapons and even for her travel. Using her cover as a newspaper reporter she works cases and brings the bad guys to justice, and this time around she’s investigating the deaths of children in the city, and that brings her to the Children of Phonos a cult she’s tangled with before.
But through investigating the case, Nora is forced to examine her past and realise that everything she thought she knew about herself is a lie — and I enjoyed that the authors played with our perceptions of superheroes right now, and weaved it into the story to give Nora this amazing backstory that continued to evolve, and evolve….
That’s the thing about this book — you can see the amazing authors up there, and for the most part they come through and provide a fast-paced, thrilling collaborative adventure with twists and turns as Nora’s past comes to light. But I suspect this might have been a case of too many (good) cooks spoiling the broth, because as cool as killer nuns are helping her defeat the cult, there’s a point when things go on for too long (and very dramatically).
Eventually, this book just lost steam for me — which is sad, because I loved the idea of these amazing coming together to write a female superhero.
The synopsis had me captivated. I am sorry to hear the multiple authors didn’t gel in a way that lived up to that awesome blurb.
It’s a strong beginning, but yeah, it just went on for too long. I was so impressed with the authors too!
It sounds like an interesting premise for the book and having multiple authors is not unique, but would be difficult to accomplish seamlessly. A shame that it didn’t work out that well. I’m still interested in the premise, just not the multiple authors.
I thought it was a wonderful premise too, and it starts strongly at least. I think too many authors spoiled the broth so to speak
Aw too bad you didn’t enjoy this one more. The concept of a female superhero that has some sort of shadow power (I think?) sounds really awesome. Also like that there’s a cult involved. For some reason I love books that involve those kind of things. Great review!
I loved the premise, beyond all good reason — a female superhero, who’s a journalist bringing down a cult? Yes please! But, despite the strong start, it just slowly fizzled.
Oh man, it sounded like had some really potential. Killer nuns!!! That’s pretty awesome. But it is too bad it drug on too long, it does take away from the enjoyment.
The killer nuns were BRILLIANT, and deadly and vicious. But so much of those chapters could have been streamlined because at one point I was like: either someone needs to die or you lot need to start working together (and a couple of chapters later they did)
What a bummer this wasn’t a better read. The synopsis sounded so good too 🙁
It did, it did.. It was a wonderful start, but as it went on and on and on I started wondering when this would end instead of enjoying it.
This sounds fantastic, but I’m sorry it lost steam for you. I hate when that happens. And too bad too because this sounded like it could have been just AMAZING.
In the beginning, I was loving every bit of it, but slowly but surely I began to realise things were going on for too long.
oh wow, I am sorry you didn’t like it. But yes, if many authors are involved in writing a single story then this definitely can happen. There would always be some parts or writing of one, which would be better than other.
It started off SO well, it really did and then… I kind of started wondering when it would end, so then I knew this wasn’t going well.