I was very entertained by this, a novel set in a superhero world told entirely through the perspective of the police and other non-heroes (a reporter, for one). Self-published, so there were a few small typos and formatting oddness, but on the whole it was well worth the money. Recommended. ( )

Superheros in town don't make the police officers' lives any easier. Fights between superheros and supervillains, "costumes" to the cops, trash city buildings and injure and kill bystanders in ways that insurance doesn't cover. Super City has all these problems and this story covers a case with a costume villain from the POV of the cops assigned to stop him. The "supers" aren't much help, whether too busy stopping alien invasions or just plain uncooperative. An enjoyably different take on the currently popular superhero genre. ( )

3.5 stars
*This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com, at my request.

With The Claw back in town and killing, other bad guys active has increased as cops are thought to be out in waves looking for The Claw. The police have been working overtime and spread thin chasing villains. The cops are at their limits with the bad guys they are chasing, or having to let go as one of the 'costumes' brought in without evidence or witness.

Tee Morris voices the characters in this book. When I saw that, I had to have it. Along with it being a superhero story with detectives. Yes! :D

Tee Morris lives up to what I looked forward to. He does different accents for the characters to fit their feel in words. Even for the female characters he does different tones and softness to his voice to differentiate the large cast of characters found in this world. Tee has a bold voice that is clear in speaking, making every word easy to understand. The editing sounded seamless as I went through the story with a clean background.

We dive in driving through town with two police on duty, learning that superheroes speeding around town and a quick intro as to what color each one wears. This sets the stage of who is present in the town. Then, Bruiser stops the cops, wanting them to see what he found. A dead mangled body with a post-it note on his forehead. The Claw is back.

We see the case through the detectives eyes as they find the victims and the details of the cases. They struggle to solve the case, but the superheroes that pledged to help, don't seem to be doing that. This murderer needs to be found before he strikes again and they do what they can to get answers. We also see through a journalist and a few other powerful positions in the city that's involved with the case or the superheroes present in the city.

We live through the police lives as they live with the 'costumes' who are 'helping' with dangers and bad guys in the Super City. The pairs are partnered up great to compliment or spark the characters thoughts and personalities. It's a rough way to make a living here in Super City though, the powerful 'costumes' makes it seem the police don't do anything, but the do. As much as the superpowers help, they also hurt. They bring in perps that have to be released back on the streets without the proper witness or information. Also, they don't share information about searching for The Claw, or the want-a-be's get in the way, causing the guilty to get away. The superpowers seem to be outside the law in their way of handling things, or so they think. There are times that this is not a good thing, and we see it.

I've found this story is one about the people we see. There is more about them and other cases the police are on rather than The Claw. Though, with the information that's held from the police by the superpowers, I can see why. I was expecting a bit more about the mystery to find The Claw than what I got in the beginning. In the end, we got the case and the information the detectives needed.

A character driven story with lives at stake. I'd be curious to try more books by Keith. He has a way of bringing all the characters to life as they are all different. He also makes a point in his stories that things are not all good or bad, there is a balance to the system, you just have to find it. Superheroes are good, yet there is something about the way they do things that can be not as helpful as people think. ( )