Dan Pouliot’s book starts off explosively with an action-filled car chase, with characters fearful and frantic, and the way that the scene is described leaves the reader anticipating much from the rest of the action of the book. It is a great way to begin Super Human and sets it up for what it continues to be: a well-paced novel with tension and mystery throughout.
As well as its pace, one of the things I liked about this book was its dialogue. Pouliot gives his characters funny lines and has them teasing each other, and this serves, especially between friends and henchmen, to reflect well their concerns and their rivalries.
The main character is Will Freeman and we immediately see that there is something different about him, that he has a heightened perception or ability that crosses over into receiving messages from somewhere “other”. He also has vivid dreams and premonitions.
Will lives with his mum, his dad having disappeared when he was much younger. This disappearance is one of the key elements of the book on which most of the action hangs as the book starts with Will’s dad being taken but by who or what? Pouliot’s telling of this is veiled, with many things presented but not fully explained until they become clear later. Will is keen to find out what happened to his dad and when Will believes himself to be contacted by him, it is a well-placed prediction for the later action of the book.
Along with Lily, the love interest, Will discovers an object which provides him with an avenue to finding out more and by following Will, we see what happened to Bill, his dad. Through meeting with Joe, a friend of Bill’s, Will is offered the chance to expand his knowledge but is less open to the ideas Joe proposes than Lily. Being naturally wary, we learn that this caution is well-founded as a threat appears and people in Will’s life are taken.
This all leads to a climax involving something powerful, which may or may not be of this world. What significance does this have for Will? This becomes clear as does its relevance to his dad’s disappearance. Motives are revealed as are the hidden players and the ending provides answers.
Pouliot is adept at bringing us to this point in the way that the story unfolds, the story satisfyingly concluded.
This review was first published in Reedsy Discovery where I was privileged to read it as an ARC.
Scuffed Granny 