Mutation by Kevin Hardman
Note: While this is Book 2, you could jump directly into it and enjoy the story without having listened to Book 1.
Kid Sensation goes off to Super Hero college in this book. He’s finally learned how to drive (mostly) and his girlfriend Electra is going off to college with him. So life is grand. The college is awesome, he’s making new friends…. and then bad stuff happens. Nothing like a little death and mayhem to ruin a great time!
Adam Atom was a prankster, but when Supers start getting sick, bad stuff happens. Adam is one of the first to show signs of illness, and a prank of his went horribly wrong, so he’s also wracked with guilt. Our Jim (Kid Sensation) also falls ill and the college medical staff are ill-equipped to deal with violently ill Supers. For many of the Supers, it’s their first time being ill, so they aren’t prepared mentally for it. They are confused and worried, and some loose control of their powers. All around, it is a mess!
Anyway, eventually Kid Sensation gets his stuff together and he rallies some allies to find the source of this illness. Gossamer (an elf, sorta), Caine (a human with magic on his side), Gavin (a tech guru), and this other dude whose name currently escapes me but I liked his character because he was so practical and an android.
The big baddie for this story is Estrella. She’s got many of the powers that Sensation has, so she’s a real match for him. For part of the story, she has a kid clairvoyant (Rudy) working with her, so that made her extra hard to defeat. In fact, in that round, Sensation didn’t win, but Estrella withdrew from the field of battle to help her brother. Anyway, she’s basically a star in human form and that alone makes her hard to kill or knockout or injure or scare. Estrella was the best thing about this book.
Over all, it feels more like a YA book because it’s nearly all action, and what isn’t action is young people being awkward around each other trying to make that solid emotional connection. It was cute, fun, on that level. I would like a bit more depth and I think the series has solid potential for that.
The action kept me thoroughly interested in the story. There’s always something around the next corner, some further challenge for Sensation to face. I also enjoyed that not all Supers are created the same way – some are mutations, some are alien half breeds, some are not made of flesh and bone, etc. The story has a lot going for it big-picture wise. This tale closes with a solid ending, but leaving us ready to see what Sensation gets into in the next book. 4.5/5 stars.
The Narration: Mikael Naramore is always a treat to listen to and he doesn’t disappoint in this book. His voice for Jim (Sensation) is spot on. His female voices are feminine. I especially like his angry battle voice for Estrella. His slightly crazed voice for Dr. Schaffer is also great. The pacing was perfect and there were no technical issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are truly my own.