Spider-Man: The Darkest Hours [Paperback]

A few years ago, Spider-Man fought an incredible being who called himself Morlun, who was supposed to be an Ancient and a drinker of souls. More to the point, Morlun feasted on the souls of people who chose animals as their "spirit totem." He wanted Spider-Man because of his connection to the spider spirit. Spider-Man defeated Morlun with help, but now the rest of the Ancients, a sister and two brothers, are out for revenge. And maybe a midnight snack. After being assigned a temporary basketball coaching job with a troublesome star athlete, Peter Parker (Spider-Man) arrives home to find more trouble: his wife MJ has taken on an acting job but now has to drive to get there. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a driver's license (what native New Yorker does?) and just failed the tests. Peter tells her he'll help her, then jumps into patrol as Spider-Man. He immediately gets jumped by Felcity Hardy, an old girlfriend who goes by the name The Black Cat. Black Cat tells Spider-Man that he's being lured to his doom by the Rhino on a rampage. But, being a hero, Peter has no choice but to go -- and nearly gets feasted on. Together, Spider-Man and the Black Cat have to figure out how to defeat the trio of Ancients without losing their lives in the process.

Jim Butcher is the best-selling author of the Dresden Files, featuring wizard-for-hire Harry Dresden. A television show is being filmed now. He's also the author of the Codex Alera fantasy series.

Butcher hits some really nice licks with this book, capturing the humbleness and golly-gee of Peter Parker in his first-person narrative. Throwing the Black Cat into the mix with Peter and his wife MJ was an especially nice touch, a romp down memory lane for old-time comics fans. The Rhino, always one of Spider-Man's more simple yet complex villains, is played brilliantly in the book. There's even a couple cameos with Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (as well as an astonishing reveal about Wong, Dr. Strange's majordomo). The pacing is frenetic, filled with the trademark quips as well as lots of dialogue among the characters, and surprising twists and turns of the plot that keep a reader moving along. Although these are comic book characters, they come across as surprisingly human on Butcher's pages.

THE DARKEST HOURS is a solid Spider-Man novel, a great adventure read, and the very thing a comic geek or someone interested in Spider-Man through the movie venue needs to pack along to the beach. Harry Dresden fans will probably also enjoy this sideline jaunt Butcher takes through the Marvel Comics Universe.

Some of these Spider-Man novels fall a little flat. This one "gets it." Spidey is smart, and witty. It even has a whole sub-plot involving his students at school. There's a guest shot by Dr. Strange, some comments about him being a team-up junkie, the ex-girlfriend alone with the wife, and all the fun of a typical Spidey mega-event. All this and the author makes Rhino interesting, too.

I couldn't put it down. After devouring it, I headed over and checked out the author's Dresden books and I am currently enjoying them as well.

Bought this book because I'm a huge Spidey fan. I wasn't disappointed. The book was fantastic! Jim Butcher really captures Spidey's character. The plot is fast moving, and there's lots of action, but there's also many good Peter-MJ moments. What can I say? This books just plain fun to read.

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