Review: Unmasked by Kai Wai Cheah and Thomas Plutarch

Adam Song has been outed as the superhero known as Amp. Pursued by gangsters, hounded by the media and activists, going up against Chinese intelligence, and Thanatos himself, the former cop really has his work cut out for him.

The story

Kai Wai Cheah's follow up to Hollow City, Unmasked picks up a few months after the end of the previous book. Adam Song has been fired from the HCPD and has been living his life largely on the run, moving from hotel to hotel as he awaits his trial for the killing of Sofia Vega. He’s staying mobile for a lot of reasons. His home had been destroyed by a flame throwing Prime in the last book, he’s trying avoid getting attacked by the gang El Trece who still would like to see him dead, and of course he doesn’t want to get harassed by Cape Watch, the anti-Prime group that has been leading the protests against him.

His running comes to an end though when a friend, Shifu Shi Jin Kong, the leader of Bright Moon Temple calls. Shifu is getting harassed by Chinese Intelligence which has decided having a defector Prime gaining as much prominence as Shifu  is embarrassing. Knowing what is coming, Song moves in, taking on bodyguard duties, duties that are quickly put to the test when the Temple is attacked not once but twice.

The unfortunate fallout of the attacks is that Song’s bail is rescinded, meaning that he has to spend the last week and a half before his trial in jail.

Cheah does as good a job with the trial as he does with the action. There are surprises on both sides and there are times when the outcome is in doubt, leaving me turning the pages as much as during the many fight scenes.

It’s after the trial though that things really get interesting. The riots that erupt across Halo City result in numerous forces clashing, including Primes on both sides of the law descending on Chinatown. Some of them are new like Dynamo and others such as Jade Empress will be familiar to fans of Silver Empire’s superhero universe. The only question is whether or not they will be able to stop Thanatos from taking down the superhero system.

The characters

Adam Song as before is imminently practical. While never eager to take a life (he remains haunted by those he has taken) he has no illusions about the necessity to do so from time to time. He also shows many times that he is willing to sacrifice himself for others, throwing himself in harm’s way again and again.

All of that, plus his recent release from the HCPD leads to the introduction of Don Peterson, an intelligence operative from Song’s past. Peterson tries to recruit Amp into a secretive government program designed to deal with Rogues that are beyond the reach of the system. Peterson comes off as an affable old war buddy but Song doesn’t trust him, knowing that there is some kind of hidden agenda. Still, at various points when Song needs help, Peterson delivers.

Throughout we also get to know a number of other characters as the supporting cast has more room to breathe than in the previous book.

Shifu is a man with his own conflicts to deal with. Having left his family behind in China, he tries to be a positive force in the lives of many in Halo City. He still finds himself conflicted though when he’s forced to defend himself and others during the attacks on the Temple.

Dynamo is a Prime, one of the few who struggles to fit into what the reader would consider to be a more traditional superhero mold. She works to develop her powers and has strong beliefs against killing, which naturally puts her into conflict with Adam. While Adam thinks her convictions in the matter are naïve, they do stop her from perpetrating at least one mass casualty event in the story.

Bloodhound is another Prime, one that Adam recruits to help with security at Bright Moon Temple. He’s green but dedicated and proves to be a very useful ally.

Adam’s father is an interesting man. He had no trouble signing a million dollar check for Adam’s bail at the end of the last book. However, he is constantly critical of his son and his choices and resistant to most of his suggestions for security. He also has interesting priorities as is seen when they need to leave their restaurant and fall back to the local Catholic Church. The father’s chief concern is whether or not priests are going to try and convert him.

The world

Cheah does not paint a world full of spandex-clad superheroes as an unequivocally good thing. Even the good ones are typically amateurish glory hounds more interested in getting crowdfunding than they are in actually helping people. His description of many powers as having extremely limited use in most situations is heavily grounded in both legal realities and basic physics. It answers the question of why Amp doesn’t boost his strength much. The potential for collateral damage is just too high.

The author also continues to paint a very up to the minute political picture. As with Hollow City, anyone who recalls the events of the summer of 2020 will see obvious parallels between that and the way the riots play out in Unmasked, including the police response to the situation.

The politics

While the previous book indicated a libertarian streak, Unmasked shows a stronger tendency towards pragmatism. At the end of the day, Song wants to get the job done and sometimes, the job isn’t real pretty. In the end, he’s hard to put into any sort of box other than definitely not progressive.

Content warning

As with the previous book, Unmasked has more than a few graphic descriptions of violence, placing it in the PG-13 range

Who is it for?

If you are a fan of the street level heroes of the Marvel and DC universes or the more grounded take that can be found in Valiant or Dark Horse comics, then Unmasked should be right up your dark alley.

Why read it?

If you liked Hollow City, then you will likely enjoy Unmasked even more. The action is faster paced, there are more Primes running around and the stakes are higher.