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31st out of 284 books
—
445 voters
Confessions of a D-List Supervillain
by
Jim Bernheimer (Goodreads Author)
“Being a supervillain means never having to say you’re sorry … Unless it’s to the judge or the parole board. Even then, you don’t really have to. It’s not like it’s going to change the outcome or anything.”
Those are the words of Calvin Matthew Stringel, better known as Mechani-Cal. He’s a sarcastic, down on his luck armored villain. Follow his exploits as he gets swept up...more
Those are the words of Calvin Matthew Stringel, better known as Mechani-Cal. He’s a sarcastic, down on his luck armored villain. Follow his exploits as he gets swept up...more
Paperback, 166 pages
Published
April 10th 2011
by Createspace
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So….Superhero fiction. This offering was fun and some time was pleasantly diverted but I still can’t help but feel a somber lack of fulfillment in the end product. I keep hoping some smooth writing word-smither will come along and write a costumed hero story that really “gets it.” To date, this is a small but growing sub-genre of speculative fiction (thanks to the successful movie franchises) that has not yet translated well into the ungraphic novel form, at least the several examples that I hav...more
A book I want to talk about. I have been neglectful of this site and downright lazy when it comes to writing reviews but in all honesty, most everything I have read lately has not aroused my need to record how I felt. I read alot of books, a great deal more than I remember to list here, which sucks, as at times I forget if I have read something, something by a particular author, or how I felt about a book which might be continuing as a series. In those cases, I pop on here and glance at one of m...more
14 likes
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Mar 17, 2013
Holden Attradies
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
super-heroes
Funny, fast paced, had a plot that kept up the surprises and was both true to the superhero genre yet totally unpredictable. The plot twists that the story throw at you come silently and slowly upon the reader. The final one was the best, and it makes the end of the book REALLY good, even on later reads, because you can then see the little hints that are thrown out.
The pacing for the book was incredible. It was written so that you just jump right into the story and find out about their world as...more
The pacing for the book was incredible. It was written so that you just jump right into the story and find out about their world as...more
2 likes
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It's books like this that made me get back into writing.
A day later and my mind is still running through the story. I'm still riding the emotional high off this book and can't stop talking and thinking about it. Bernheimer has created something amazing here with this book.
The characters are believeable, frustratingly so in some cases. Each character behaves as you expect them too and no one ever goes outside their character. They all evolve over the story, and their interactions drive the story...more
A day later and my mind is still running through the story. I'm still riding the emotional high off this book and can't stop talking and thinking about it. Bernheimer has created something amazing here with this book.
The characters are believeable, frustratingly so in some cases. Each character behaves as you expect them too and no one ever goes outside their character. They all evolve over the story, and their interactions drive the story...more
3 likes
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like
· see review
I'm stepped out of my usual romance genre and decided to read something different. Maybe I'm on a high after seeing "The Avengers" this weekend, but I really enjoyed delving into a world of superheroes and villains. What I liked most about this book: the hero was an ass. He knew this, didn't apologize for it, nor did he let anyone really change him from who he was. While other characters hem-hawed around him, he kept true to himself. He is like other genius artist I've met--don't bother me unles...more
As you may expect from the title, this is a cute take on the "reforming a comics-style villain" trope.
It's got a lot to recommend it. In particular, I giggled over the casual mentions of how the silly superheroes got their powers. And the plots are well-worn in a way that works for this style: evil bugs take over everyone's brains, a good guy is really a bad guy, people start vendettas for the fun of it, etc.
But, I can still only give this book 2.5 stars. For the following two reasons.
1) The pr...more
It's got a lot to recommend it. In particular, I giggled over the casual mentions of how the silly superheroes got their powers. And the plots are well-worn in a way that works for this style: evil bugs take over everyone's brains, a good guy is really a bad guy, people start vendettas for the fun of it, etc.
But, I can still only give this book 2.5 stars. For the following two reasons.
1) The pr...more
This book was not what I expected. I was thinking I would find something funny and probably a little dumb. What I got was a hilarious story with non-stop action and great characters.
