The Horror of Supervillainy

By: C. T. Phipps

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

Gary Karkofsky, a.k.a. Merciless: The Supervillain Without MercyTM, has decided to give up supervillainy and embrace the path of righteousness. Unfortunately, he's terrible at it, and no one wants him to be their superheroic protector. That all changes when a talking raven arrives with the perfect quest to make his mark: Rescue the president's daughter from Dracula. 

Unfortunately, Gary is being led into a trap. The location of Dracula's castle is in Satan Swamp, which is where Gary suffered one of the few defeats of his life. There's also a camp full of superpowered children, the return of alternate reality allies, a pair of psycho killers in love, and the return of an old enemy. 

Enjoy the latest installment of the Supervillainy saga!

©2021 Charles Phipps (P)2021 David N. Wilson

Why, oh why do they keep underestimating Gary?!

It’s been a long, painful wait for the next Supervillainy Saga book and I was so happy when I saw that Book 7 was out, available, and narrated by the great Jeffrey Kafer. Gary continues to be too good to be a great villain yet too insane to be a good hero. But that’s okay, he always carves out his own place and plays by his own rules. Of course, if you are reading a review for Book 7, I’m assuming you’ve at least read or listened to a few of these books and know all that. And if you haven’t, you really, really need to start. Go and get Book 1 now!

Book 7 initially seemed to be looser on plot than some of the previous books, but in the end, everything came together so well that I couldn’t believe I didn’t see it coming. However, the insanity reaches new heights at the end of the book, so I don't even know where it can go here -- I hope there’s still more Supervillainy Saga to come. To say more would give it away, but this book is full of the same great puns, pop culture references, and crazy, Gary-related antics as the other books in the series. And just like in some of the more recent books in the series, there are some guest characters (both new and old friends) that really make this story enjoyable.

I can’t say enough good things about Jeffrey Kafer, he rocks all the voices, both male and female, including the numerous accents that I’m sure Phipps writes into the books just to challenge him. Kafer had always been on my “good” narrator list, but after listening to seven books in the Supervillainy Saga, he’s right up there at the top.

Special thanks to C.T. Phipps, who provided me with this book at my request.

This book is off the chain!

Super Villian with a conscience, snarky birds, werewolves, weredeer, zombies, super heros, psyco killers and Dracula thrown in for good measure! I could not have asked for more! I love this series!

good fun

I've enjoyed all of the series, but at this point I I kinda hope the series is near its end...
its lost what originally made it great

Sarcasm & Sass - love it!

Haha! Another great addition to the Supervillainy Saga! I loved the sassy talking raven (who is named David Niall Wilson, who is an actual author and now I need to go read his stuff). I can visualize a sassy raven writing horror stories. So Gary is stuck with this raven as he mucks about saving the President’s daughter. Being a superhero is way less fun and rewarding than being a supervillain.

Plenty of favorite characters from the previous books pop in as well as a few new ones, like the psycho killers The Accountant and Final Girl. If you’ve read Psycho Killers in Love then you will recognize these two and know their worth right away. But Gary doesn’t know them and trust has to be earned. It was a great mashup because there’s Dracula and Satan’s Swamp. You need some heroes who can handle slashers.

Full of pop culture references and great one-liners, this fast-paced urban fantasy will have you laughing even as you cheer on the heroes.. er supervillains… er kinda superheroes. That crooked sheriff had me laughing because he gets his butt handed to him. It was also great to see Jane Doe and Agent G. I was laughing at the easy-access magic that surprised Jane but makes total sense for Gary’s world.

Some of the more serious moments revolved around Gary and Jane. They have a great friendship, or they did until Gary kicked her out at the end of the last book. To Gary’s credit, he was trying to keep his friends safe. Yet Jane is in the right too. She’s an adult, has some great powers, and it she felt she should have had a choice in the matter. But I’m sure these two can repair their friendship.

Overall, the story has plenty to keep me engaged and entertained. I love those little moments of seriousness to balance all the sass and sarcasm. I laughed my butt off listening to this book. 5/5 stars.

The Narration: Jeffrey Kafer has long been a favorite and it was great to hear him return to the Supervillainy Saga. As usual, he had a variety of voices for this cast of characters. I love how he sounds fully engaged in the story, like he’s enjoying telling us the story as much as I’m enjoying hearing it. His female voices are believable and I like his monster voices too. He’s also great at adding in emotion to the tale, as needed. The pacing is perfect and there are no tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are 100% my own.

another great book by C.T Phipps

What can I say besides the fact I love this book like I love the entire supervillany saga. C.T. Phipps is always worth listening to and I love how he continues to not disappoint me. I will listen to any books this man writes. He is amazing.

Oh the possibilities

Usually when a series gets this long, the stories tend to run dry and repetitive, but here, Gary is by himself a lot of the story. This was a new territory that had yet to be explored. The best aspect of this book is the setting up for the ever expanding universe that the Gary lives in. I cannot wait for future books.

