Carmen Valdez has come to New York after a disastrous love affair in her hometown of Miami. She has landed a job as a secretary at Triumph Comics, her dream profession. She hopes to eventually work her way up to being a writer as she has been working on a female hero for several years on her own.

When a co-worker gets the chance to write something for the boss, Carmen is disappointed it wasn't her. But the co-worker asks her to collaborate with him. Carmen gives him six of her female character's, The Lethal Lynx, scripts only to find that he turns them all in to the boss with no cowriter credit for her, claiming the work as his own. Carmen goes to his apartment to confront him, only to find him lying dead, shot in the head.

Who would kill him? When the police don't seem to be making any progress on the case, Carmen starts to investigate herself. Another woman in the comic business is attacked and put in a coma and then Carmen herself is targeted. What is the secret that someone doesn't want to come out?

This was an interesting novel apart from the mystery itself, which was great. I enjoyed the setting of New York in the 1960's and 70's and the look into the comic business before the advent of graphic novels. Carmen is gay and her love affairs add another dimension to the story as does the difficulty of being a woman in a man's world before women gained more equality in the work place. I listened to this novel and the narrator was great as Carmen. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

I really really enjoyed this one!

Was it frustrating at times? Oh yeah.
Was it totally worth it? Oh yeah x4!

As I was reading, I kept forgetting that this one is set in 1975 where the world was completely different. Especially for a Latina woman working in the comic industry.

So yes at points I thought ‘wtaf-GIRL WHAT THE HELL?!’

But at the end it was satisfying- and that feeling of having everything tied up in a nice bow, but with a few strands of ribbon hanging was there.

McMillan audio also granted me access to the audio AND IT WAS AWESOME. The Lynx parts where there was city sounds made it all feel so noir.

For me, the murder wasn’t the main aspect and I had it figured out pretty quickly, but it was fun to go along and figure it out with Carmen.

I loved the diverse-ness of this one. Thrillers and/or mysteries aren’t the most diverse genres, so the Latinx, sexually confused, immigrant, and older (not old, but not 20 something or younger) character of Carmen was refreshing to read about.

While this one did have mystery elements, it didn’t feel like a whodunit. It’s more of a character study and coming of age (Kinda).

As I said earlier, the ending was totally worth it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this audiobook.

Can't say. I keep running out of time on your app to listen to the book. I didn't get a chance to hear it so I can't really comment except to say how much I don't like this Netgalley app.

Terrific concept for a novel, so-so execution.

I love anything involving New York history, even relatively recently history such as this (circa 1975), and I’ve not seen someone hone in on the comic book industry for a book like this before.

Would someone really murder someone else over a comic book? I dunno, I’ve certainly heard dumber reasons for murder both in reality and in fiction. And it’s a great set up for a story.

The writing itself and the way the mystery unfolds isn’t quite as good in practice as it was in theory. There’s some sloppiness to the story thats irksome, and while interspersing the comic with the narrative was clever, the comic itself was…really not great. It begs the question: THIS is what all the characters were so worked up over?

A bright spot was protagonist Carmen, an interesting woman and an admirable heroine who was well-drawn but shortchanged in some ways by her author.

As a toss-off, fun read this book is fine, but I found myself wanting it to be smarter because the concept was so good. There’s a lot of loose pieces scattered around the story that don’t really have any relevance to the central narrative, and a lot about that central narrative that isn’t fleshed out the way it should have been.

Also, skip the audiobook version and read this in print instead. The narrator isn’t great and the comic book component doesn’t translate well to the medium.

This book was such a pleasant surprise! This is the first Alex Segura book I read and a first of its kind as I haven't read a mystery set around comics.

Set in 1975, Carmen Valdez aspires to be a writer of comics but quickly realizes her role as a secretary is as far as she will get in the male-dominated industry. Her co-worker offers her a writing opportunity she can't refuse yet things quickly escalate when he is murdered.

Segura does an excellent job of character development. I was invested in Carmen rather early in the story and couldn't get enough. Carmen could definitely be a friend of mine! Sharp, witty, relentless, and determined to get to the bottom of things, she encompasses everything Latin women were not meant to be in the 70s. I appreciated that she didn't fit into the societal norms of the times and didn't allow those things to be limitations.
The story and characters were believable and didn't feel rushed.

I specifically loved all the Miami and Cuban references! It is so refreshing reading a book that you can relate too on many levels, especially culturally. Segura nailed it!

