Alex Segura’s Alter Ego dives into the comic book world, where Annie Bustamante—a big-shot filmmaker and comic artist—finally gets a shot at reviving her favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. But things get shady fast when the offer comes with strings attached, plus some creepy anonymous warnings to boot. Annie’s tired of cash grabs and ready to tell this story her way, no matter what dark secrets she uncovers.

I've been wanting to read Alex Segura's books since his last book, Secret Identity, so I made sure to prioritize this one. You do not need to read Secret Identity to follow this book as I was easily able to follow. This book was such a freaking blast! I highly encourage you to listen to the audiobook as it felt like I was listening to a Marvel movie on my headphones. They really go the extra mile in this narration. This story really dives into the world of comics and superheroes, but also about mothers and daughters and some other themes throughout the story. If you like X-Men, Marvel, The Boys, or comics in general, Secrety Identity is a MUST READ. I cannot wait to read the next Alex Segura novel!

Alter Ego is a great love letter to the comics industry, and especially it's recent resurgence thanks to Marvel and what that means for bringing obscure characters from the margins to the limelight, with nods to the office politics around credit and rights that have sometimes hounded the late Stan Lee and others' reputations.
Some of the real life intrigue was a bit hard to grasp -- as in the same sentence the Lynx is both completely forgotten yet has people clamoring on social media for a particular person to revive, but I guess that speaks to the vocal niches that the comics inspire who can mobilize through social media.
Annie Bustamante uncovers her own fortitude and power much like the mind-wiped Lynx in her revival, sleuthing out the mysteries of the publisher and investors behind the revival of the character she loved and identified with as a child.
There's great dialog and action, and just a taste of the comic book she's writing as it parallels with her journey through the business.
It is a true standalone, as I had not read the previous book and jumped right in to the action.

First, I got an ARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion and I did so without knowing this was a sequel. That being said, it read like a stand alone to me and I don't feel I missed much of anything. There is some mention of the first book's title and I assume those are elements that tie the two together but my reading experience didn't suffer because I hadn't read the first.

I think the premise is interesting and I liked seeing more about comics and how they do or do not work. The aspects that had to do with the physical composition of comics were some of my favorite stuff.

That being said, this is slow and not terribly thrilling. There's a mystery, kinda, but things don't really come to a head until about 96% of the way through the book. There's a small pop of action near the end.

My biggest struggle was with the idea that The Lynx is so obscure that Annie may be its only fan, but also so important that people are willing to kill over it. The idea doesn't seem to jive. Why are people banking on a comic no one knows anything about?

This is the sequel to Secret Identity, a book I actually discovered through my book club. This is another mystery associated with comic books. Now I didn't grow up with comic books at all and don't have any particular attachment to them and I still really enjoyed this. I definitely loved the "story within the story" moments where the comic came through.

Anna Bustamante, comic book artist who has been living her life since her project was shelved, is given the opportunity to direct a movie about her favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. But the IP for the Lynx seems to still be owned by the long-gone Triumph Comics. Anna starts getting messages almost immediately after taking the offer telling her not to trust anyone...

This was a fun mystery. Not amazing but solid and enjoyable. 3.5 stars rounded up. Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been obsessed with superheroes since I was a kid, but funny enough, I'm not really into reading superhero comic books. All of my superhero consumption has come from TV shows and movies. Still, that didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book, and I was honestly surprised by how intriguing I found this book to be.

The story primarily focuses on Annie Bustamante, a talented Oscar-winning filmmaker and comic book artist. Bustamante's passion for the iconic superhero Lethal Lynx - a character she may have closer ties to than anyone realizes - is what thrusts Annie back into the spotlight after lying low for a while. When the opportunity arises for Bustamante to finally revive her favorite superhero, the offer seems a little too good to be true, but Annie has had an idea brewing for years, and she desperately wants the story to be told. Annie agrees to the deal, but when anonymous messages warn her to tread carefully, Annie begins to uncover some shady happenings - something that may be connected to the death of one of her closest friends.

It was really nice to see a strong female leading the charge in the male-dominated world of comic books. Annie was definitely a character I rooted for the entire way.

