Thrusts of Justice

Chooseomatic Books

by Matt Youngmark

You're just an unemployed reporter until a cryptic warning and an explosion outside your favorite bar send you down the road to becoming one of three superpowered heroes (or, potentially, villains - we're not here to judge). Dark vigilante? Armored space ­cop? Wisecracking mutant? Whichever path you choose, ­ you'd better get busy, because a mysterious plot is afoot and - like it or not - you're the only thing standing ­between the forces of evil and ­utter annihilation.

Thrusts of Justice is an action/comedy ­reimagining of the choose-your-own-path books you grew up with. There are 90 possible endings (81 of which result in your ­humiliating death).

Genres: Choose Your Own Adventure, Fiction, Science Fiction, Gamebooks, Adventure, Superheroes

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2012

About the author

Matt Youngmark is the author of the Chooseomatic Books series, the Arabella Grimsbro series, and the webcomic Conspiracy Friends (now collected in three paperback volumes). Back in the day, he worked the newsprint mines at Tacoma Reporter and Pandemonium Magazine.

To be notified when his next book comes out (and get a free Arabella short story!), sign up for his newsletter at www.youngmark.com

Reviews

[Jeremy Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrusts of Justice by Matt Youngmark plugs deep into childhood nostalgia with this choose-your-own-adventure book written for adults. Set in a unique (and slightly tongue-in-cheek) superhero universe, this book gives a laid-off journalist from Cleveland the chance to step into the role of superhero just in time to save the world from certain doom. The journalist, of course, is “you.”

The book opens with you and your fellow unemployed journalists drowning your sorrows while discussing the possibility of launching your own news website. Your drunken plans to form a startup are thrown off course when a disembodied voice warns of impending doom just before an explosion draws your attention outside. There you see a smoking crater in the middle of the street where three figures are visible. The supervillain known as the Ox has just broken through the wall of a bank with unmarked bags of cash. The dark and ominous hero known as the Nightwatchman slinks off from the scene. And at the bottom of the crater is the legendary Cosmic Guardian who had disappeared in the 90s. You know any one of these three could be a great news lead, but where could it lead?

If you like strange powers from radioactive meteorites, continue on to the next paragraph. If you like brooding antiheroes like Batman, skip to the paragraph after that. If you like interstellar police forces, like the Green Lantern Corps or the Nova Corps, continue on to the third paragraph after this.

Trying to find out what Ox is doing in Cleveland, you sneak closer to the scene of the crime. But rather than finding clues, you fall into the crater and black out. When you wake up, you have strange goo-like powers that allow you to change shape, walk on walls and hurl goo. Does great power come with great responsibility? Or a great opportunity for profit?

Trying to follow Nightwatchman leads you to one of his secret lairs. There you find Nightwatchman’s suit abandoned. Donning it, you find yourself able to pose as the dark hero. Though you lack his martial skill, you have access to his wonderful toys and can use them to figure out what happened to the real Nightwatchman.

Trying to follow the Cosmic Guardian, you find him dying. He passes on his armored superhero suit to you, Can you figure out what the Cosmic Guardian was doing? Can you figure out how to operate the suit? Can you do this before the other Cosmic Guardians catch up with you?

I went through the effort to read every branching path in the book I could. I think I got all 90 of them, but I might have missed some. The timeline and cosmology of the book remains the same throughout, it is simply the course you chart through the narrative that changes how things unfold. The story is told with a dose of snarky humor and regular nods to comic book tropes.

As said before, this is a choose-your-own-adventure book for adults. This mostly means that it uses some strong language, though nothing that you couldn’t hear on prime time television. It also has no qualms about giving the reader a hard time about some of their choices. My favorite was when you avoid being a superhero and the section opens with, “You’re reading a choose-your-own-ending book about superheroes, and immediately decide not to become one?”

All told, the book is just plain fun. I read the book through the Kindle app on my phone, which added hyperlinks and a “back” button to make navigating the different branches much easier. And, in fact, the author encourages you to do so. The primary risk I could see for readers is that they just don’t find the author that funny. I laughed pretty hard through the book, but humor is subjective and this might not appeal to everyone. The Chooseomatic website offers a free 70-page sample of Youngmark’s previous book, Zombocalypse Now, so you can decide for yourself if you enjoy the style.