The narrator was fantastic. I appreciated that Spanish words were in fact read by someone who speaks Spanish! It makes such a huge difference for me as an audio reader. She made it very easy to distinguish between characters.

Highly recommend this book and will now be picking up the rest of Segura's works!

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio for providing an audiobook ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

Sometimes it’s hard to rate a book that is completely out of your norm. I have never been a fan of Superheroes nor comic books. I was delighted to give this book an opportunity though, because of personal growth and ability to relate to many of my children who enjoy mixed media.

This wasn’t an easy read for me and it did take me a few weeks to get through. That is only because of being easily distracted by the “comic” aspects of the book.

I will say that Alex Segura’s overall writing was excellent and the overall plot was intriguing enough to make me want to continue.

I will recommend this one to all comic book fans alike and especially for my own who only want to read comics…this is a perfect way to get them to read an actual book also.

Thank you NetGalley and FlatIron Books for my gifted copy in exchange for my gifted copy.

Also, I am typically a go to audiobook fan, however, I wasn’t able to relate to the comic scenes (possibly due to lack of knowledge).

Extremely well done plot and writing. From the moment I started the audiobook I was hooked. A nod to the author, extremely wonderful character development. The story line had peaks and valleys that led you getting the information you wanted but always wanting a bit more. My only gripe was the love interest. It seemed to be thrown in with a lot of background and chapters but I could have done completely without it and would have enjoyed the book even more. The comic strips throughout was a nice touch that also worked with the story line. As for Macmillan Audio, I have heard some of their audiobooks in the past and love their work. But this one is even set out as being really something special. Perfect casting for narrator, and I mean perfect. She embodied the story so well and I could imagine that Carmen Valdez herself was telling her story. The audiobook publishers really made this story come alive. It was impressive and I will definitely be looking at more of their work and Alex Seguras work as well. You should be proud of this one.

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio for providing an audiobook ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

I’m unsure whether to call Secret Identity a thriller or a noir, because while the stakes are high this feels much more like a film reel of microaggressions of a misogynistic office space. Set in New York City in the 70s, it taps into the timeline of the superhero comic book boom to tell the story of a woman intent on getting her own story published. A body appears in her vicinity, jilted lovers from the past return, and all the while our main character Carmen is subject to the constant barrage of belittling comments of the men around her in the office she works in.

There is a very specific audience for this novel, and it’s fans of classic American comic books. But even more precisely, fans of classic American comic books that also want to read a period mystery noir with a lesbian protagonist. I’m not sure how much those two demographics overlap, but I can say that I have little to no interest in the old-school American superhero comics that have now been wrung dry by Marvel and DC in our own timeline.

Indifference with the comic book industry aside, my other hang up here was not with Carmen as a protagonist. I think she was refreshingly prickly and her no-nonsense approach to office politics in her role as a secretary was something I respected. She’s proactive in getting her manuscript published despite being faced with prejudice because of her gender. She’s almost single handedly driven by this near obsession with superhero comics, which makes the short, abrupt epilogue that concludes this novel all the more jarring when we see how this dream has fundamentally and inexplicably changed. I don’t hate time skips in novels. I just hate when they exist to lazily ignore an entire character arc that was needed to get from Point A to Point B by the end of a book.

In the end, I came to Secret Identity for a fast, high stakes mystery novel. In actuality, this book focuses much more on Carmen’s own battle against prejudice against her gender and assumptions about her intelligence. Instead of a romp through the streets of NYC, we get to see one woman fight against the constant sexual misconduct of her male coworkers as they gaslight, gatekeep, and prevent her from girlbossing her way into a writer’s role in the office. It was more draining than anything to read about these unending microaggressions, and I can’t say I had a good time. But if you want an issues book with a mystery subplot and not a thriller, this may still be an enjoyable read in the end.

This one gets 3.5-stars with an upward slant because I fully admit to geeking out at all the comic book name dropping that takes place along with a pretty original plot, but I never actually liked leading lady Carmen. I kept wanting to see her as a total kick-butt heroine, yet she just came across as a scared girl running away from her problems.
I will say that the plot continuously surprised me with where it headed and I did not see the ending coming at all. Between that and the realistic look at the dark and twisted underbelly of the comics industry of the 70s, this is a book that I want to rave about even with not liking the main character.
The audiobook has great narration from Aida Reluzco, complete with sound effects and background noises for the chapters that tell the story of the Lethal Lynx. Reluzco does a great job of giving each scene the right amount of emotion and making it so that you can identify the characters by the way she changes her inflection.
Overall, I enjoyed the hours listening to Reluzco narrate the story of Carmen Valdez navigating her way through the boys club of comics and helping solve a murder.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the engrossing listen!

