Carmen Cole's inner voice is working overtime on her
wedding day. Something isn't quite right on what should be
the happiest day of her life. Seeking out her soon-to-be
husband Matt for some reassurance, Carmen finds him in bed
with her best friend, Karen. But the worst betrayal is the
discovery that Matt is superhero Machinator and Karen is
super-villain Crusher! How had she, ace reporter, missed
the secret identities of the people closest to her? Reeling
from the double betrayal, Carmen snaps pictures of the
couple that make the next day's front page, revealing
Machinator and Crusher's true identities. From that moment
on, it becomes Carmen's mission to unmask the superheroes
and ubervillains of the world.
Moving from job to job, town to town, Carmen reveals the
secret identities of all the heroes and villains she
encounters. Now she's ready for the crown jewels of good
and evil: The Fearless Five and the Terrible Triad. Given
free rein by her boss, Carmen digs until she discovers the
identity of the man behind the mask of Tornado. Her single-
minded ambition falters when Tornado's alter ego, Travis
Teague, commits suicide. Carmen is busted down to the
society beat and her time researching superheroes is now
spent reporting on who's wearing what and the identities of
the latest super-couple -- until she's kidnapped by the
Terrible Triad.
Super-villainess Malefica and her cohorts, Scorpion and
Frost, want the identities of the remaining Fearless Five,
and Carmen is just the woman to get the inside scoop. She
has one month to unmask the superheroes, or she'll become
another of Frost's monstrous science experiments. Though
her heart isn't in it, Carmen reopens her files on Striker,
Fiera, Mr. Sage and Hermit, and she struggles to come up
with a way to avoid unmasking the Fearless Five and survive
a fate worse than death.
KARMA GIRL, by new author Jennifer Estep, is a laugh-
out-loud roller coaster ride of pure escapist
entertainment! Readers are drawn into an amazing world of
good and evil and heroes and villains with over-the-top
settings and characters. Ms. Estep has painstakingly
created a comic book world and populated it with a
collection of creatively believable people entwined in a
basic battle of good vs. evil, with some romance thrown in
on the side. When I started reading this story, I had no
idea what to expect. And when I read the words "spandex"
and "superheroes" in the same paragraph, I was concerned
about getting through the next 300+ pages. Well, I was up
until 3 a.m. (not good on a school night!) because I
couldn't put this book down! Ms. Estep has a gift for
storytelling and showcases it beautifully in what I hope is
the first of many adventures of Karma Girl and the Fearless
Five. This one is going on my keeper shelf!
Investigative reporter Carmen Cole gets the surprise of her
life on her wedding day when she discovers that her fiance
and best friend are sleeping together – and that the two of
them are her town's resident superhero and ubervillain.
Shocked and hurt, Carmen reveals their secret identities and
then decides to devote her life to unmasking every superhero
and ubervillain who crosses her path.
A series of successful unmaskings lands Carmen a job at The
Expose, one of the biggest newspapers in Bigtime, New York,
a city that's full of superheroes and ubervillains. Carmen
is in her element – until she gets kidnapped by the Terrible
Triad, Bigtime’s most dangerous ubervillain team.
The Triad orders Carmen to uncover the secret identity of
Striker, the leader of the Fearless Five, Bigtime's most
popular superhero team – or else they’ll drop her in a vat
of radioactive goo. With that threat hanging over her,
Carmen sets out to unmask Striker, but what she doesn’t
count on is falling for the sexy superhero. But with the
Terrible Triad lurking around, this is one story that just
might be the death of her ...