What I really enjoyed was how the author weaves together elements of filmmaking and comic books with shady deals, secrets, and a compelling mystery to create a plot that was completely unexpected. Though the synopsis hints at obstacles along the way, I wasn't expecting the stakes to be as high and certainly wasn't expecting murder and secrets and intrigue along the way. All of that was a pleasant surprise. Segura's writing is engaging, the pacing is pretty tight, and the characters are strong and relatable.

A few minor complaints were that I felt like the few chapters after the opening scene dragged a bit, though once everything was set up, things picked up a lot. Another thing that made me scratch my head is that it's mentioned several times that Lethal Lynx (the comic book character) was this long-forgotten character that hardly anyone remembers, yet the studio felt they would make millions off rebooting her. You'd think they'd make more money off rebooting a well-known superhero first and maybe reintroducing this character in that reboot, but what do I know? I guess I'm just going on how many times Spiderman, Superman and Batman have been rebooted.

This was another book that I alternated between reading and listening to, and once again, I have to give high marks to the narrator. Frankie Corzo handles all of the characters effortlessly. I also really liked the production value and the way they handled the comic segments peppered throughout the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one, mostly because I went in expecting one thing and ended up getting much more action and intrigue than I initially expected. If you're looking for a book with a strong female lead, Annie Bustamante is your gal.

This is the "lowest" 5 star review I can remember giving, but I just couldn't bring myself to drop it to 4. Why? Because what appears on paper as a straightforward, but fun mystery-adventure novel set against the backdrop of the comic books industry is so elevated by the author through the interweaving of plot, social commentary, and thematic resonance. Add a few characters that truly feel alive, and you've got a story that can take you by surprise with its quality if not the bare facts of its narrative.

The narrative is well explained in the book descriptions, so I'll assume if you're reading a review for this it's because that description caught you're attention and you'd like to know more. One of the first things that will stick out to readers is that the author clearly knows what he is talking about. For those in the know, it is no secret that many aspects of the business side of "geek culture" are hideously unlike the worlds they bring to life - filled with grubby old men reluctantly working to survive for corporate overlords who don't care about art but about squeezing any cash left to be squeezed from overmilked IPs while all their dreams of making the comic books like those of their youth pass beyond recognition or desire. The author is similarly unkind to geeks themselves and yet, I never felt that that it was mean-spirited. As unflattering as these portrayals of the world of comics may be, they are sadly accurate for those of us who have spent time in them.

But of course, like any good story, you don't need to be intimately aware of the particulars of the world in which it is set to enjoy it to the fullest. At its heart, Alter Ego succeeds in being about a lot of things without feeling overstuffed: it's about legacy, generational trauma, paths not taken, being true to oneself, moving forward, and in true comic book superhero fashion, standing up to injustice. It tackles issues of representation of media and women in male-dominated fields with a deft hand that never gets preachy or overwrought. Segura weaves these threads through the narrative like a director conducting a symphony, allowing each to have their share of the story but ultimately contributing to the whole. They all feed into each other as we learn how Annie Bustamante's past informs her present, made her who she is, and why it is so important to her to get to the bottom of this mystery.

I mentioned some excellent characters. I won't lie, there are some caricatures in this story, but there are caricatures in my life as well. Sometimes, people really are just cartoon versions of themselves, and the way Segura refuses to shy away from that is admirable and rings true. Our corporate overlords are appropriately bullshitting their way through the story to try and make a quick, dishonest buck, and when coming from Segura's pen, you get the sense that he has a few specific people in mind. But our protagonist, Annie, is a very likeable character. Not because she is good, or sassy, or has the heart of a hero, but because she is simply a person. She has a troubled past that simultaneously informs who she is, but does not define her. You understand why she is how she is and does what she does because of AND in spite of her past. She's complex, but relatable. She isn't a larger than life figure that we'll be talking about for years to come, but she's real, and that elevates the story a great deal.