I enjoyed every page of this comic book tinged noir-style mystery. With an original take on the publishing industry from a talented woman's perspective in 1975, you are instantly plunged into her struggle to create her own comic in a boys-club industry. After constantly being rejected, an opportunity falls into her lap. But she soon finds that she has more than just her career on the line as murder, conspiracies and intrigue start cropling up everywhere!

Between the well written characters, the easy flow of the storyline and actual comic pages inserted in the book, I was quickly enamored, and have this as one of my top mysteries of the year so far. Be sure not to miss it!

My thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is such a great idea. I think Mr. Segura tried to throw too many things in here. It just doesn't work. Carmen starts out as a character I like very much. She is smart and capable and then she just keeps doing things that are totally nothing like the character he set up for the first third of the book. There is no reason for her to do these dumb things other than just to move the plot.
The narrator is AMAZING! I would listen to her read a phone book.

**4.5-stars rounded up**

In 1975-New York City, Carmen Valdez finds herself working for the head of Triumph Comics as his administrative assistant. Carmen dreams of becoming a writer, but for now her assistant position will have to do. Unfortunately, it's just the way in the industry, in the times, in the culture. Carmen has so many ideas, but good luck having them heard.

When one of her coworkers, a seemingly harmless man named Harvey, approaches her with a proposition to fulfill her dreams, she can't refuse. He wants her help creating a new character. Of course her involvement would need to be kept secret initially, at least according to Harvey, but he sells her on the fact that after it is a success, they could reveal the truth to their boss. Then he'll have no choice but to take her ambitions seriously.

Carmen isn't naive. She knows she can't trust Harvey completely, but honestly, what choice does she have. She's desperate for a chance and her boss has repeatedly shot her down. This could be it. Putting her reservations aside, Carmen agrees to help Harvey and over multiple brainstorming sessions, the two create Triumph's first female hero, The Lethal Lynx.

After their scripts have been submitted, with Carmen's name absent from the credits per their earlier agreement, Harvey is brutally murdered. With Harvey's death comes absence of proof that Carmen played any role in their creation. Harvey was the only person who knew the amount Carmen contributed to The Lethal Lynx. She is completely gutted. Carmen needs to find out what happened. It doesn't seem random, but who would want Harvey dead?

Secret Identity took me completely by surprise. I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into this. Being pitched as a 'literary mystery' made me a little nervous. That's not really my genre. I've read from Alex Segura before, however, and enjoyed his writing style. Additionally, the fact that this has the comic book industry as the backdrop was extremely interesting to me. I decided to give it a go.

I'm so glad that I gave it a shot. This is literal scientific proof that reading outside of your comfort zone can be a good thing! Just trust me on this. This entire book is dripping with atmosphere. 1975s New York City was a thing; a character unto itself. Segura brought all of that to life within these pages.

Carmen was an extremely likable character. It was captivating getting to know her, a bit about her past, and of course getting to see behind the scenes of the comic book industry. I was super impressed with the film noir-quality Segura was able to channel into this story. It is such a unique and enjoyable experience.

As a side note, I did listen to the audiobook and highly recommend that format. Included in the narrative are occasional excerpts from The Lethal Lynx comics, for which super fun sound effects are included in the audio version. That was really a treat!

I would definitely recommend giving this one a go. There's so much to enjoy in this story for a vast array of Readers. Go ahead, give it a shot!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I had such a great time listening to this book and will definitely be picking up further works from Alex Segura!!

Yaaaasss! Loved this marvelously well plotted mystery with a comic book theme. Narration was spot on and I especially liked that the comic book chapters were portrayed on audio as an old timey radio drama.

Secret Identity is the first book I've read by Alex Segura and it won't be my last. I loved how fast paced this Noir-Mystery was. It's set in the 1970's where Carmen Valdez works in the comic book industry. One of her co-worker gets murdered and she has to try and find the killer since the police investigation is going nowhere.

The audiobook narrator was amazing for this book. I also loved the sound effects for the comic book section that focuses on the female superhero Lynx.

Here are some of the things I really loved about this book. First of all the cover is great. It really evokes the bright colours and actions of comics. I loved the audio narration it really brought the book to life and the little excerpts from the Lynx comic was great. I loved that it was a woman trying to make it in the world of comics. I enjoy comics though maybe I'm not a super fan it was still nice to get mentions of some famous creators that we all know and love.

