Phipps obviously adores superhero comics and this series is a loving satirical homage to them. In this third installment, Merciless is trying to find a way to bring his wife’s soul back into her vampiric body while dealing with the hilarious mess of his life. To make matters worse, a massive conspiracy to take over the world is underway and the conspirators have decided they need to take Merciless out first. Naturally Merciless, who insists he’s not a hero, is coming up with reasons to stop the bad guys.
Merciless’ growing frustration at his inability to save his wife is an insight into one of the ways true villains are made. We feel his pain and Phipps expertly makes use of this throughout the story, so much so that I think the story wouldn’t have worked without it.
All of that being said, that wasn’t even my favorite part of the novel. That comes in the form of one of the principal villains—the President of the United States. Think about that for a moment. How do you fight a president who is secretly planning to take over the world when you plan to keep living (mostly publicly) in those same United States? It’s a great dilemma, and a great novel.