Sidekick

Raptors, Book 1

By: Jaime Castle, C.J. Valin

Narrated by: Jackie Meloche

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the 2021 Best Indie Book Award for Young Adult Fiction.

My name is Sawyer William Vincent - I know, it sounds like three first names - but most people know me as the Red Raptor.

Well, technically no one knows I'm the Red Raptor, he's just a bit more popular.

Wow. Enough about my name. Let me start over. I’m a superhero - the legendary Black Harrier’s partner. Not sidekick. I don't care if I'm still in high school. We work together to bring down the city's most dangerous villains.

When the Black Harrier gets a mysterious note, then goes missing in New York City, things are pretty much left up to me. But don’t worry...I’ve got this. Piece of cake.

If you like Tim Drake as Robin or ever wondered what Peter Parker would be like if he lived in Gotham, Rap-tors is right up your alley.

From number one Audible best seller Jaime Castle and CJ Valin comes a new superhero universe perfect for fans of both DC and Marvel.

Actually, it’s for fans of anything superhero-related. You’re gonna like it. Promise.

©2021 Aethon Books (P)2021 Audible, Inc.

Excellent story

Nice take on a superhero in his young phase. Quite entertaining and evenly paced to keep you interested the entire book.

Satisfied 😌

So much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Great, fun story and I also enjoyed the parallels to DC.

Just good fun

I didn't expect to finish this as quickly as I did. Kind of addictive. It was hard to stop listening.

A great superhero story

Sawyer has spent the last 3 years working as Black Harrier's partner. Not sidekick, never sidekick. They are partners. Or, at least, he thought they were. But when Black Harrier suddenly disappears, Sawyer begins to realize that he didn't know much about Black Harrier at all. Will Sawyer be able to find him before something bad happens?

This was a superhero book that seemed darker than a typical superhero book. Our protagonist struggles at school, not because he's not smart, but because he spends his evenings and nights patrolling the city streets. Then his troubles are compounded when his mom finds his computer and tablet and accuses him of selling drugs in order to buy these things. Unable to offer an alternative explanation, his mom ends up grounding him, which puts a real crimp in his nighttime activities just when the Harrier has disappeared.

I really liked the way that Sawyer's relationship with his mother changes over the course of the book. While they do not have a great relationship, it is clear that they love each other and at the beginning of the book, they have fallen into dysfunctional patterns. Though their relationship is not perfect at the end, it is heading in the right direction, and I appreciated that.

The action sequences in the book were also really good. Between the action sequences and the self-talk that Sawyer engages in, there is hardly any downtime. While there were definitely times that Sawyer's self-talk got a bit too whiny and self-pitying. Overall, though, the self-talk allowed for some great insight.

I definitely did not see the twist coming at the end, but it did fit with the overall plot.

The narrator, Jack Meloche, did a good job too, and I will definitely be putting the sequel on my TBR list.

Homage to DC Comics.

The first book in the series reminds me of the tv series Batman Beyond but with a in-depth character dive.

Great story

I have enjoyed this great fun story of young superhero becoming the hero he wants to be.

For young adults as in high school age

This book has action and high school pranks and even high school fights. A super hero who is grounded by his mom. What more needs saying.

A great Red Robin book with name changes

this is a fun and exciting superhero book but seriously it reads like a BatMan comic
Red Raptor/kite is Tim Drake. osprey is BatGirl. Red Hawk is Nightwing. Harrier is Batman. the chef is the Joker. any way this doesn't detract from the book and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing!

Great fun, well told

For those of us who enjoy more complex takes on classic superhero themes this story hits the mark. Young Adult in structure it probes the world of Heroes & Villians from a teenaged POV. With many obvious references to well known superheroes like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and, what, Hawk-Girl maybe, it's filled with sympathetic characters, scary bad guys, and budding teen romance. The story is entertainingly narrated by Jack Meloche who has an excellent sense of pace. My one not-so-important beef is that it doesn't have the intelligent characters and strategy focus of Drew Hayes' SUPER POWEREDS series but that's for more mature readers so, as I say, not so important.

Meh. Too Boring

I started this because it was free and I was waiting for my next credit. I'm halfway through and can't finish it. This book is just... boring. The narrator is ok, but he can't really do other voices well at all and it all sounds the same. The protagonist is a 15yo boy, so the majority of the book has been about him fantasizing and pining over a girl. Even the action scenes aren't enough to keep me interested. The main hero is a generic ripoff of Batman. which I think is intentional, but it's still really annoying. This book just really isn't for me.