Review: Quirky story about misfits and antiheroes
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 20, 2013
I liked this well-written story that follows the interactions between a handful of  quirky, misfit ,small town characters and deals with love, lust, life, death, friendship, family and career in a fresh and unexpected way. While describing the present day events in their lives, it provides insights into how their formative years and their interwoven personal stories have brought them to this (low) point in their respective lives. While the title invokes a comic book hero from their childhoods, the characters in this story are all anti-heroes; sad and pathetic in a way that is interesting and believable enough to carry you  through the story. The main protagonist is a 'lovable loser'  a middle-aged virgin and a cemetery groundskeeper who clumsily and tentatively embarks on a relationship with a wild and unpredictable former grade school classmate dealing with her own childhood demons. In addition 3 teenagers struggle to find something to care about in this uninspiring town.There is the best friend whose marriage and main nutritional intake are both "on the rocks," the small town police chief who wants to do the right thing and the bitter ex-jock whose 'career' was ruined by a high school accident involving our protagonist.I found myself drawn to these odd characters and pulled into their lives. I found the (cliff hanger?) ending extremely dissatisfying but then again I think it was consistent with the whole point of the tale!