Secret Identity
Books | Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth
Alex Segura
From Anthony Award-winning writer Alex Segura comes Secret Identity, a rollicking literary mystery set in the world of comic books.It’s 1975 and the comic book industry is struggling, but Carmen Valdez doesn’t care. She’s an assistant at Triumph Comics, which doesn’t have the creative zeal of Marvel nor the buttoned-up efficiency of DC, but it doesn’t matter. Carmen is tantalizingly close to fulfilling her dream of writing a superhero book.That dream is nearly a reality when one of the Triumph writers enlists her help to create a new character, which they call “The Lethal Lynx,” Triumph's first female hero. But her colleague is acting strangely and asking to keep her involvement a secret. And then he’s found dead, with all of their scripts turned into the publisher without her name. Carmen is desperate to piece together what happened to him, to hang on to her piece of the Lynx, which turns out to be a runaway hit. But that’s complicated by a surprise visitor from her home in Miami, a tenacious cop who is piecing everything together too quickly for Carmen, and the tangled web of secrets and resentments among the passionate eccentrics who write comics for a living.Alex Segura uses his expertise as a comics creator as well as his unabashed love of noir fiction to create a truly one-of-a-kind novel--hard-edged and bright-eyed, gritty and dangerous, and utterly absorbing.
Historical Fiction
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Alex Segura
Pages
336
Publisher
Flatiron Books
Published Date
2022-03-15
ISBN
1250801753 9781250801753
Community ReviewsSee all
"Secret Identity is a literary mystery that takes place in the world of the comic book industry in 1975 New York. Carmen Valdez is a 20-somethimg assistant to the the head of Triumph Comics who has loved superheroes and dreamed of writing comics since her childhood in Miami. She thinks with this job she can show her boss that she' can cut it as a writer. He won't hear of it, however, because he doesn't think a woman can be a good writer of comics. <br/><br/>So when Harvey Stern makes her a proposal that they collaborate and only use his name until it's the right time to reveal Carmen as co-writer, she reluctantly agrees. <br/><br/>After working together, Harvey gets a weird phone call and rushes out, acting weird. When Harvey doesn't show up for work a few days later, Carmen goes to his place and finds him dead. The police think she's a likely suspect, so she goes on a search to find out what happened to Harvey. When another attack happens on another member of the industry, Carmen realizes she's in danger too. Will she get to solve the case, or will she end up the killer's next victim?<br/><br/>This was a very enjoyable read! I liked Carmen and her roommate Molly. The plotting was a little slow at first, but once I got settled in, it wasn't an issue. I also really liked the bits of the Lynx comic books, I thought it was a terrific addition to the reading experience. The world building was one of the best parts of this book. I felt like I was right there with Carmen in New York, experiencing the goings on of the city and the comic book industry in 1975. If you're a comic book fan or a mystery lover, this is the book for you!<br/><br/>My thanks to Flatiron Books, author Alex Segura, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own."
C H
Chris Hicks
"I was completely pulled in by this book; it grabbed hold of me quickly and never quite let go. There's a mystery that is set in the world of those who created comics in the 1970s, with plenty of name dropping. If you're interested in mysteries or comics, I can't believe that you wouldn't love this book."
John Detrick
