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The Superhero's Son #1

The Superhero's Test

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For fans of Logan Rutherford's "The Second Super" and Tom Reynolds's "Meta"

Seventeen-year-old Kevin Jason starts his first day at his new school by unintentionally punching the local bully through the cafeteria wall. When Kevin's father, a legendary superhero, learns of this, he insists on training Kevin to master his new powers, though Kevin finds his father's training methods a lot less exciting than he thought they were going to be.

But Kevin's training takes on new urgency when the local bully's father—Master Chaos, one of the world's most dangerous supervillains—breaks out of prison and declares Kevin his new archenemy for harming his son.

Now Kevin must complete his training as a superhero before Master Chaos arrives. If Kevin doesn't complete his training in time, then all of the power in the world won't be able to keep him and his family safe from the madman who wants him dead.

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 29, 2016

311 people are currently reading
1404 people want to read

About the author

Lucas Flint

112 books75 followers
I write superhero and LitRPG. For film and TV inquires, email filmandtv@lucasflint.com.

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5 stars
160 (39%)
4 stars
111 (27%)
3 stars
83 (20%)
2 stars
35 (8%)
1 star
16 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
Profile Image for Jas.
1,032 reviews
June 17, 2016
This book has a lot of potential, but it just seems to struggle with getting to it, a bit like the main character.
This is the story of a teenager who finds out that he has super powers that have evolved from the something called the ‘neogene’. This ‘neogene’ apparently just appeared the last time Haley’s Comet flew past, were it activated the gene in a bunch of lucky people. This was a somewhat ridiculous preposition given that Haley’s has been past so many times in Human history, and never done anything (and this is not explained), and there are also so many thousands of other bodies passing us on a yearly basis, why not pick one of these?
So ignoring the implausible reason for these powers, our main character, who is a somewhat irritating teenager, suddenly finds out about his powers at the worst possible time. This happens to be whilst punching the school bully, and causing him to fly through a wall causing him grievous bodily harm. And of course, he is the son of the worst ever Super-Villain, who now wants to kill him for revenge. But, our main character is the son of a retired Superhero, one of the smartest ever to live – who previously defeated this villain, kind of convenient really…
And this unfortunately is where the story starts to decline. Our budding Superhero’s Dad offers to train and mentor him, to give him all sorts of useful advice and help him. Of course Dad, the alleged super-powered Genius has absolutely no personality or communication skills, and the way they communicate in the story is like he has not spoken to his son in the last 15yrs. He seems to go from being overly concerned about his son one second to being more worried about the cost of replacing some equipment than his son (who has just completely overreacted and smashed said equipment) the next.
The son (Kevin) on the other hand, seems to have developed the Superpower of Darwinism – wanting to do everything in his power to kill himself as quickly as possible and as stupidly as possible. The story becomes somewhat frustrating and irritating at this point as everything Dad suggests, the son does the direct opposite – deliberately and in what seems the most stupid and dangerous way possible.
The dialogue in this story is very strange at times, strained between the main characters, making the relationships seem odd, especially with Kevin and his parents. It is as if he and his parents have never met before in some places.
The relationship with the friends he has at school is equally weird, going from nothing to sharing intimate secrets in no time. The way that Kevin acts with the female his age in the book is downright weird at times (he wants to date her within 15seconds of seeing her, then wants nothing to do with her due to her hatred of Superheros, but still has a thing for her and so on…) And this girl spends her entire time with her head in her phone, like the author has never met a young female and has written her from a stereotype instead.
There is such a lack of research in this book it is very frustrating and annoying. Apart from the dialogue and the teenage girl, there are things like the scientific research such as with the testing machine made by Kevin’s Dad. There is no logic to this. Dad doesn’t believe in the ‘neogene’ but can test for superpowers? And there is no explanation for how knowing a power gives such a large increase in the percentage. In fact, there is no explanations at all about any of Genius’s gadgets.
There are a multitude of other things in this book that don’t seem right, like why is the Super-Villain Master Chaos so bad when he hasn’t really done anything other than cause a car crash? It’s like someone in the fast lane driving really slow just got a cool nickname…
HAVING SAID ALL OF THIS, I hate not finishing books, and read this entire book as always. I see a lot of potential for the story and for the characters, but this certainly needs some work in regards to the dialogue and the characters and their relationships if it is going to improve. I will have a look at part 2, mainly because of the potential and I am hoping that the author will improve and I want to see what happens to be honest. It is worth noting that this was another of the 25 day writing experiences and this may have had an impact on the quality of the book as well.
Overall, I was a bit disappointed by this as I had hoped for something better, hopefully the next book improves.
Profile Image for Lazybee.
512 reviews35 followers
May 19, 2017
I knew what I was getting into, and I am pretty satisfied.
This book is a mainstream superhero fantasy novel. Don't expect anything else.

