Review: The Rise of Renegade X

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M Campbell

Synopsis (From Amazon.com): Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.

To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad's "flying lessons" that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city--despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights--thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she's his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.

Chelsea Campbell has delivered a cute and action-packed debut novel with THE RISE OF RENEGADE X. All Damien Locke ever wanted was to be a villain, and when he turned 16 he would have the proof with the V on his thumb, but when he gets an X instead he discovers that his mother hooked up with a superhero and he's the result, now he's forced to stay at his father's and learn to be a hero.

Damien's voice is hilarious as he struggles to come to grips with what he's grown up doing and that nagging conscience that villains don't have. This novel is more than just good versus evil, it deals with his own inner turmoil and regular adolescent struggles as Damien tries to figure out who he is, and you can't go wrong with any love triangle that involves a villainous ex-girlfriend who he never stopped loving and the quirky sidekick who believes he is a hero. This will definitely keep the reader entertained as they follow along with Damien's adventures.

Cover: I love how the cover has the feel of a graphic novel, it's artwork is superb. The comic appeal grabs the readers attention and gives you the gist about what the novel's about.
 

Plot: 4.5/5 stars
Ending: 4.5/5 stars
US Cover: 4.5/5 stars
Overall: 4.5/5 stars
Recommend:  For anyone who loves comics and heroes

Debut Author Challenge: #5 of 12