Calvin Stengel had high hopes for his life. He is a brilliant mechanical engineer, had a great job with a superhero's company and things were looking until. Until they fired him, stole his designs and blackballed him from the industry. His only option then was to turn to a life of crime. Calvin becomes Mechani-CAL, a...more
Calvin Stengel had high hopes for his life. He is a brilliant mechanical engineer, had a great job with a superhero's company and things were looking until. Until they fired him, stole his designs and blackballed him from the industry. His only option then was to turn to a life of crime. Calvin becomes Mechani-CAL, a...more
I am so glad my husband suggested I read this one. Once upon a time Calvin Stringel was a promising young mechanical engineer. After getting burned by employer, and several bad decisions and years later he is now known as the modest supervillian MechaniCAL. Only now the world finds itself being taken over by parasitic mind-controlling bugs and because of his metal suit, Cal seems to be one of the few people unaffected. After managing to save an A-list superheroine and enough of her friends to sa...more
Technically 4.5, but rounding up for this one.
Calvin Matthew Stringel, or Mechani-CAL, is a villain who is down on his luck. He was on the bottom rung of the supervillain ladder and didn't seem to be heading upward anytime soon. That is until evil mind controlling bugs began to take over the world. Now this armored supervillain just might be the world's only hope against these superbugs set on world domination. But the question remains, will CAL remain the villain he longs to become or will the...more
Calvin Matthew Stringel, or Mechani-CAL, is a villain who is down on his luck. He was on the bottom rung of the supervillain ladder and didn't seem to be heading upward anytime soon. That is until evil mind controlling bugs began to take over the world. Now this armored supervillain just might be the world's only hope against these superbugs set on world domination. But the question remains, will CAL remain the villain he longs to become or will the...more
If you’ve ever watched a superhero movie or read the comics, you’ll know that the villains usually make the piece. You can’t have a good hero without a good villain & some of my favorite heroes are the ones who had a bit of a dark past. (Gambit FTW!) This book takes a look into the life of a lower ranking villain, giving us a book that’s several flavors of awesome.
Where do I start on what I liked about this book? I loved how the book started off with action, yet still gave us a good look int...more
Again with the Superhero novel? This was a late pickup for my pile of Superhero novels, one I only approached after reading another blog's review. The novel takes place in a world with lots of Superheros and Supervillians. However in this novel, the world finally decides to go to hell. An accident by either a Supervillian, or other unleashes an small apocalypse on the world, one were all the Superheroes get taken over, leaving one lone minor level Supervillian, trying to decide whether to save t...more
In Confessions of a D-List Supervillain, Mr. Bernheimer tells the story of Calvin Stringel, an electrical engineer who makes bad choices. After a employment dispute with one of the heavyweight superheroes, he decides to turn to crime, but he’s not very good at it. The world, as it’s wont to do, becomes endangered, and all the do-gooders have been converted to the dark side. It’s up to Mechani-Cal to save the day.
Why to buy this book: This novel is entertaining from start to finish, a true joy to...more
Why to buy this book: This novel is entertaining from start to finish, a true joy to...more
I got an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This book is an expansion of a novella included in Horror, Humor, and Heroes by Jim Bernheimer. The first part of the book is that same story, but it is expanded to look at events that take place after the end of the original novella.
MechaniCAL was a bottom of the barrel supervillain until evil mind-controlling bugs took over the world. Now he seems to be one of the only people with uncontrolled thoughts and is stuck...more
MechaniCAL was a bottom of the barrel supervillain until evil mind-controlling bugs took over the world. Now he seems to be one of the only people with uncontrolled thoughts and is stuck...more
Bounced between two and three stars on this one. A lot of flaws in this one, and if I start listing them I may have to move it back to two stars. Mostly an abuse of point of view mixed in with a little Matlockian deus ex machina, with a dash of Mary Sue from fanfic. It is a short book and a quick read (let's face it, it is basically a comic book without the pictures), but its brevity doesn't allow for the development of some of the motivation and circumstances to make the final resolutions very...more
I'll be honest, my expectations were not high with this title. It seemed like it would be funny and different.
I'm glad I gave it a shot because I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The book tracks a second-rate super-villain named Mechani-Cal navigating his way through an accidental apocalypse where some Super Villain's mind-control bugs escape and enslave the human population. Cal winds up saving the world.
Cal goes through a nice story-arc, from the hapless second rate villain, to hero, to...more
I'm glad I gave it a shot because I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The book tracks a second-rate super-villain named Mechani-Cal navigating his way through an accidental apocalypse where some Super Villain's mind-control bugs escape and enslave the human population. Cal winds up saving the world.
