Steve Clarke is a superhero known as Reaver. His punches can literally cause a person to lose years off their life, he is three times faster than the average human, very strong, and can heal from pretty much anything. He also has exactly two weeks to live. Prepare to Die! by Paul Tobin Night Shade Books June 2012 After being cornered by a group of super villains known as Eleventh Hour, Steve Clarke is told, "Prepare to Die!" Taking the words quite literally, Steve manages to get a two week reprieve to tie up loose ends and get his life in order. What follows is a trip down memory lane as Steve returns to his home town and seeks out a girl he fell in love with as a teenager. While the majority of the story takes place during the two week period that Steve has left, we are often treated to a series of flash backs involving various other characters, Steve's origin story, and life for Steve before he became a superhero. Now I'm going to stop here and tell you that I'm not a huge fan of comic books, and I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I initially started reading. Quite a bit of the story involving characters getting their powers requires some pretty heavy suspension of belief. (For instance, I'm fairly certain most people exposed to massive amounts of radiation would die, not get super powers.) But while the characters are straight out of comic books, the story itself could probably never be told in such rich detail as it is presented here. Even more, there is an almost seamless transition of focus from magic and super powers to the story of how a man who lost friends and loved ones grieved for their passing. Honestly, the depths of the story and it's various twists and turns left me pleasantly surprised, if not equally saddened in some of the darker moments. The subject matter may be fantasy, but there are very few happy endings in this book. A lot of the characters are lost to us before the book even begins, and there is a definite sense of loneliness at the realization that these larger than life characters are fading and dying out. Still, the story is beautifully told, filled with just enough action to stay true to its comic book roots, while still presenting very real, emotional characters. Regardless of whether or not you're a comic book fan, you should definitely check out this book.