Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

"You called me a symbol, and you're right. This suit stands for something. It isn't me living some childhood fantasy or anything like that. It's about hope...I wear this thing, all these bright colors, because I want people to know someone's trying to make their lives better. I want to give them hope."

I only had to hear two words to convince me to read this book: zombies and superheroes. Talk about your match made in heaven! I am also happy to report that I got a zombie book with just plain zombies, which means I got my fill of gore and death.

Ex-Heroes takes place after an epidemic has swept the nation, most likely the entire world. The dead have risen and walk the earth, eating the flesh of the living. Thankfully, the living have some defense in the form of the supers. They had been ordinary people who developed super powers through varying means. Now, they protect a community of people in an old Hollywood production studio.

The heroes include St. George, also known as The Mighty Dragon. He is bullet-proof and zombie bite-proof and he can breathe fire. He was sort of a Captain America/Superman level goody two-shoes, but he was my favorite hero. Others included Stealth (Ninja, leader, doesn't use contractions), Gorgon (Energy vampire), Cerberus (Mechanical super suit), and Zzzap! (Powers the compound). There are actually a couple more, but they have become zombies, or exes as they are referred to here.

There are chapters that show origin stories and what happened before, and just at the beginning, of the outbreak. I really liked how it was done. It was a little difficult for me to get into the book at first, but I was devouring the pages like an ex on a human by the end.

I received my copy of Ex-Heroes from Edelweiss, courtesy of Crown Publishing Group. It's available now for purchase. Because I read an unedited copy, the quotation may vary from the book.