[Maria Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book at The Oddmall in Tacoma and put it in the glove compartment to read on summer adventures. I recently had car trouble and was so glad I had it. I died three times waiting for AAA!! I especially love the story-line when you decide to be a villain. This book is so much fun and made me laugh. I'm going to check out Time Travel Dinosaur next!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A choose-your-own adventure book for grown-ups, about superheros -- this Kindle book could easily have coasted on its high concept to suck people in, then served up a half-assed sloppy experience and called it a day. Instead, Thrusts of Justice was genuinely funny and clever, and the branching plot paths are really well thought out. I'm not a super-hero fan, and even so this was really fun to play with!

We get our set up in the first segment -- we are a disgruntled unemployed journalist, commiserating with former colleagues in a bar, when super-villain mayhem breaks out right outside the door. From there we can choose three possible paths, each of which branches like crazy. Depending on our choices, we can die horribly, die horribly, die horribly, save the world, die horribly, and so on. I think there were only three or four outcomes that did NOT lead to a gruesome death -- but it's worth exploring them all, because they really are clever. Also, the universe and backstory remain the same no matter what you choose (unlike the actual Choose Your Own Adventure books, which if I remember correctly involved a lot of mutually exclusive events depending on your choices), and if you don't explore every branch you will miss information that helps to round out what is happening and why.

Youngmark manages to juggle the complex plot over all his branching storylines, which is impressive enough; but even better, the writing is good and the humor is actually humorous. I was really pleasantly surprised by how accomplished and polished the whole thing is. I definitely plan to pick up the zombie apocalypse companion volume!

[Sarah Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Thrusts of Justice” by Matt Youngmark is that rare breed of children’s literature successfully repurposed for adults; in this case, a choose-your-own-adventure novel that parodies traditional superhero conventions. I will specifically be reviewing the Kindle edition.
Casting you as a laid-off reporter (which makes the journalist major in me giggle), you’re presented with three different choices, and each will lead to becoming a different sort of superhero. Or supervillain. The novel says it’s open-minded.
The writing is occasionally graphic: brains are smashed and throats are cut with equal cheer. Obviously, you will die in this book. A lot. But the writing is so delightfully tongue-in-cheek that rather than be discouraged, I morbidly sought out every single ending. My favorite death is one that involves dying by trying to save the novel’s Lois Lane character expy.
The book averts the typical downfall of the choices being too easy and it being all too clear what path you should take. Your options are typically ambiguous enough to spark careful consideration (or in my case, recklessness and promises of coming back later to see where the other option goes). And what you believe will kill is only the first step on a new path. Or it does kill you. I did say you would die a lot.
To those who enjoy their superheroes, and even more enjoy having their superheroes deconstructed, I cannot recommend this book enough.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choose your own adventure on kindle works great :)

Loved this book - you really should give it a try. I like the writing style. None of the pages are too short, which was my complaint with some of the original (TM) series when I was little.

I, of course, read books like this in a very methodical way - I wouldn't want to miss any of the sections the author has lovingly written for my consumption. This means I choose the first available option each time, wait until I die, and then back up and choose the next option in the list. When I run out of options, I back up again. (For you CS folks out there, that's just a depth-first search). I *loved* that Mr. Youngmark added some special love for readers like me - if you do read in that order, you get an extra meta story from understanding what's happened before as you go down later paths.

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've gone through one of the paths to what I think is the best ending and it was an awesome ride. The humor is fresh and doesn't detract from the plot. Much like Zombocalypse Now, you feel like you are moving and acting in a real world with events going on around you, not that the entire world is waiting for you to act. This is a good thing, as it makes the many, many deaths you will experience less of a tragedy; since each one will shed a little more light on what is going on; something I'm studiously trying to avoid doing in this review, so that you'll go out and read the book yourself.

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! What an amazing adventure this book takes you on. It's especially awesome because you can have so many stories in one book! I never read the choose your adventure books before, but my husband had and he said they were great. He is so right! I think I died about a dozen or so times before I finally saved the world, but it was totally worth it. So I'm going to go read some more because there are a lot more endings I haven't read yet! I received this book for free through a Goodreads First Reads give away.

[Muffy Morrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like his first choose your own romp, Thrusts of Justice is just plain fun to read. My only problem with it is I am impatient and cheated once or twice in endings. It's a blast, and is perfect for that "I need a quick break frin reality" moment!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out the choose-your-own-adventure format works pretty well on Kindle. It had hyperlinks and everything.

[Uriah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A choose your own adventure. Most choices will lead to your death... :)

[Nerdvana Webcast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Can't wait to read it again! Want to read more of my review? Click the link: http://nerdvanawebcast.com/2013/12/17...

