A review of The Secret of Supervillainy by CT Phipps.

Author: C.T. Phipps

Publisher: Amber Cove Publishing

Release Date: July 4th, 2016 (Print)/ July 19th, 2016 (Audible)

Length: 214 pages/ 6 hrs and 6 min. Audible

Audio narrated by Jeffrey Kafer

In which Gary Karkofsky, aka Merciless, The Supervillain without Mercy™, makes and executes plans to bring his wife back from undeath. That's right, undeath. After his battles with the undead and an old god in book 2, in which his wife was brought back from death after Gary makes a deal with Death, only she's brought back as a vampire. Gary is now desperate to save her, willing to make any deal to bring her back as herself. He does this while facing a whole new threat from one of the most powerful people in the world, with resources far beyond what Gary is prepared to handle. All while trying to deal with his increasing feelings for Cindy, his henchwoman Red Riding Hood. What do you do when your in love with two women, one a blood sucking fiend and the other an amoral henchwoman? Seems Merciless™ has a case of first world villain problems. This is a much twistier story than the first two, but in a good way. It ratchets up the intensity and keeps you coming back for more.
 
This is s very character driven story, as are the first two. Even though it is dealing with costumed heroes and villains, It is basically a story of characters and their relationships between each other and their environments.The characters are so well put together you can get in the head of each of them, and see their motivations and logic. This makes them very accessible. The dialogue is crisp and sharp, with snark and touching moments abounding. It actually had me choked up a couple of times, and then left me laughing hysterically in so many others. The argument that Gary and Cindy have over the need to have made Episode 7 of Star War, and whether it was just a gender swapped knockoff of Episode 4 with more lens flare (Cindy's opinion) is a great example of the humor level.  The world building is so good. You can see in your head the streets and buildings of the city and definitely don't want to go on vacation there!
 
As far as narration, Jeffrey Kafer does his usual outstanding job, bringing each character to life, and keeping the narration moving smoothly. He really adds a lot to the audiobook.

The final analysis is this is a really well written series, and this book in particular. It definitely doesn't take itself too seriously, and is a great addition to the Supervillain genre made popular by books like Confessions of a D-List Supervillain by Jim Bernheimer and Blackjack:Villain by Ben Bequer. This is one of those series that you won't be able to wait for the next installment!