Cal goes through a nice story-arc, from the hapless second rate villain, to hero, to...more
Jim Bernheimer has constructed a marvelously demented reality in Confessions of a D-List Supervillian. This is a world where Bugs have taken over human will, the Olympian Gods are superheroes, and one snarky, somewhat geeky villain is the only person left to save the world. Calvin Stringer, a.k.a “Mechani-Cal” is a villain on the level of Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible. Everything he does seems to work…almost. At odds with a super hero named Ultraweapon, Cal takes on the Olympians, the bugs, a dinos...more
Surprisingly entertaining!!! Frankly, I didn't expect much of this (but it sounded like fun). I expected, and to some extent this was, a poor man's Soon I Will Be Invincible (which I really enjoyed). It's a short book and, thus, a quick read (or romp). Personally, I didn't find it nearly as funny as Soon I Will Be Invincible, which often had me in stitches, and I can't wait for the movie (assuming they cast it correctly). But Confessions was plenty gratifying. I liked the premise, the protagonis...more
I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy this. And although I'm frequently glad the Goodreads rating system says "I liked it" rather than "I thought it was good", here's a book that I have trouble admitting I enjoyed.
The protagonist is a criminally misunderstood anti-hero who's a mechanical genius, more moral than his heroic colleagues and manages to get none other than the modern incarnation of the Goddess of Love to fall in love with him (technically more than once).
It's puerile, it's overly simp...more
The protagonist is a criminally misunderstood anti-hero who's a mechanical genius, more moral than his heroic colleagues and manages to get none other than the modern incarnation of the Goddess of Love to fall in love with him (technically more than once).
It's puerile, it's overly simp...more
When Jim Bernheimer, the author, approached me for a review of this book, I wasn’t all that interested. I was more interested in his short story book Horror, Heroes and Humor (cause it had zombie stories!). So, I read the Horror, Heroes and Humor book first, which incidentally, had a novella titled “Confessions of a D-Class Supervillain”. That novella was great great great. After finishing the novella, I hurried to the “Confessions” book. Bernheimer made a few changes to the end of the novella s...more
I found this book to be hilarious!
The "let's see things from the bad guy's point of view" has been done before, as well as the "POV of a low-level mook." But this combination of the two is unexpectedly humorous, and the casting of "UltraWeapon" (to my eyes, a parody of Tony Stark/Iron Man) as a back-stabbing, womanizing, jealous glory-hound of a billionaire really made me smile.
There's a very entertaining "film noir" sound to this book, and it's one of the books I'll be happy to keep on my shelf...more
The "let's see things from the bad guy's point of view" has been done before, as well as the "POV of a low-level mook." But this combination of the two is unexpectedly humorous, and the casting of "UltraWeapon" (to my eyes, a parody of Tony Stark/Iron Man) as a back-stabbing, womanizing, jealous glory-hound of a billionaire really made me smile.
There's a very entertaining "film noir" sound to this book, and it's one of the books I'll be happy to keep on my shelf...more
My Favorite super hero book yet!!! This book was a nice first person poiont of view from the Supervillian thats just misunderstood. Not really he wants to be a super villian but since he's the only non-mind controlled human left he has to do what he does best, Save his own hide. He is conflicted on saving his own hide and that of humanity, and this is where the humor and adventer begins!!! You can't go wrong with this book as the characters are very well developed and the book leaves you wanting...more
Great story for those who love the superhero genre, definitely worth a read. Great moments, good plot, it was very satisifying.
My only criticism is that Cal, the protagonist, succeeded a bit too much for supposedly being D-list, and I would of liked to have seen some more character flaws that would explain why he was on that list in the first place, and then overcome them in reluctantly saving the world. Also, more villainy/more moral grey areas would be good.
All in all, I recommend it and it...more
I was pleasantly surprised by Confessions of a D-List Supervillain. I've read a few cheap or free Kindle books, and there's usually a reason they're cheap or free. This was an exception. Confessions a fairly short book, and it's a quick and easy read. You'd think there wouldn't be much room for character development, but Bernheimer does a really good job of developing his characters. You really start to empathize with Cal and really root for him. You get caught up in his relationships with the o...more
REVIEWED by Louise for Between the Covers blog:
The Evil Overlord has gained mind control over everyone, including the Olympians, the foremost hero team in the whole world, and minor supervillain, Mechani-CAL, is the only one left to save the world.
