Review Station!

Arsenal- Full Metal Superhero: Book One

Good morning, fellow imaginers! Hopefully you’re enjoying the start of your weekend and are getting some well deserved rest! Today we are changing it up, reviewing a self-published book from fellow indie author, Jeffery H. Haskell. The book is titled Arsenal- Full Metal Superhero. It is the first in a series of novels that has been very successful and well reviewed. As always, I’ll break down some key aspects to the book and avoid any spoilers before linking information if you wish to purchase!

Cover: I love the cover design for the book. It evokes an Iron Man/comic book feel, which is what this story is going for. Displaying the main character flying over the city in full armor, the reader understands exactly what they’re getting into before opening up the book. It catches the eye and aids the imagination by showing us exactly what Arsenal’s armored suit looks like.

Character Development: This is a strong point in the novel. Haskell makes characters that are well-rounded and interesting to follow. Let’s start with the main character, Amelia, a multi-ethnic, paraplegic, female genius who uses her mind and substantial funds to create a suit of armor that rivals Tony Stark’s best work. That sentence alone should make you want to read this novel. I’m a huge fan of diversity in the superhero universe, and Haskell checks every box within the first few paragraphs. Amelia is a strong female lead, whose intellect and humor make her easy to root for. Her confidence and selflessness makes her the perfect hero to look up to, and her decision to allow herself to rely on others as the novel progresses is well paced and developed. Luke and Kate, aka Major Force and Domino, respectively, are excellent foils for our protagonist. Her teammates and eventual confidants, the two are engaging, though they never steal the limelight from Amelia. I would love to learn more about their backstories, along with other side character’s, like Mr. Perfect and Amelia’s neighbor, as I think there’s plenty more to mine here. Even Amelia’s AI interface, Epic, was a pleasant surprise, the machine developing a personality of its own and adapting throughout the book. I look forward to how the characters progress in the next installment.

Plot: The story kept me interested throughout, although there were a lot of loose ends. The main storyline revolves around Amelia’s search for her “deceased” parents, whom she believes were kidnapped. In order to discover the truth, she manages to join the state-based superhero group in Arizona, which is connected to her parent’s former employers. Working for the company which could be responsible for their disappearance, the storyline is a strong one. The only knock would be that there were several subplots throughout the novel, some which were never fully completed. Most likely they are setting up for future novels. I do also wish the battles weren’t so cleanly settled, as well. Amelia has a habit of designing the perfect weapon the night before which helps her save the day several times throughout the novel. Otherwise the pacing was great and the battle scenes were brought to life with well described scenes

Overall: 4.5/5

This was a fantastic debut novel which makes me excited for future books in the series, which are currently available! I love the diversity of the characters, and Amelia more than holds her own as a future superstar in the genre. Do yourself a favor and buy this book. The superhero novel market is currently lacking in a quality series, and Haskell provides us with one worth the price of admission.

Synopsis:

Sometimes you have to fly before you can walk.

How does a girl in a wheelchair with no superpowers infiltrate her local superhero team?

As the worlds greatest engineer Amelia Lockheart builds a suit of armor to rival any tech on the planet. As Arsenal, she has more firepower than a small army. But will it be enough?

She’s going to need her wits about her if she wants to find out the truth about her past.

Forces beyond her imagination are moving against her and if she isn’t careful, they will destroy her.

Fans of Marvel comics and superheroes will love Arsenal.

This is Book 1 (of 6) of the bestselling FULL METAL SUPERHERO series. Buy it now and start reading the adventure of the year.

Amazon link: Arsenal (Amazon)