Review: Hollow City, by Kai Wai Cheah

Kai Wai Cheah jumps into Silver Empire’s superhero universe and delivers a fast-paced action novel full of character dilemmas, political shenanigans, and solid martial arts and military tactics.

Oh, and there are some superpowers too.

The story

Adam Song isn’t your average Halo City cop. Not just because he’s ex-special forces, he’s also a Prime, gifted with unique abilities thanks to a Hadron collider event. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of primes in the world and they aren’t all good guys. Song’s power though, the ability to “Amp” any of his physical attributes, senses, strength, speed, reflexes, make him the ideal officer to send against most Rogue Primes.

Or so it would seem. When a raid to capture a Prime hitman results in Song shooting the hitman and his girlfriend, things take a turn for the worse. Almost immediately, Cape Watch, an anti-Prime activist group launches protests, proclaiming Song a murder. Before long, Amp has Cape Watch on his back, the hitman’s gang El Trece trying to kill him, and the politicians throwing him to the wolves.

When Adam kills the first hit squad sent after him, the situation only gets worse. Throw in some family drama and the young Chinese American has a very full plate indeed.

The characters

Adam Song is no nonsense and extremely dedicated to his work as a police officer. That might sound like a recipe for a one dimensional character. It isn’t. Cheah gives Song depth by showing glimpses of his religious life, going to the local Buddhist temple while also getting along well with the local Catholic Priests. Song is also something of a poet, stopping at various times to write down verses that seem to come unbidden from deep within. And then of course there is his family. He is somewhat estranged from them as despite having fled Hong Kong when Adam was very young, they are still a very traditional Chinese family. That means the oldest son is expected to take up the family business. Needless to say, when Adam joined the Marines instead of helping with the family restaurant, they did not approve and there has been tension in the family ever since, especially over the necessity of having to kill people in the course of his work. It’s a situation that Song regrets but also feels powerless to do anything about.

Of the many side characters, the most interesting is Will Dawson. Dawson is the best lawyer in Halo City, if not the state and one who specializes in working with Primes. He also offers free counsel to Song because once, Adam had saved his and his wife’s life. Dawson’s services come in handy as the officer is investigated multiple times throughout the story, having to defend himself over and over as events stemming from the first shooting spiral out of control. He is also the rare rich guy in fiction that isn’t either a bad guy or just incredibly condescending.

The world

The world of Heroes Unleashed is basically our world, except there are people with superpowers. Halo City itself is much like any west coast city, large, sprawling, and filled with different ethnic neighborhoods and liberal politics. Cheah, weaves it all together expertly, with Adam as the anchor given that he has a foot in many different aspects of the city.

When I say that the HU world is much like our own, it’s also very up to date. The protests that erupt after the initial shooting look a lot like the BLM protests that spread across the country in the summer of 2020, except less violent. The politics are more centered around Primes than police but only slightly. And of course there are plenty of people playing politics and trying to appease the mob rather than do what’s right. Just like our world.

The politics

The politics of [easyazon_link identifier="B07Q3HBHPS" locale="US" tag="upstreamreviews-20"]Hollow City[/easyazon_link] are essential the politics of Adam Song. While he doesn’t go in depth on a number of different issues, it’s clear based on his comments about gun laws, his crypto collection, and a few other things that he definitely is not on the left end of the spectrum and most likely lands somewhere on the libertarian end.

Content warning

Plenty of graphic descriptions of what happens when a bullet hits a person or when a blade slices into the soft spots. Not for the littles.

Who is it for?

If you like superheroes or military thrillers, then this is for you. Song operates like a Punisher or a Jack Reacher type, but with the addition of people he actually cares about.

Why read it?

This book is a great mix of tactics, political drama, and an exploration of what happens when a good man is turned on by the system he helps to defend.

And if you don't believe me, Declan Finn's earlier review will back me up.