Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook404 pages5 hours
No Hero
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Barnes and Noble listed No Hero as one of the 20 best paranormal fantasy novels of the last decade - now available in mass market paperback!
"What would Kurt Russell do?"
Oxford police detective Arthur Wallace asks himself that question a lot. Because Arthur is no hero. He's a good cop, but prefers that action and heroics remain on the screen, safely performed by professionals.
But then, secretive government agency MI12 comes calling, hoping to recruit Arthur in their struggle against the tentacled horrors from another dimension known as the Progeny.
But Arthur is NO HERO! Can an everyman stand against sanity-ripping cosmic horrors?
"What would Kurt Russell do?"
Oxford police detective Arthur Wallace asks himself that question a lot. Because Arthur is no hero. He's a good cop, but prefers that action and heroics remain on the screen, safely performed by professionals.
But then, secretive government agency MI12 comes calling, hoping to recruit Arthur in their struggle against the tentacled horrors from another dimension known as the Progeny.
But Arthur is NO HERO! Can an everyman stand against sanity-ripping cosmic horrors?
Unavailable
Author
Jonathan Wood
Jonathan Wood is an Englishman in New York. He has written short stories for The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Chizine, and Weird Tales. No Hero is his first novel.
Related to No Hero
Related ebooks
Infinite Chaos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Awakening: Stillwaters Runs Deep: Book, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAltered Reality (Altar of Reality #1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlockbuster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Living Detective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhosts of San Francisco: Tales of Eclipse, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLocal Poet: He killed her, but who was she? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saucy Jacky: The Whitechapel Murders As Told By Jack The Ripper Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDemonica Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Serpent Club Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Electric Barracuda: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Angel Hamilton, Private Angel: The Goddess Monster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSwear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Darkness Within Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Weighing of the Heart Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stabitha: Brian O'Connor, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Case of the Snora Diamond Thief Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Thief in the Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSupe Slayer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBright City Lost Souls: A Luke Kelly Crime Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Night Mauler: An Alice Bergman Novel, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdisto and Edisto Revisited Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Trans Liberty Riot Brigade Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChupacabra: Conner Bright Mysteries, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCRIME & MYSTERY COLLECTION: 12 Thrillers & Action-Adventure Novels (Illustrated): The Datchet Diamonds, Crime and the Criminal, The Chase of the Ruby, The Twickenham Peerage, Miss Arnott's Marriage, The Great Temptation, The Master of Deception, A Duel, The Woman with One Hand… Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeadly Dancing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Klub Päris Fantastiline Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Am Not Thirteen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReckless Death Persuasion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hellgate: A Horror Novel Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Thrillers For You
Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Good Indians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Housemaid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Needful Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Golden Spoon: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sisters Brothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Upstairs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: A Completely Gripping Psychological Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maidens: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rock Paper Scissors: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Billy Summers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for No Hero
Rating: 3.7325581395348837 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
43 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aside from an irritating repetition of characters telling the POV character to "grow a pair," I really enjoyed this urban fantasy with a cast of characters even more misfit than usual (especially by the end of the tale).
No spoilers in saying this has Lovecraftian touches as well as some good wry British humor to alleviate pressure.
In all, a good solid read that improves from a slightly slow start (at least the POV character took more warming than usual for me). - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This serio-comic take on cosmic horror exists somewhere in a triangulation between "The Laundry" stories of Charles Stross, the magical police procedurals of Dan Aaronovitch and the collected works of Douglas Adams. Is Wood quite as good as any of those other authors? Probably not; none of the other characters are quite as well done as Wood's put-upon Detective Arthur Wallace. I still look forward to reading more books in the series though.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great story of a typical Joe doing his job as a police detective til one day he gets a sword through his torso after seeing a woman lop off a man's head and a squid like creature coming out of it! Holy cow, what a start! There is a newness to the story that makes it fresh and different in the genre. I can visualize Bruce Campbell playing Agent Arthur! Loved it, and am already buying the second book "Yesterday's Hero"! What would Kurt Russell do?? Run out and buy this book!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is interesting in that I just read about a study that said identifying with your favorite super hero is good for you. It's supposedly good for your ego and causes you to try to be your best self. It certainly works for the hero in this story who asks himself "What would Kirk Russel do?" whenever he is stymied.
There is a hush hush British government organization called MI37 that deals with all the extra-terrestrial, supernatural goings on in England. They are underfunded and don't seem to receive much training, just told they are smart and should jump in and cope as best they can.
There are lots of funny bits and great characters. It's kind of a mix of "Dresden Files" and "MI5". I enjoyed it and immediately purchased the second book which I liked just as well. This is a wonderful diversion during the election season's lies and backstabbing. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5No Hero is a fairly slapdash riff on the paranormal govt agency setting. Wood's heart is in the right place, but the weak characterisation and narrative contrivance, and lack of originality let the book down - especially compared to similar-but-superior books like The Rook. Arthur Wallace's life as a detective is turned upside when he gets involved in a supernatural case, and is recruited into the shadowy MI36, dedicated to preventing eldritch horrors from crossing over into our world. This book, the first in a series, deals with a particular threat, kickstarted by the prophecy that one of the team members will die. In many ways, the "prophecy" is representative of the broader problems of the book. The only reason it exists is to kickstart the story - as does the only other prophecy featured. There's no reference to previous predictions, no rhyme or reason to the nature of them; they exist in perfect narrative isolation. This applies to almost every aspect of the helter-skelter plot you care to name. Things only happen when and because they need to, anything eyebrow-raisy can be explained away 'because MAGIC' - but the magic is so damned convenient. No Hero doesn't just have a Chekhov's gun, it has a Chekhov's Red Army, and watching the barrage is tiring as it rids the book of any sense of danger, and often surprise. It's hard to invest in a narrative where you know the author will do whatever is required to move the story where he wants it to go. Unfortunately these errors are compounded by the characterisation, which is built on wafer-thin types that never grow into real people. The whole thing just has a real thrown-together quality, as if Wood thought potential readers wouldn't care. I was mystified by the usually-reliable endorsement from Publishers' Weekly, as this is not a strong novel. Worse, for a book set in Oxford and populated by Brits, the actual locations are both super-anonymous, but the language and idioms are almost comically American. A British man calling for his "mommy" is just ridiculous. No Hero isn't terrible, but it's very, very weak. The kind of book that would make a publisher keep an eye on the writer, but not lose money on.