I first saw Peter Clines book Ex-Heroes a couple years ago. It looked interesting, but I had burned out on zombies at that point. The zombie craze has definitely gone too far for my taste. But, Ex-Heroes, isn’t really about zombies. It’s about superheroes and gangs in a zombie world. The zombies are definitely talked about, but they are the setting, not the story. So, let’s check it out.

Stealth, Gorgon, Regenerator, Cerberus, Zzzap and  The Mighty Dragon are the heroes in question. Their powers are mostly guessable from their names. Stealth is silent, but deadly and she’s also a tactical genius and the leader of our little group. Gorgon can absorb energy from people that he looks at. Regenerator can heal himself or other people. Cerberus is a mechanized fighter. Zzzap can provide electricity, either for the power grid or to fry bad guys. And The Mighty Dragon is super tough and can breathe fire. They are stuck in a world of zombies in Los Angeles and have started a little community in the Paramount movie studio. There is still a gang around, the Seventeens. They have a demon captured and can use it to control the minds of the zombies. And the Seventeens are gunning for our heroes.

The book bounces back and forth between “Then” which is either before the zombies started or right when it did start and “Now” where they are trying to live and beat back the Seventeens. The Then stories sometimes follow how a hero found their powers or how they joined together or similar tropes. The stories are somewhat interesting and Clines has done a good job building a back story for these characters. The Now stories focus more on the gang problems and dealing with day-to-day issues that pop up. These chapters tie together better, but aren’t quite as interesting.

Overall it’s a decent book with some good characterization and a decent plot. Clines has done a wonderful job building the world up and making us care about these people. The powers are interesting and he does a good job integrating the characters and their powers together and weaving it into the story. I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to the sequels. Mildly recommended.