The story happens in a modern America where some human has awakened neogenes due to the passing of halley's comet. Neogenes provides superhuman abilities to the awakened humans.

The story revolves around Kevin jake jason. His dad is a superhero, obviously. Kevin is an immature, fame seeking, compassionate teen. He is bullied in his new school and he punches the bully through wall. He knew he was in trouble when the dad of the bully is a supervillain and he has broken out of the supermax inorder to avenge his son.

Story is interesting, he has superpowers and is a teen. That combination is always interesting. Fortunately, there is no romance. Lately the books I tend to read involve harem(Asian light novels). His dad and mom are interesting characters.

If you want to read a light novel, then go for it.
Profile Image for Don.
40 reviews4 followers
May 22, 2017
Frustating

If the point of this book was to make me hate this kid then the author succeeded. The "hero" of this book was the whiniest, most ignorant person. Never listening and always making the worst choices.
5 reviews
January 15, 2023
It seems every person in this book is the dumbest person on earth

Every single character is so stupid they can’t recognize their own hands. Pair that with awful dialogue and we have the first book I’ve started but not finished in years.
Profile Image for Garth Mailman.
2,537 reviews10 followers
May 15, 2022
Text needs another edit.

Everyone seems focused on Kevin and there seems to be no concern for the possibility of the bully’s flailed chest or impact injuries.

Kevin’s father is full of surprises. He may have superpowers but Kevin is a teenager who lacks the sense god gave turnips. He’s his own worst enemy. And to mirror Spiderman, Teen Wolf and Four, Kevin reveals his powers to a confederate who lacks them.

A free offering on Amazon to act as an introduction to eight more books in a series. The concept seemed to have potential but the execution was rather juvenile and persuaded me that I wouldn’t want to read any of its sequels. Take for example the rather jarring switch from first to third person near the end of the book from one paragraph to the next. Send this author back to school or get him a very good and patient editor.
Profile Image for Ryan R..
1 review
Read
April 11, 2024
It was not a great book. But it wasn't TERRIBLE. The fighting was very descriptive and intense, but there were many problems. The rest of the book was not that well written. Especially the dialogue. There unnecessary repeated sentences, WAY too many questions (which makes the book quickly turn SUPER boring), and even a couple of misspelled words. And the story it self was too cliché. It was your typical superhero origin story, there was really nothing special about it. Also, Kevin Jason (Bolt) gained all of his powers without doing anything at all. I did enjoy it for the most part, though. Would recommend to friends.
Profile Image for Michael.
165 reviews
April 3, 2021
Completely moronic

I wanted to like this book but everything, and I mean everything, was beyond stupid. The kid was clueless and the ‘genius’ father decided to keep a low profile after retirement by putting his son in the same school as his arch nemesis? Even comic book writers aren’t this bad.
38 reviews
August 11, 2016
This is a quick read. It wasn't a great read but I did read all 3 books he has out after it. The issue I have is the characters seem incredibly stupid. They do things that are obviously such a bad idea. I wish they had more common sense.
Profile Image for Ananthatejas Raghavan.
10 reviews3 followers
December 17, 2016
Decent book but could be better

2.5 stars. Though the premise is good, the book felt a bit too silly. The main character acts more like a 10 or 12 year old kid than a 17 year old teenager. The character development also needs improvement.
6 reviews1 follower
June 21, 2016
Great book

One of the best books I have read in a while. Everything about the book really pulled you in and there really weren't any boring parts.
Profile Image for Kadi P.
880 reviews141 followers
Want to read
March 19, 2021
Please be good, please be good, please be good *crossing fingers intensely*. To be read in May 2019... Expect a bomb review!
Profile Image for Nicol.
344 reviews
June 28, 2018
Porque otra novela de Super Héroes me defrauda tanto? yo solo quiero disfrutar una linda y agradable novela (╥﹏╥) con Super Poderes, Super Villanos y Super Héroes.