Then there's Arturo Espinoza, the #metoo'ed disgraced film director tasked with bringing a comic book character nobody cares about to the big screen. This is a character I feel we don't see enough of, and I understand why. It can be difficult to stomach that someone capable of sexual harassment or assault is still a human being with thoughts, emotions, fears, and desires, yet Arturo has all of them. Not quite the prototypical tortured artist, Arturo thinks deeply and romantically about the films he creates as art. He has a backstory that explains his hatred and fear of guns and he is afraid that this comic book movie is his one last shot at continuing his career after all the allegations about him surfaced. People who do bad things, even vile things, are still people; they look and act like your friends and family 90-99% of the time, right up until they do their evil. Uniformly portraying them as lecherous, disgusting perverts, misogynistic, douchebag frat-boy tech-bros, or creepy weirdos does us all a disservice: most predators don't wear their ill-intent on their sleeve. They eat and shit and sleep like the rest of us.

Finally, there's lifelong-friend Danny, perhaps the weakest of the characters in my opinion. It's a bit frustrating to reckon with a character like Danny in a story that is partly about Latin identity written by a Cuban American. Danny is written as a fair-skinned, blue-eyed Latino while sex predator Arturo is written as a schlubby dark-eyed, aging Latino. I can't now recall if he specifically has darker skin or not, but it rubbed me the wrong way. I am 100% sure that Segura did not mean to set up a "light skin/colored eyes good" "dark skin/dark eyes bad" dichotomy (especially since this is not a love triangle), but I couldn't help thinking of the Boondocks tear-down of Tyler Perry's love stories featuring darker-skinned black men abusing their women until a nice light-skinned black man saves them. I say this not to criticize necessarily, but to call to attention a potentially unconscious, and almost certainly unintentional bias for such coded imagery. Danny's blue eyes are not in and of themselves a problem of course - the Latino diaspora is immense and colored eyes are common among our people - and they are even relevant to an admittedly incredibly underwhelming plot reveal. Frankly, the blue eye clue would have been better used elsewhere for a different reveal more central to the main character and plot. This feels like a huge misstep even without the potentially problematic/unintentional colorism, but c'est la vie. Finally, Danny just isn't all that interesting of a character. He's around in the background in a tepid will-they-won't-they that eats up page time and doesn't add enough to the story. It provides good insight into Annie as a character, but it feels like he either needed to be better integrated into the plot or left out altogether.

This is not a perfect book, but it IS a great one. Across so many words I haven't even mentioned the wonderful parallelism between the comic book character at the heart of the story - The Lynx - and the protagonist. The way Segura manages to make a superhero character with amnesia at the mercy of a supervillain resonate with the real trials and tribulations of the everyday lives of our characters, and about women more broadly, was fiendishly clever and deftly done. And all of this is accomplished in a tidy and enjoyable 300ish pages. This is an easy recommend.

Thanks to Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for early access to this audiobook. Book to be released Dec 3, 2024.

Alter Ego by Alex Segura sums up the novel in the acknowledgements when he writes, “Alter Ego - a book I wanted to be about grappling with the obsessions of your past while struggling with the adult responsibilities of your present, like death, parenthood, and getting older…” The novel also tackles the difficult balance of art vs. commercial monetization.

I found this book heartwarming, nerve wracking, heartbreaking, and thrilling. Annie Bustamante taps into her inner strength as Claudia Calla realizes her own forgotten identity as the Lynx.

Frankie Corzo’s narration is fantastic and brings an excitement to the pages.

Excerpts from the comic are included on audio but not in ARC text. I regret that the ARC did not have the artwork of Sandy Jarrell and the lettering of Jack Morelli as I assume the final edition will since they are thanked in the acknowledgements. I believe the inclusion of their work will bring another dimension to the story - literally and figuratively. Minor spacing issues between dates and places in chapter headings.

Thank you to Flatiron Books for providing an advanced review copy of this title as well as Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio version of this title for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. From the richly nuanced characters, whose every move rings true. The shady, slick executive who will do anything to get his project made, to the acclaimed director who needs to make amends to get back into the Hollywood fold to our protagonist, the kick-ass feminist comic book artist and writer making up for bad choices the journey was a wonderful, engaging story and I greatly enjoyed Segura’s journey.

In addition, the audiobook’s narration and the insertion of the unpublished, and therefore imagined, future superhero comic in the beginning of many of the chapters added a joyful depth to the book.

