Karma Girl: Surprising Depth

Karma Girl by Jennifer Estep

After Carmen Cole finds her finance in bed with her best friend, she makes the startling discovery — thanks  to the suits they are wearing — that they are in fact a superhero and an ubervillain. She snaps some photos of them with a handy camera and unmasks them both — thus launching her unmasking career. In Bigtime, New York, superhero battles level buildings on a regular basis. When you go shopping at Oodles-o-Stuff, you’re likely to encounter superheroes, because they get special discounts in exchange for protection against superfights. It’s a blissful three years for Carmen, but all good things come to an end, and her unmasking career ends in tragedy. However, certain ubervillains decide that she needs to take up her unmasking mantle once again. And they know who her next target should be. But, Carmen Cole is the master unmasker, and she has a plan…

The cover to Karma Girl doesn’t really resemble today’s comic books, but it has a sort of nostalgic appeal for the older, 6 color comics of yesteryear. The opening chapter was just a tiny bit rough. The events seemed rushed and tried to deal with all these angsty themes of heartbreak and betrayal with the same breezy voice that characterizes the rest of the book. However, that was the only rough point. Even in sad parts further in the novel, the writing is smooth and transparent.

And need I say hilarious? I have not had so many laugh-out-loud moments with a book since I read Huck Finn. It helps if you know a little comic book trivia. Jennifer Estep creates the most hilarious sexy dream that I have ever read. And that’s topped by the funniest sex scene I’ve read since Stephanie tried to get it on with Joe the Buick in one of the early Stephanie Plum novels.

Karma Girl, which deals with guilt, betrayal and — believe it or not — sin, has some surprising depth to it, as is true with any comic book. What’s that you say? You don’t think comic books have depth? Pick up a few issues. You may be surprised. And you may just become a fan.

FanLit thanks Tia Nevitt from Debuts & Reviews for contributing this guest review.