Review by Booklist Review
Alter Ego is an exciting, modern-day, comic-filled mystery by award-winning Segura, a stand-alone sequel to his 2022 title, Secret Identity. Annie Bustamante is our snarky, gogetter main character. Since she was a child, her dream was to draw and write comics, but life had other plans. As we alternate through time with Annie, we see how her struggles and choices lead her to become a successful film director, far away from the comics industry. However, after she is forced to relocate from L.A. back to New York, Annie is offered her dream project: revive The Legendary Lynx, a comic whose origins are uncertain. Unfortunately, Annie and her loved ones become targets as they probe to uncover the truth about the comic. Filled with popular culture references and comic pages throughout, readers can enjoy this even if unfamiliar with the comic industry. The reveal of the villain, however, is lackluster. Overall, the narrative tackles subjects such as intellectual property, sexism, relationships, and being true to yourself and your dreams.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Crime and comics make for a lively mix in Segura's enticing follow-up to Secret Identity. Comic book artist turned filmmaker Annie Bustamente has been offered the opportunity of a lifetime: lead artist on a reboot of The Legendary Lynx, the superhero saga that inspired her to become a comics artist. The series ended after the financial collapse of its publisher, Triumph Comics, in 2007. Now, Bert Carlyle, son of Triumph's founder, hopes to revive Triumph as a multimedia company. Initially thrilled, Annie soon becomes skeptical about Carlyle's intentions for the project, and walks away from the deal when conflicts arise over creative control. After she begins investigating who actually created and owns the rights to the Legendary Lynx, she receives anonymous threats of physical violence unless she stops her digging. Then the murders begin. Segura's plotting is vivid and fast-paced, and his experience as a comics artist lends depth to the proceedings, with gorgeous excerpts from Annie's in-progress Legendary Lynx comic sprinkled throughout. This will thrill traditional mystery fans and comics devotees alike. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (Dec.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Anthony Award winner Segura follows up his 1970s comic-book mystery Secret Identity with this sequel set in contemporary times, during an effort to reboot the Legendary Lynx, the comic book character at the center of Secret Identity. To carry on the legacy of the Legendary Lynx, Triumph Comics taps Annie Bustamante (an uncompromising comic book artist and filmmaker with a childhood connection to the original material) and Arturo Spinoza, a cancelled, once-influential film director. As Annie and Arturo butt heads with a publisher more interested in milking intellectual property than artistic integrity, Annie receives cryptic warnings that make her question Triumph's claims of creation. It sends her on a dangerous exploration into the past. Fans of Secret Identity will be interested to learn where the future took its protagonist, Carmen Valdez, and learn how her story intersects with the narrative. Readers new to Segura will also enjoy this book without the context of its predecessor. VERDICT This entertaining sequel vividly depicts the IP-obsessed contemporary comic book world and its threats to comic artists, such as being replaced by artificial intelligence. It's a compelling setting for Segura's richly complicated characters, who make up for some clunkiness and contrivance in the plotting.--Jon Jeffryes
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Segura explores the world of comic books and film in his latest thriller. Segura's standalone sequel toSecret Identity (2022) brings back the Lynx, a comic book character co-created by Carmen Valdez in the 1970s. Decades have passed, and the Lynx--originally published by a company called Triumph--has faded into obscurity, though she still has her admirers. Chief among them is Annie Bustamante, a comic book writer who turned to film after having become disenchanted: "Comics had chewed me up and spit me out, and at the moment I wasn't sure I wanted to go for another twelve rounds." But now Annie's movie career has stalled, too, after her studio declined to release her latest, an "artsy superhero thriller" calledMiss Midnight, turning it into a tax write-off instead. She's approached by Bert Carlyle, the son of Triumph's founder, who wants her to work with Arturo Spinoza, a filmmaker, to reintroduce the Lynx across a wide range of media. Annie can't bring herself to say no; the Lynx was a formative character for her as a young woman: "It was one of the first and few comics I could remember not only featuring a woman in the lead, but one that--at least for a brief time--was written by a woman, too. A Cuban woman like me, no less." Things are looking up, until Annie starts to get messages saying "BE CAREFUL," and realizes that her involvement with the Lynx might be putting her in real danger. While the novel doesn't quite live up to the heights ofSecret Identity--the dialogue here can come across as forced--Segura has lost none of his talent at building suspense. Readers will need to come with their disbelief fully suspended, but Segura is charming enough to make it work, and, as in his last book, he sticks the landing beautifully. A ride worth taking, especially for comic book fans. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
