Book Review: Secret Identity by Alex Segura

 

From the publisher:

From Anthony Award-winning writer Alex Segura comes Secret Identity, a rollicking literary mystery set in the world of comic books.

It’s 1975 and the comic book industry is struggling, but Carmen Valdez doesn’t care. She’s an assistant at Triumph Comics, which doesn’t have the creative zeal of Marvel nor the buttoned-up efficiency of DC, but it doesn’t matter. Carmen is tantalizingly close to fulfilling her dream of writing a superhero book.

That dream is nearly a reality when one of the Triumph writers enlists her help to create a new character, which they call “The Lethal Lynx,” Triumph's first female hero. But her colleague is acting strangely and asking to keep her involvement a secret. And then he’s found dead, with all of their scripts turned into the publisher without her name. Carmen is desperate to piece together what happened to him, to hang on to her piece of the Lynx, which turns out to be a runaway hit. But that’s complicated by a surprise visitor from her home in Miami, a tenacious cop who is piecing everything together too quickly for Carmen, and the tangled web of secrets and resentments among the passionate eccentrics who write comics for a living.

Alex Segura uses his expertise as a comics creator as well as his unabashed love of noir fiction to create a truly one-of-a-kind novel--hard-edged and bright-eyed, gritty and dangerous, and utterly absorbing.

Secret Identity by Alex Segura was published March 22nd, 2022 by Flatiron Books.

My Thoughts:

Carmen, the main character, is interesting. She moved to New York from Florida and got into the comics industry as an administrative assistant. But, she aspires to more. She proves she is a talented writer, but gets none of the credit for her work. And soon the writer that was working with her is found dead. Carmen can't just accept that and move on. She starts her own investigation alongside the police investigation. And she is persistent. Much of the book is a noir style hunt for who is responsible for her coworker 's death.

It's also an interesting window into the world of comics at the time. It's well done. The pace of the book is good, not too many lulls. And the author wraps up the plot lines in a logical manner. 

I also liked the comic book pages of the Lethal Lynx that were inserted every so often. They helped to illustrate Carmen and what she was experiencing.

I give this book 5 stars. If you enjoy noir with a strong female lead then you will like this book.

I received my copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my opinion.