Lo que siento que fallo por completo fue Kevin Jake Jason, alias Bolt. Sip. El mismísimo protagonista. Sinceramente creí que tenia alrededor de 14 años... pero no. Tiene 17. Y en ninguno de sus diálogos evidencia poseer mas de dos neuronas funcionales, y sinceramente, tiene la peor capacidad de discernimiento que he visto, tomando las peores decisiones posibles en cada caso.

Al comienzo, la actitud que tomó frente a Robert Candle me pareció madura, manteniendo la cabeza fría y tratando de controlar la situación... así que tuve una muy buena primera impresión. Pero todo se fue al garete a posteriori. Como dije antes, no piensa en las consecuencias, no en el largo plazo, no en alternativas....

Porque no junto 2+2 y se dio cuenta que Genius era su padre? Tuvieron que deletrearselo. En su defensa, atribuire la confusión al hecho de que Genius es muy inteligente, y no ocultaria su identidad solo con un par de lentes (cof cof Superman cof).

Pero el resto.... todo es completamente Kevin y su reacción frente a las situaciones:
.

Es que una y otra vez Kevin elige el peor camino posible y no escarmienta, debe haber un limite para las pendejadas, y más cuando tiene 17 AÑOS!!! Seguí leyendo con la esperanza de que todo mejorara... pero ésta no fue retribuida.... y pensar que me la leí en un día....
626 reviews12 followers
September 6, 2023
I am currently saying its a 3 based on the copy I had. This could have changed since I got the book, however with a bit of clean up it would have been a four!
Firstly, in the copy I had it was like a page was missing. It suddenly jumped half way through a sentence to a new sentence and the conversation had changed.
Why would you put your son in the school with your enemy's son? There was no real answer. I would have been happy if Genius said it was to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't turn into a villain etc.
There was literally no hurry to train his son. The bad guy was out and on his way to kill his son, but didn't really train him? I would be practicing on my own too. In fourteen days he had two days training. That was it.
The Post it note at the start slowed me down. It said he was coming to avenge his son, but he escaped the day before his son was punched? Then later in the book it was after his son was punched. During the initial escape "yesterday" was used, he escaped yesterday. But the incident had only just happened. That one word threw me off.
Why did Bolt not take out the camera during the fight? Just break it or turn it off.

Saying this, I liked the concept. The powers and the backstory were interesting. I loved the title and the cover.
Tara was my favourite. She made sense! Heroes break everything! As proven by Bolt who put a kid through a wall and destroyed an aisle in a shop.
I would consider reading more in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
7 reviews3 followers
July 28, 2017
First of all, I won this book from a goodreads giveaway. And boy, am I glad I did! This is an absolute must -read for anyone who loves superheros. Author Lucas Flint (pen name) gives us a new, exciting, non DC or Marvel, universe of superheros and villains. What I loved most about this book is the fact that it's an origin story, with Kevin Jason (or is it Johnson) just beginning to learn how to control his newly discovered powers. No spoilers here, but sometimes he's referred to as one, sometimes the other. In fact, the only issue I had with the book were grammatical. I counted 6 or 7 mistakes, obviously not the fault of the author. Anyway, a great story, told through the eyes of our young hero, with the promise of many more heroes (and villains) to come. This story made me remember the feeling I got as a child, opening the cover of a new comic book. The thing that made me an avid reader in the first place. Thank you Goodreads, and you, Lucas Flint.
P.S. Any giveaways for The Superhero'Team?
Profile Image for Sandra Lopez.
Author 3 books348 followers
September 22, 2017
17-year old Kevin discovers that he’s the son of a superhero soon after he displays massive strength at a new school in Texas. His father tells him that he was destined to come into his powers. Cool! Question was: What were his powers? That’s what we’re trying to find out in this story.

Meanwhile, a master villain that was once defeated by his father escapes prison looking to exact revenge for his son. Who’s his son? Of course, it would be none other than the bully at school. So now Kevin must train to protect himself.

This is basically about a young kid coming to terms with his adolescence while learning how to use his super powers. Story kinda has a Smallville (Superman’s young story) feel.

