The Hero Next Door

By: Graham Bradley

Narrated by: Michael Drougas

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Meet Nick Stavros: Cheerleader extraordinaire and hopeless comic book addict. Senior year is about to begin, and if he plays his cards right, he'll get a scholarship to a school far from the watchful eyes of his helicopter parents.

That all goes out the window when Penny Tarkanian moves into the house behind Nick's. Tall, dark, and gorgeous, she instantly grabs Nick's attention, though he can't seem to get hers. Then one night at a football game, he sees her dressed in Amazon warrior garb, fighting monsters under the bleachers. Monsters that nobody else can see...except for Nick.

With countless pages of comic book knowledge to prepare him, Nick makes the boldest move of his life and decides to become a superhero. After all, he's immune to the monsters Penny hunts. Maybe if he helps her finish her mission, she'll finally take a close look at the boy next door.

©2017 Graham Patterson Bradley (P)2019 Graham Bradley

A slightly hilarious coming of age story

I'm not good at identifying specific genres, but I want to call it a fantasy teen/coming-of-age storyI laughed out loud a couple of times listening to it. There was a nice plot twist that caught me slightly by surprise (some decent misdirection pointed me a different way). I was underwhelmed by the narrator - some interesting use of digital alteration was decent, but his timing was off, and there wasn't much variety in character voices. it just came off kinda dead. I think I'd have enjoyed reading it better than listening to it. (there's significant teen romance stuff which isn't really my flavor, but for those who like it, it's probably a 5-star read.)

A great twist for the superhero genre!

Penny and the Amazons were really intriguing, and seeing Nick's arc play out the way it did was pretty impressive. I didn't expect it to have so much depth to it, what a great read for teens.

The Girl Next Door With a Twist

Everyone has a girl next door, but what if that girl was an incredible warrior that didn't know you existed? This was a great story, with a main character that many of us could relate to. I was having flashbacks to high school and loving every minute of it. A great story about how anyone can be a hero and find true happiness.

Minds eye

Your book came to life thanks to the narration done by Michael Drougas. It was a fantastic story with every plot twist I had hoped for. Didn’t see it coming that Nick was the host. Bravo to you ! I lived the characters. I’m not sure who was my favorite. Obviously Nick, as the main character, but I loved Grandma the best. I think we all had one like her. I’m very excited to hear that this is not the end of Nick Stavros. I look forward to the next book that you write and Michael Drougas narrates. I travel a great amount and the audio book is a blessing for me on my long road trips. Thank you!

Clever & cool

My only gripe with this audiobook is that Graham didn't narrate it himself! The narrator was still good, but I would have enjoyed hearing it read by the author (though I know that's not common).
Really good story. I'm not usually into fantasy but there was a good balance of fantasy & reality. I really enjoyed the listen!
10/10 would recommend.

A really fun read!

From the get go, I wanted to know the characters. The narration is engaging and I really enjoy reading it!

Solid entertainment

I've enjoyed Graham's books for quite some time, but this is probably one of my favorites. It's got a few twists that were unexpected, and I love that I was surprised! I recommend this book, and also this author!

Solid All Around

Overall, it's a very enjoyable book. The story was a little predictable at times, but nothing that would make you quit listening. I appreciated the change in voice to go along with when characters would change their voices, but it seemed like random passages would have different audio quality compared to the rest of story. All of this was ultimately unimportant, as I sped through the last half of the story. It's a nice high school story that is sure to enjoy.

lively cast off characters

wasn't sure if this book was for me but the narrator kept me intrigued. kudos.