Mira Blog Tour - We Could Be Heroes

 

TITLE: We Could Be Heroes

AUTHOR: Mike Chen

PUBLISHER: Mira Books
PUBLISHING DATE: January 26, 2021

PAGES: 384

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS:

An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be. 

Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books. 

Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it. 

When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.

MY THOUGHTS: I feel in love with Mike Chen after reading A Beginning at the End.  So when I was offered the chance to help promote his newest book, I knew it was something I wanted to do.  I recommended A Beginning at the End so much that I need a new book by him to pimp out.  

So in this novel, the reader meets two unlikely heroes.  Zoe doesn't recall anything about her life except the past two years or so.  She also has learned she has some pretty good supernatural abilities - she is fast, can hover and is really strong.  Jamie also can't remember his past.  All he knows is that he can manipulate people's minds and make then forget things that have happened.  While Zoe is using her powers for good, Jamie is using his to rob banks, which he sees as a victimless crime, so he can get enough money to leave town with his cat Normal and move to an island where he can read all day and drink coffee.  As expected, Zoe and Jamie's paths meet one night and the two form an unlikely friendship.  Both decide to work together to learn more about their past and in doing so, learn they are part of a scientific experiment for an even more devious reason.  Can they get to the bottom everything before many others die?

I loved the two main characters in this tale.  Zoe is headstrong and drinks too much liquor.  She saves people and delivers food.  She also has a detective board on her apartment wall which she uses to try to decode her past.  Jamie is quirky and deep down a good guy.  He doesn't want to harm people and is okay not knowing about his past until he meets Zoe.  He has had no real friends the past two years and although he is somewhat afraid of her, he also wants to help her.  These two start out as enemies because they are on two sides of the law but quickly become pals.  Each character is special in their own way and the alternating chapters really allow the reader to get to know them pretty well - flaws and all.  Being the second book by Chen I have read, I can honestly say that it's his characters that draw me in even more than the story line.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the plot.  The pacing was good and never bogged down.  Chen is able to link everything together so that even thought the story is a tad beyond belief, I actually fell into believing it was scientifically possible.  And the ending was just what I wanted.

If you haven't read Chen yet and you love speculative fiction and what I like to call "mild sci-fi" then I seriously don't know what you are waiting for. Definitely pick up this book and his previous one as well.  I don't think you'll regret it! And hey, he even has rescue animals so he is Cassius and Apollo approved.

RATING: 4 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mike Chen is the author of Here And Now And Then (a finalist for Goodreads Choice - Best Sci-Fi, CALIBA Golden Poppy, and the Compton Crook Award) and A Beginning At The End ("a brilliant, fragile path through the darkness" -- Library Journal). His short fiction is featured in Star Wars: From A Certain Point Of View -- The Empire Strikes Back, and he has covered geek culture for sites such as Tor.com, The Mary Sue, and StarTrek.com. In a previous life, he covered the NHL for Fox Sports, SB Nation, and other outlets. A member of SFWA, Mike lives in the Bay Area with his wife, daughter, and rescue animals. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram: @mikechenwriter