SECRET IDENTITY BOOK TOUR!
Author: Alex SeguraGenre: Literary Mystery
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: March 15, 2022
Order Link: Amazon
4 Secret Hearts
Special thanks to Flatiron Books for an arc of this book.
From Anthony Award-winning writer Alex Segura comes Secret Identity, a rollicking literary mystery set in the world of comic books.
Review:
Secret Identity by Alex Segura is a great introduction into the world of comics in the 1970's as they're expertly woven into this fictional story of mayhem and murder. The end result is a beautifully rendered combo of work with compelling, larger than life characters and a big side serving of mystery and action. Segura's obvious knowledge of the comic industry is evident in the creative writing, and his expertise in delivering a highly entertaining murder mystery will keep readers burning through pages.
Carmen Valdez works as an assistant to the head honcho of Triumph Comics with days spent copying scripts and carrying coffee and lunch to her boss. But Carmen secretly dreams of writing her own comic script about a female super hero that she's secretly been drawing for years. When she's approached by a junior writer about co-writing a new comic book starring Carmen's superwoman, she jumps at the chance even though she has to keep her identity secret. Her boss will never accept it from her. She agrees knowing it's her only shot of breathing life into her creation the Lethal Lynx. The script turns into a roaring success, but when an unforeseen tragedy strikes her co-worker, Carmen is left empty handed with someone else's name on her work. She can't step forward and claim the work now, can she? Just when she thinks it can't get much worse, a shadow from her past comes calling, and Carmen is juggling secrets.
While I found the mystery intriguing, Secret Identity is character driven, and as the story unfolds through Carmen's point of view, I believe readers will find her quite easy to cheer on. Carmen is tough - a girl living alone in 1970's New York City, struggling with her own sexual identity in a misogynistic work atmosphere where every day is an all-out brawl when all she wants is to be recognized for her own talent. I have to admit my favorite part of Secret Identity surprised me - actually shocked me as I'm not a big comic book fan. However, the comic scenes of the Lynx which are inserted between chapters of this book are out of this world! The artwork is excellent, and the comic theme actually mirrors Carmen's own life journey seeking truth, identity and justice. These sequences are a fantastic addition to this book and extremely well done.
Secret Identity is a gritty, unique story with a perfect marriage of noir fiction and comics including an up close and personal look at the comic book industry at the time - one that depended on eager freelancers for the hard work and creativity necessary to produce a winner. Seguar does a great job handling controversial themes of sexual identity, gender roles and misogynistic attitudes in the workplace and the difficulty for women, especially queer women, to ever achieve success. The setting is utterly fascinating - actually playing the role of a major character - the best and worst of New York City with all its tenacity, bright lights, dark shadows, grimy districts and still 100 % intoxicating. I found Secret Identity to be well paced and hard to put down. Highly recommended to fans of mystery, noir fiction and comic books. Segura has gifted readers with the perfect blend!
Synopsis:
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.
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.
Alex Segura
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