Secret Identity by Alex Segura
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars rounded up**
In 1975-New York City, Carmen Valdez finds herself working for the head of Triumph Comics as his administrative assistant. Carmen dreams of becoming a writer, but for now her assistant position will have to do.
Unfortunately, it’s just the way in the industry, in the times, in the culture. Carmen has so many ideas, but good luck having them heard.
When one of her coworkers, a seemingly harmless man named Harvey, approaches her with a proposition to fulfill her dreams, she can’t refuse.
He wants her help creating a new character. Of course her involvement would need to be kept secret initially, at least according to Harvey, but he sells her on the fact that after it is a success, they could reveal the truth to their boss. Then he’ll have no choice but to take her ambitions seriously.
Carmen isn’t naive. She knows she can’t trust Harvey completely, but honestly, what choice does she have. She’s desperate for a chance and her boss has repeatedly shot her down. This could be it.
Putting her reservations aside, Carmen agrees to help Harvey and over multiple brainstorming sessions, the two create Triumph’s first female hero, The Lethal Lynx.
After their scripts have been submitted, with Carmen’s name absent from the credits per their earlier agreement, Harvey is brutally murdered. With Harvey’s death comes absence of proof that Carmen played any role in their creation.
Harvey was the only person who knew the amount Carmen contributed to The Lethal Lynx. She is completely gutted. Carmen needs to find out what happened. It doesn’t seem random, but who would want Harvey dead?
Secret Identity took me completely by surprise. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going into this. Being pitched as a ‘literary mystery’ made me a little nervous. That’s not really my genre.
I’ve read from Alex Segura before, however, and enjoyed his writing style. Additionally, the fact that this has the comic book industry as the backdrop was extremely interesting to me. I decided to give it a go.
I’m so glad that I gave it a shot. This is literal scientific proof that reading outside of your comfort zone can be a good thing! Just trust me on this.
This entire book is dripping with atmosphere. 1975s New York City was a thing; a character unto itself. Segura brought all of that to life within these pages.
Carmen was an extremely likable character. It was captivating getting to know her, a bit about her past, and of course getting to see behind the scenes of the comic book industry.
I was super impressed with the film noir-quality Segura was able to channel into this story. It is such a unique and enjoyable experience.
As a side note, I did listen to the audiobook and highly recommend that format. Included in the narrative are occasional excerpts from The Lethal Lynx comics, for which super fun sound effects are included in the audio version. That was really a treat!
I would definitely recommend giving this one a go. There’s so much to enjoy in this story for a vast array of Readers.
Go ahead, give it a shot!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.
I had such a great time listening to this book and will definitely be picking up further works from Alex Segura!!