[Mjhancock · Rating 5 out of 5]

A freak accident, and suddenly three superhero identities are up for grabs! Will you be a gadget-based urban vigilante? A crime fighter enabled by an alien power suit? Or will a meteor give you the power to turn into purple goo? YOU decide! Will you stop an alien invasion? Maybe. Will you take up a life of crime? Perhaps. Will you die repeatedly? Almost certainly, yes. I thought Youngmark's first book, Zombacalypse Now, was pretty good, though it squeaked by on novelty as much as anything else. While the whole zombie apocalypse choose your own adventure thing had been done, this is probably the first time the main character was a plush bunny. While Thrusts of Justice still has a fairly humorous bent--the title should be the clue there--the superhero setting lends itself to a more complex plot than zombie swarms, and as a result, the book is quite a bit better than its predecessor--not only is it one of the better CYOA books I've read, it's also one of the best superhero prose books I've read as well.

The frustrating yet brilliant thing about a typical CYOA book is that it often lacks consistency on the micro and macro level. On the micro level, that means that you're often making choices based on entirely insufficient information, where there's no indication that the choice you made will logically lead to a given response. Example: you have to choose to go left or right, with no further description of either path. If you choose left, you fall off a cliff and die. Logically, there's no way to know that would happen.) On the macro level, the reality of the book can change greatly depending on which branch you go down. Example: if you choose to go home, your travelling companion may turn out to be a murderous robot. If you choose to go to the park, that same companion may turn out to be a wizard, and there's no connection between the two plot twists. Often, that's the secret to the genre's creativity, and contributes to an almost phenomenological sense of how capricious the book world is.

Youngmark does have inconsistency, as defined above, on a micro level, but generally, that's because the macro level is exceptionally consistent. To quote the book (which is obviously not afraid to get meta): "The thing is, the plot in this book moves pretty fast, whether you choose to participate in it or not." That is, as benefits a superhero story, there's a nefarious plot afoot, and that's going to unfold regardless of how aware you are that it's happening. So often, you'll die because the plot you didn't quite know about is kicking into high gear. If the other approach offers a phenomenological sense of randomness, this is edging to a phenomenology of horror, of a book world whose story unfolds whether or not the reader is there to observe it. In that sense, a lot of the better endings require the reader to familiar with the larger plot beyond what's been presented in any one read-through; in fact, since each of the three superpowers you can get unfold very differently, each offers a look into a different aspect of the overall said nefarious scheme that isn't as fleshed out as in the others (sidenote: I'm not sure if the three hero design is a tribute to the Fighting Fantasy classic Appointment with FEAR, but the book fits well in that tradition). In those terms, the book reminds me of some deadline-based videogames (Dead Rising, Pathologic) where the game goes on with or without you, as well as some visual novels that require the player to bring knowledge from one playthrough to another. Replicating that experience in print form is no small feat.

But in addition to being an interesting book in terms of CYOA design, it's also a good superhero story, and a good story. I quite liked my optional companion characters, Ox and Magnifica, and while it's a superhero world that steers towards the goofy (getting drunk with an aqualad rip-off was a fun highlight), it's a pretty fully fleshed out superhero world. Youngmark clearly has a lot of fondness for the genre and its tropes. And I'll admit that there was a revelation with Nancy North, the Lois Lane analog, that both caught me off guard and made me dearly wish it was a real thing.

It's not *quite* the best CYOA I've read--that honor goes to North's To Be or Not To Be--but it's pretty darn good, and well worth its price.

[Sam Byford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrusts of Justice is the second book by author Matt Youngmark. It is an adult variant of the old solo adventure books "Choose your own adventure".

How it works:

This is a RPG in the loosest sense: You read the book by yourself (though I guess you could read it to others) and make your own choices within the book. You are given an introductory scene and then presented with a choice of options. Normally you chose between two options but this book gives you three for the opening scene and then two thereafter. Which option do you take? ........

You are a freshly unemployed journalist and are sitting in a bar with your two friends and colleagues. The three of you are looking at setting up your own reportage website. Outside something happens so the three of you head to investigate. You find a large crater and three superheros - two villains and a hero. You recognise them as the Ox; the Night-Watchman; and the Cosmic Guardian.

You are given three choices: Follow the Ox; Follow the Night-Watchman; or follow the Cosmic Guardian. If you choose the first option you "turn to page 6", if you choose the second option you "turn to page 8" and if you choose the third option you "turn to page 11".

And so things progress in this way, with each scene providing two possible choices. Except for those scenes where you die, or survive, and there's a lot more of the former than of the later!