This sounded kinda cool at first, but I could not get over how much the boy talked. He talked and talked and talked. What was he a girl? I also thought the whole discussion on Neohero biology was super dull. The bulk of the story centers on the boy being schooled. It’s just one, big, LONG test.
2 reviews
February 13, 2023
I was excited to read this story and expected a fairly lightweight, approachable super hero/coming of age story. I believe that was what the author was attempting but it got lost under too many entirely stupid and unlikable characters. The father in the story supposedly has super intelligence but his choices make him feel like a complete and total idiot. The main character is more the caricature of a whiney teen than a truly complex yet immature teenager. This makes him almost entirely unlikable instead of relatable and endearing. The writing itself is well below average, frequently using redundant sentences within the same paragraph and generally lacking the polish of a professional author.

This story had just enough aspects of the fun superhero adventure I was looking for to make it to the end but I certainly wasn’t satisfied or itching to continue the series.
Profile Image for Rezkin.
25 reviews
September 24, 2018
Good start to the series

Decent book overall and some interesting twists. Did seem to be your average run of the mill superhero book however. Not a lot in the way of character development or a sense of uniqueness which would go a long way in separating this book from every other superhero novel out there. This is only book 1 however and there is definitely room for this to be a great series. Onto book 2.
13 reviews
August 28, 2021
Not a bad read better towards the end.

This story was a bit slow to start with but picked up towards the end. There were some problems with sentence construction and at one point. Kevin’s friend say to Kevin on a Monday that he did not want to be late for class as his teacher was mad with him for being late during the week. It was on a Monday morning, which was just wrong. I would be interested to read some more of the books if Kevin is involved. He is so naive it is funny.
84 reviews1 follower
May 24, 2017
Loved this 1 as part of the 3 book set. (The Superhero's Son Omnibus: Books 1-3 (The Superhero's Son Omnibus Series)
Very good story, great characters and a good idea of what being a teen superpowered person would do and feel.
Can't wait for more from Lucas Flint.
Recommend this author and all 3 books
1 review
November 6, 2018
This book is the first to my favorite series it is about a kid that get powers. In the beginning punches a kid through a wall but when he did that the kids dad was a supervillian and is coming after him. In the middle he finds out his dad is a famous super hero and try to teach him how to us his powers. In the last part he fought the bad guy with his dad.
Profile Image for Michael.
389 reviews
August 8, 2019
This was a fun origin story for a new superhero. The villain was suitably insane. The kid was definitely a kid and saw the solutions to his problems the way a kid would. There were some pacing issues for me. That's why I kept putting the book down. This is really more of a 3.5 star review than a 4 star, but I'm rounding up because of the author's ability to get a teenager just about spot on.
Profile Image for Sharath Hiremath.
53 reviews
April 30, 2020
A generic superhero book with some interesting plot. I liked the villian rather than the teen superhero story.
Villian's character is interesting. And like how story only focuses on the Kevin and his father's character rather than many characters.

And the hint for the next book is also kinda good.
Overall a good read.

Eager to read next book 😃
270 reviews5 followers
June 13, 2019
Awesome Book!

Knowing that this is the first book of this series, I have to insist that Lucas Flint has created a great super hero that our youth of today , can look up to. I read this book as an adult and I am happy to say, " BRAVO", Mr. Flint, BRAVO!
Profile Image for Steven Wade.
152 reviews1 follower
November 20, 2019
Superhero story barely super

This story doesn’t really live up to the billing. The characters are not very well developed, it’s told from a first person perspective and the dialogue is strained. One hopes the author has improved.
12 reviews
June 10, 2022
You're not a superhero. You're, well, you're just my dad, an ordinary software developer, right?" Page 43.

This quote starts the story of him finding out secrets he may not know. I reccomend this book if you are into marvel movies and books.
188 reviews5 followers
August 14, 2017
Good book to read. Love to read about superhero's and these 5 superheroes where the best start for these books! Also my sons (15 and 18 years, dutch) loved to read it.
7 reviews1 follower
September 15, 2017
Liked it

I enjoyed the story although the names could be much better. I look forward to book 2. I hope that it will be far more impressive then this one. :)
Profile Image for James.
29 reviews5 followers
May 17, 2019
Interesting

Good coming of age story. I like that the story is more about the characters than their powers. Very enjoyable.
1 review
August 28, 2019
I would say it is a really good book, and cosidering it was made in 25 days blows my mind, keep up the good work!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews

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