Chasing the Dragon
Mark Towse
Eerie River Publishing, 2024
ISBN-10: 1998112268
ISBN-13: 978-1998112265
When you’re the kind of person raised by a drill sergeant of a mother who demands order and CLEANLINESS, that image tends to stick in your head long into adulthood. And that’s the case with Simon Dooley, an ex-con determined to bring order to his town in the new novel Chasing the Dragon by Mark Towse.
The only problem with trying to bring order to a town that has fallen into disorder is that nobody wants any of that. They want to continue littering, allowing their dog’s excrement to just end up wherever it ends up and ignoring the laws. And speaking of, the police don’t really care about the laws either. They are too lazy and disinterested. Everybody has pretty much accepted that their town is in chaos and that’s how life is.
But not Simon! He is DETERMINED to change things!
So this is all the more reason to take on the role of a superhero, right? That’s what Simon does. Believing he is the one capable of restoring order and hope to his town, he throws on a leo – er, costume, adopts a name and catchphrase, and strolls on out into the horrible nightmare that is his town. Simon transforms into Reformo, superhero extraordinaire who is brave enough to fight against corruption and decay – even if it means getting his butt kicked along the way. What ensues are hilarious antics of people accusing him of being a stalker, rapist, pedo, and meddler. “But I’m just trying to help!” he continuously cries, as he is hit with a chair in the head, kicked in the nuts, smeared with dog doo-doo and thrown against a car he is trying to rescue from a thief.
There are many villains Reformo must face in this story, and most of them range from the amateurish to the comical. Crime never sleeps, and Reformo is on the job, taking on them all!
There are also big villains he goes up against. Big Villain #1 is Bum Fluff – a notorious drug dealer. Will he achieve his goal in restoring order and eliminating the bad guys?
Then comes Big Villain #2, Butter Balls, and Big Villain #3, The Dragon.
As I read this novel, I was laughing, shaking my head and face-palming my way through it all to find out if Reformo escapes from them all. There are so many humorous scenes, even the painful ones. This book is loaded with humor, romance, action, excitement, a bit of horror, mystery and a good dose of family drama.
Being a superhero without abs of steel, special powers and an invulnerability to pain is not easy work, but Reformo is going to keep trying, even if he has to bring down a bad guy with only one good arm!
After getting his butt kicked by bad guys so much, you might wonder what it is that keeps driving Reformo on his quest to restore order to the town. Not only did he make a promise to his late mother to get rid of the chaos but he is also inspired by the many comic books he read growing up. In fact, that and his time in prison gives him ideas on how to handle the bad guys. But is he willing to give it all up for love? That’s the question that held me in suspense. Would he really do it? Or would he make sure Reformo does not die?
There is so much that I loved about this book. It’s got a lot of humor, yes, but also a lot of superhero action scenes – complete with the sound effect words of comics from the old days!
There’s that plus Simon’s mother constantly nagging him. He uses this as fuel to keep going and to try to prove he’s not a failure, like she thought he was. His mother also makes appearances in the story in scattered memories Simon occasionally dwells upon.
The biggest thing that I loved about this book, though, is the quest that Simon is on to break free from generational trauma. He’s trying to establish his own identity. His whole life was haunted by a nagging, domineering mother who probably endured the same kind of treatment when she was growing up. She was convinced Simon would be just like his father, but this is something which Simon refuses. A huge part of why he chooses to become a modern-day superhero is because he’s fighting against the prediction that he will turn out to be weak, just like his father was weak (weak to stand up for him, anyway). So in establishing a new identity as Reformo, he is fighting against that prediction. And in becoming Reformo – sticking to this new identity no matter what it takes – he finds himself and discovers his real superpower: His own unique identity.
Chasing the Dragon was an action-packed, adventurous and inspiring novel to read. I love the idea of someone actually being brave enough to don a costume and become a superhero to restore order to town! Reformo may have become a superhero in the eyes of civilians in this story, but he has also become a superhero to this reader! The world needed someone like Reformo, and our superhero answered that call to fight for order as well as self-respect.
Five stars
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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