My thoughts:

This is the author's second book and it is an improvement on the first. I think there are more choices in this book and I like that you get three choices at the beginning - this gives a much larger scope of play. Like the first book this one also reads well and is simple to understand. It too is geared towards adults but perhaps not quite as much as with zombies eating brains. This one can definitely be read by or to younger children.

I've "played" this six times already, and like with Zombocalype Now I did that within the space of about 30 minutes. These adventures do not take long to read and play. Admittedly with this book I have died every single time! But this is actually more fun than you'd expect though I will keep trying to beat the story.

Formats:

Thrusts of Justice is still fairly new out and so currently is only available in softcover and Kindle formats. I expect it to be released in Nook and iBook formats soon enough, the same as Zombocalypse Now.

I bought this and the first book, Zombocalypse Now in Kindle format for under £5. And the awesome thing with that? I have the Kindle reader on my Kindle (of course) but also on my Android phone and computers, so I was able to instantly read and play the books on my Samsung SIII despite not having my Kindle with me!

Score:

I have given this book an 9 out of 10 score as I think it is a better read than Zombocalypse Now. It is a great little "time-filler" and is made better by the number of formats it is available in (or will be in once the other two are released).

You could do a lot worse than buying this little gem - it will help keep boredom at bay on the bus, while waiting for your RPG group to turn up or while waiting for the significant other to actually choose what dress she wants to buy.....

[Stephe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I got my nostalgia on hardcore and found this gem when I was knee-deep in the throes of the internets. Actually, I found the author's other book, Zombocalypse Now first, and that was decent enough to lead me here, which was cool. Zombocalypse was a decent book, but this one was a damned good thrill ride that I'm still sometimes thinking about over a year later.

A not-quite-as-serious-as-its-source-material tribute to spandex, high tech armor and glob suits (!?!), Thrusts of Justice has a glee of plots and plot twists that see you donning a vast array of powers and/or trying some new foods. In its heartfelt but never to be taken too seriously voice it moves you across Cleveland, through New York and into places that I probably shouldn't name lest I spoil some plot.

Most of the characters are recognizably modeled after more famous comics icons, but that rarely detracts from the enjoyment and can add to it considerably if you let it. In all, I went back to past decisions time and time again trying to make sure I read all of the scenarios and they covered a lot of ground from the legitimately heart rate rising form of suspense and disbelief that is the hallmark of the genre, to the meh? feeling of apathy and boredom that was intended of some of the lesser possibilities. Most of the endings are good, occasionally great, and only sporadically disappointing (which is, unfortunately, a hallmark of the Choose Your Own Adventures as I remember them).

Either way, if you have an interest in superheroes or choosing your own second person thrillers, have a go at this one: it's the best of the several I read last year and might be the best one I've ever read.

[Madame Feisty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will never stop reading this book!

Sure, I may someday run out of endings, but I will always keep it on my bedside table to read a quick superhero story before lights out. So far I've read roughly 40% of the 81 ways to die. Thrusts of Justice is incredibly entertaining and hilarious. Just as the write up declares, "Choose Your Own Adventure" for adults. Specifically, I would say sci-fi geeks will enjoy the crap out of this book. There are moments of pure hilarity. The narrative's voice is right up my alley, very tongue-in-cheek humor. Also, the plot lines are great. Every time you die, you get a little morsel of information to help you put together what's really going on in the overall story.

I was lucky enough to meet the author Matt Youngmark at Rose City Comic Con and he charmed my husband and I into buying both of his books. So far, absolutely no regrets! Plus, you can get the e-books at a great rate of "pay what you want." Hop over to https://gumroad.com/mattyoungmark to pick up a copy. The next book in the series is Time Travel Dinosaur, how can you say no?

17 stars out of 5

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is an interesting story embedded in this "Choose Your Own Adventure" type book. It might have been better as a straight forward narrative book. I say that mostly because there seems to be a specific path that must be taken to "succeed". Most paths seem to end way quicker than you would except and if you back track, you find that both choices lead to endings.

Still, there's an interesting enough story to keep things entertaining and enjoyable.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A choose your own adventure book where you are given the option to become a super hero! I actually survived this one haha. It was a funny and entertaining read and. I am looking forward to the next one.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining light parody of superhero comic books, in choose-your-own-adventure form. I found the supervillain paths the most engaging.

[Crissy Moss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Choose your own adventure superhero story. Or you can be the super villain. Well written, and just a quick, fun read.

[Berrynana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book... I just really suck at it.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Choose your own adventure for those of us who are semi-adults. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be a super hero.