Review of Ex-Heroes By Peter Clines

Title: Ex-Heroes

Author: Peter Clines

Published by: Broadway Paperbacks

Released: February 26, 2013

Summary: Superheroes and Zombies! Superheroes like Zzzap, Stealth, Gorgon, The Mighty Dragon, and Cerberus protect humanity on a daily basis and none of that changes when the zombie apocalypse goes down. The heroes and the remaining survivors are holed up in the Mount, an old production studio turned fortress in the city of Los Angeles. Protecting people from zombies is hard work, but then an old enemy pops into the scene and wants to play. All in a days work for a superhero!

My Thoughts: I just want to thank Broadway and Netgalley for letting me review an e-arc of this book. I was so excited to hear the concept of superheroes and zombies brought together in the same world and fighting one another. As a big fan of zombie books and an enjoyer of superheroes, I was greatly excited to give this book a go! Sadly, it did not meet to my high expectations.

First, I should start with the positives. Amazing concept. I loved the idea of a story incorporating zombies and superheroes. It's so creative and just a really fun mash-up of genres. There was also a ton of creativity in this book with all the different superheroes and their stories. I really enjoyed the action and fight scenes. The story was very fast-paced and action oriented.
Now for the bad, I'm sorry in advance for not liking this book. I really tried, but I have to be honest with how I really felt about it in the end. One of my problems was, I didn't feel any real emotional attachment to the characters and I think that's kind of a must for an apocalyptic zombie novel. If I really don't like many (or any) of the characters, then it's not going to hurt me if one of them dies. The only one I felt semi-attached to was St. George (The Mighty Dragon), the rest were just ehh.
I also wasn't a fan of the format of the story. How it would go from present to past, back to present, and then more past. I would have loved to start in the past and work my way into the present, with greater detail paid to characterization and making me really feel that I knew the characters in and out. I think the biggest flaw for me has to be the lack of character development in this story for all the superheroes and people of the Mount.
I was really excited with the premise of this book, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. Don't let my opinion be the driving force of whether you pick this book up for yourself. If you like zombies and superheroes, then you should read it!

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

Not as super as it could have been.