The Reign of the Kingfisher: A Novel [B1861]

2020 PB in nice clean condition. "Hits a grand slam for its intended audience. It might even convince skeptics that superhero stories can make good literature." -Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Years after Chicago lost its superhero, a masked villain terrorizes the city-and a lone reporter must discover their secrets in this extraordinary novel. Somewhere in Chicago, a roomful of people have been taken hostage by a masked gunman. They will be killed one by one, unless the police admit that they faked the death of the legendary superhero called the Kingfisher and helped him to give up his defense of the city thirty years ago. Retired reporter Marcus Waters made his name covering the enigmatic superhero's five years of cleaning up Chicago's streets. Then the Kingfisher died, Chicago resumed its violent turmoil, and Marcus slid back into obscurity.

But did the Kingfisher really die? And who would take hostages connected to the Kingfisher's past attempts to clean up the streets? With the help of disgraced police officer Lucinda Tillman and a young hacktivist named Wren, Marcus will explore the city's violence, corruption, and chaos to figure out if the vigilante hero died tragically, or gave up hope and abandoned the city-and for the hostages, the clock is ticking.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Excellent book. It's part mystery, part cold case files, part tech and part super hero. It's a wonderful read."; "Vigilante superhero in Chicago in the 80s and his complex relationship with the police and public. Like Batman."; "Page turner. Expertly crafted, spellbinding story with many unexpected turns. An homage to Chicago, with its gritty underbelly exposed like a wound."; "It's a slow burn of a book. The twist at the end was unexpected. The book questioned the idea of good and evil as being similar and different and based on perspective. The good guy isn't the good guy for everyone and the good guy makes mistakes."; "Different to what I normally read but absolutely amazing. The characters were complex, real, the plot unexpected and engaging and the ending really well done even though there was a lot to deal with. :)"