I’m a comics fan insofar as I picked up some odds and ends growing up with a comic loving brother, and I’m a huge Marvel nerd. While many of the comic references were beyond my scope it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for the story. The author’s love and dedication to comics comes through with every word making for a wonderful, engaging story for comic fans and non fans alike. Four stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Loved this audiobook! I am not a fan of superheroes or comic books, and I know nothing of that industry, but that did not get in the way of being wowed by this amazing story. Annie is a film director and one-time comic book artist, she she is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime—to revive the character of the Lethal Lynx, a comic book she loved as a child. Yet, there are so many problems, ranging from the shady characters involved to the deaths of almost all of the people connected to the original project, and the fact that no one wants to talk about the Cuban woman who supposedly created the character long ago. Of course, none of this dissuades the intrepid Annie, who manages to wade through the muck to figure out what is really going on. I read this not knowing it was a sequel, and it was absolutely not a problem (but now I really want to read Secret Identity!). Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this audiobook—highly recommended!!

This book was so good and I loved it so much!

Every character is super compelling, the scenarios leave you hungry to know what is next, and at the end you are left asking, "Was this a real story? The comic is real, so was this... real?" Our main character is a fascinating woman who is far from perfect, but so fun to hang out with. Her daughter and friends are all great characters too. Everyone connected to the mystery is really well-written, and I was questioning what was fully going on till close to the end.

I will definitely be picking this one up to reread, I really enjoyed it.

I'd recommend this to anyone who loves a good superhero comic and mystery/thriller stories. If you like heist-style stories, this would also scratch some of those itches. The adventure of this story makes it fit a lot of genre styles, so if you like a good adventure with a solid mystery and really great characters, this one is for you.

Thank you MacMillan for the review copy! I really enjoyed this ode to the creative spirit and hard work behind superheroes and comics, a celebration of the relevance and importance not just of comics and superheroes but also of the ways these characters are part of individual identity, of lore, and reflections of artist's imaginations. Segura builds nicely on Secret Identity with Alter Ego and the plot and characters are rewarding; I loved the story of Annie and how it was blended with mystery, self growth, and a strong female voice. Frankie Corzo provided a great voice and style for this most welcome change of pace read for me!

this is book 2 out of a series but I listened to this audiobook as a standalone so I do feel as though I missed a bit of context and background information here. I would rather have read this/ listened to this audiobook with the first book already read/listened to. So that made it a little bit less enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I may have committed a reader sin, but I decided NOT to refresh my memory on the first book before reading this one. I wanted to see how well it worked on its own, knowing I was risking disappointment. I'm happy to say I didn't have any issues, and the book did a good job of reminding me of the things I needed to know without slowing down the plot. There were three or four chapters that jumped back in time a few years, which wasn't enough to be annoying but I also felt weren't entirely necessary. Not really sure why they were needed.

Overall a good read about how modern-day comics run, and a great companion to the first novel.

A paean to the world of superhero comic books - not the licensed characters and conglomerates that have turned them into megablockbusters, but to the creators, writers, and artists who have poured their souls into bringing these superheroes into the world to right wrongs and represent the underrepresented.
This is the story of a young Cubana artist from Miami who, influenced by the early Lynx comic written by a woman, attempts to make her way in NYC in the world of comics. The timeline of the novel moves between different times in the life of this strong female character: grade school, college, early career in NY, Hollywood, and back to NY (although not in this linear fashion). Sometimes that was difficult to follow in the audiobook if I did not catch the year at the start of a section, but the writing made it clear. It’s also a story about family and following one’s dreams. There are mysteries unraveled along the way and several characters made interesting with just a few details. Only the FMC is developed in any detail but it’s a book about her, so that’s fine. Perhaps there were a couple of convenient deaths as well, but this is why 4 stars and not 5.
You don’t have to be a comic book lover to enjoy this standalone novel. It’s a good follow-up to Michael Chabon’s excellent “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” which is about the comics from inception to its “Golden Age.” Alter Ego is contemporary but does reference earlier artists from that period and acknowledges how Marvel and DC have become juggernauts with their licensing and movie tie-ins.
My thanks to the author, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook for review purposes. The book will be available Dec 3, 2024.