Written from the perspective of the supervillain, Confessions of a D-List Supervillain was something completely different for me. From this paragraph on the first page...
If this was just the Gulf Coast Guardians, I’d have a shot. Of the four Guardia...more
The Evil Overlord has gained mind control over everyone, including the Olympians, the foremost hero team in the whole world, and minor supervillain, Mechani-CAL, is the only one left to save the world.
Written from the perspective of the supervillain, Confessions of a D-List Supervillain was something completely different for me. From this paragraph on the first page...
If this was just the Gulf Coast Guardians, I’d have a shot. Of the four Guardia...more
An enjoyable romp, if rather sloppily written. It was a bit of fluff - no deep story, the set up is shaky, but I found myself liking it despite its very obvious flaws. Could have easily been a trilogy with better, more fleshed out writing and set up, but you know, I don't shed any tears over the purchase!
We'll see if any of his other, later works retain these same flaws, or if he only gets better with time. Couldn't shake the sense of some serious nerd wish-fulfillment, but it was good despite...more
We'll see if any of his other, later works retain these same flaws, or if he only gets better with time. Couldn't shake the sense of some serious nerd wish-fulfillment, but it was good despite...more
Fun quick read that hit all the buttons for me in comic-book style novels. (No pictures, just words I want to be sure to keep clear.)
I liked the characters and their motivations. I enjoyed watching their relationships grown and develop. That was well written.
I think it was the author of Harry Dresden who said it was his job to beat him up every book and Jim Bernheimer kept jerking the carpet out from under the protagonist in Confessions of a D-List Supervillain really well. It was a lot of fun t...more
I liked the characters and their motivations. I enjoyed watching their relationships grown and develop. That was well written.
I think it was the author of Harry Dresden who said it was his job to beat him up every book and Jim Bernheimer kept jerking the carpet out from under the protagonist in Confessions of a D-List Supervillain really well. It was a lot of fun t...more
Oh wow! A thoroughly fun read. The protagonist was a completely believable and well developed character. I enjoyed the great blend of action with multiple styles of humor. And while I could predict a half dozen ways the story might be going, I could never seem to pin it down. My favorite part was that it was long enough I couldn't read it one sitting yet it was so hard to put it down to get some sleep before work.
The concept of "super villains", super heros and Evil Overlords has been tossed on it's head. Told from the perspective of a D-list, minor league super villain, the results of his villainy takes a rather surprising turn and not in the manner you might think.
A great read, fast paced, some interesting and not unwelcome humor, "Confessions of a D-List Supervillain" is good fun.
Read on a Kindle Fire.
A great read, fast paced, some interesting and not unwelcome humor, "Confessions of a D-List Supervillain" is good fun.
Read on a Kindle Fire.
I really enjoyed this book. It is a well written tale of a villain turned hero. The main character has a good sense of humor without ever seeming silly. It is an interesting superhero universe developed in the book with some interesting and flawed, but believable characters. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good superhero novel. Wish there was more in this setting.
Wow! Very fun read. First person story telling done well. The words disappear and you are in the story rooting for"Villain". Highly recommended. I hope I am not gushing but to put my review in context, I have suffered through some bad ones lately. So a well told well edited story where the good guy wins and the bad guy loses is exactly what i needed. Thank you!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Superheroes and C...: Confessions of a D-List Supervillain - Completed Discussion (spoilers) | 2 | 9 | 24. Februar, 08:27 Uhr | |
| Superheroes and C...: Confessions of a D-List Supervillain - General Discussion | 5 | 10 | 24. Februar, 08:03 Uhr |
Jim lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with his wife Kim, and daughters Laura and Marissa. By day, he works as a Systems Administrator on a government contract and runs his own side Information Technology consulting firm, EJB Networking, which can be found at www.ejbnetworking.com
Blessed (or cursed depending on your point of view) with an overactive imagination, Jim has long been a fan of Science Ficti...more
More about Jim Bernheimer...
Blessed (or cursed depending on your point of view) with an overactive imagination, Jim has long been a fan of Science Ficti...more
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