I enjoyed the story overall especially the first half where we get to see the characters collaborate to create a new script to get a look at the creative process and origin story of a new super hero was interesting. I felt the book read like it took place in the 50/60s not like the mid 70s which is not a bad thing but I had to keep reminding myself what time period I was in.

Carmen wasn't able to be taken seriously in her hopes of creating a new comic book, and I often think about the great ideas/inventions that we have missed out on because they were from a female or person of colour's mind and not a white male. I do have a pet peeve when a male author writes a lead character who is a lesbian (or even bisexual) I get an ick feeling like it's more about the male gaze than actually trying to represent the queer community.

Positives:
Segura gives us a fresh take on a mystery novel, combining 1970s New York with classic comic books and a soupcon of noir.

With an astounding attention to detail, Segura gives the reader a peek into the prime time of the comic book industry, while weaving a narrative addressing sexism, intrigue, and the literal and figurative masks people wear.

Our protagonist is very real - interesting, flawed, and has made mistakes. We closely follow her journey from childhood trauma to making her way as a 20-something newcomer to New York as an assistant at Triumph Comics with a dream of writing a superhero book. Throughout Carmen's work on The Lynx, she learns to accept herself as well.

Negatives:
I listened to the audiobook of this novel and was not crazy about the narrator. Her performance was lackluster and amateurish, and I think having a better narrator would really catapult this novel as the star read it deserves. I also don't love male author's persistent commentary on feminism and the female experience. There are plenty of female authors to write about this, so let's perhaps leave it to those who actually live it.

WOW! I enjoyed reading Alex Segura's Miami PI books but this stand-alone book is a unique fusion of noir and comics set in 1975 New York. His feisty young queer Latina protagonist, Carmen Valdez, is an assistant at third-rate Triumph Comics. Carmen's dreams seem to come true when Triumph writer Harold Stern enlists her help to create Triumph's first female superhero, a character they call “The Lynx". But Carmen's involvement is kept a secret. Stern is found dead and Carmen is shocked to learn their 6 scripts have been submitted to Triumph without her name. The Legendary Lynx becomes a runaway hit for Triumph. Carmen is determined to find out what happened to Stern and to get the credit she deserved. To achieve this, Carmen has to go to some unsavoury locations and has to interrogate Stern's present co-workers at Triumph as well as his former colleagues at rival comic book publishers.

Audiobook narrator Aida Reluzco does an excellent job voicing Carmen, and the other characters. The use of Spanish dialogue, her past life in Miami and the sudden return of her ex-lover adds another dimension to Carmen's life.

Segura is also a comics creator, so the portrayal of the floundering comic book industry is authentic. The inclusion of short excerpts from the Lynx comics elevates the story to another level. Although I could not "see" the comic book strips in an audiobook, the depiction of the Lynx scene dialogue and fight sequences were enhanced with the addition of audio such as urban street noise and music.

Alex Segura has written a unique book with a memorable lead character. Highly recommended.

I received an advanced audiobook file from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio. I voluntarily listened to this audiobook and provided this r

This was a good read with solid writing and Carmen is a great character. The comic book industry setting was also really fun to read about. I went in expecting more of a noir vibe and this novel did not have that. Overall a fun read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio who sent me an ARC audiobook of this title in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance audiobook copy of Secret Identity by Alex Segura in exchange for an honest review.

Secret Identity has a fun premise. Honestly, I think it will be a huge hit with fans of Noir and fans of comic books alike. Carmen was a great female protagonist that would have fit in today as well as the setting of this book, the mid-1970's. The mystery of how she helped create the Lethal Lynx but then had all credit stolen from her and her "partner" murdered was at the center of this book. It was really fun to jump occasionally into the POV of the Lethal Lynx stories themselves when they had parallels to the main storyline.

In addition to the satisfying mystery, the novel had colorful characters, some humor (reminding me at times of a good Coen Brother's film) as well as timely social issues that sadly are almost as significant today as they were in the 1970's. One of the absolute BEST features of Secret Identity is setting. The novel is set mostly in 1970's NYC. The city was still gritty, often violent, and dirty. It was not the glitzy place it has been through most of the 2000's, yet the character was just as memorable, just seedier.

I hope this book is a big hit for the author. It certainly breaks some of the current molds and thriller formulas.