In a world where superheroes exist, repo work takes on a whole new level of dangerous. You need to figure out a way to tow Starlaser’s car before he wakes up and hurls energy bolts at you. But this book isn’t about the repossession game (which I find misleading and docked points for). It’s a hard-boiled, gritty crime drama and reads like one. A noir detective story, like The Maltese Falcon. There just happen to be superheroes in it.

The premise is that an incarcerated supervillain invented a ring that allows you to phase through stuff. This is an uber-powerful device since it means you could be hiding anywhere, are basically invincible, and can kill people by squeezing their heart. It’s gone missing. The last person to have it was our main character’s old boss. And he just went six feet under. (Like, literally, because he was phased into the ground). If the main character doesn’t find some answers, the government’s going to take his money, his business, and what remains of his broken family.

I like the world-building. I like the main characters–they have a found family vibe. I don’t like how there’s too many characters. I’m not sure if that’s part of the detective genre, where you’ve gotta put in a bunch of red herrings. But it confused me, bordering on character soup. There’s a lot of good dialogue. It drags on in the middle. It reminded me of some meta-textual superhero stuff, like Invincible. I recommend reading a sample of it before you get the whole thing though. And read the whole sample–the whole book does not read like the first chapter.