Thank you

I've been waiting for this book to come out. I was super excited excited for all the cross overs that happened. If you haven't read this series start at the beginning and devour the story!

Just as good as the rest of the series

If you're this far into the series, chances are you already like it.

Well get ready to enjoy more.

A LOT of fun, as usual

I hope Phipps never runs out of ideas. These books are a blast. Kafer is the king of snarky narration.

This series is a lot of fun.

Always love to be back in the world of Gary Karkofsky a.k.a Merciless: The Supervillain without Mercy™. The Horror of Supervillainy starts off with Gary reading Harry Potter again (though he erases his memory of them so he can experience them for the first time all over again, and who wouldn’t do that, with so many great series if they had that ability?) when a talking raven shows up in his office. David, the talking raven, wants to hire Merciless to rescue the president’s daughter from Dracula.

Of course that isn’t as straightforward as it sounds, nothing with Gary and the gang is never what it seems. For one, there are many different universes and time isn’t always linear. Throughout this series, there are many different worlds Gary inhabits and the rules aren’t always the same. The same is true here and he is even in more than one world and in an area that is between worlds. This gives the author a lot of room to change things up, so something that happened before is able to be changed in future books. So someone can die in a previous book and be back to life here (hey, the way Phipps handles bringing a character back to life better than the fact that they gave Jedi’s healing powers that didn’t exist for the first eight movies).

So, not only does Gary basically have to not fall into the trap set for him, he again, has to save the world and his friends. Gary has gotten quite a few friends over the years. I really enjoyed Jane Doe (the weredeer from the Bright Falls Mysteries series) and Case/G (sentient robot from Agent G series), not to mention Cindy (Red Riding Hood from this series and Gary’s mistress and mother to one of his kids), Mandy (vampire also from this series and Gary’s wife??, are they still married if she’s dead, this is something that Gary ponders in the story).

Anyway, this story has everything I expect from a C.T. Phipps story. Fun characters that love to be snarky and throw out one-liners. More pop culture references than you can shake a stick at. But mostly, these stories are just fun to get lost in, which we all need after the past year of lockdown. Between the fun banter and the amazing narration, I really get lost in the story when I’m listening to the audiobooks. The stories aren’t deep, but they’re so enjoyable. I always look forward to my next book set in this universe (and there are many series that all live in this universe, each series can be read on their own or as part of the group, though I do recommend starting each series at the beginning, but I’m a stickler for that with every series). If you’re looking for a story to just have a good time with fun characters, this is a great series for that.

Narration:
Jeffrey Kafer really helps make this series what it is (I’ve never tried to read the books, only listened, so I can’t comment about how it is to read these). He really brings out all the characters personalities. Kafer has no problems with the large cast of male, female and even children in this series. I’ve never heard Kafer pick a voice that didn’t match the character perfectly. If you’ve never listened to him perform an audiobook, you’re really missing out.

**I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.

A perfect duo!

Sonny & Cher, Ben & Jerry's, Bert & Ernie... now its C. T. Phipps & Jeffery Kafer!

This series has gone from strength to strength. I've never considered myself a geek until I started listening to this series and have understood all the references without having to Google them!

Mr P's imagination and skill at writing combined with Mr K's ability to bring the characters to life has really made this series for me.

It's got something for everyone in the book & having both the author and voice artist not taking themselves too seriously at times really makes it for me.

CT phipps is as brilliant as ever.

wonderfully funny pop culture reference filled story. Great pace of action and comedy. one note you must read the earlier books in the series as this is the culmination of the story lines from the previous books. the audio performance is brilliant when I hear Gary voice its Jeffrey krafer voice . some performer just become the character like Alex Gunness being obi one kenobe even when it's ewan magregor. hope Gary was telling the truth when he quipt about 12 books.

“I am pathologically incapable of taking anything seriously”

Well, all of Charles’ books are great, but I think this was my favourite so far! The vast amount of pop-culture snark and wit had me laughing out loud! The self acknowledgment of just how ridiculous it all is is brilliant in itself!
I was definite sad to get to the end!
As usual Jeffrey does a brilliant job telling the tale and does a far better job bringing the characters and story to life than I ever could!
In summary: brilliant and buy it now!
This is my honest opinion on a free review copy.

What's not to love?

I can't help but be a fan, these are some of the most laughable, loveable books I've listened to over the years. Like coming home :)

Jeffery and CT are the team I'm gonna love forever... no kidding. When there're books out by these two, I'm there. Happy to say I got out walking again just to listen to this. :) considering it's been a long time, thank you. Also, when I was at home and finishing this off... You kept Bobby entertained and literally stuck to my phone. Never seen him do that. o.0

If you love the other books you're going to love this, some of the same snarky characters that give Gary a ton of stick, and those who just compliment him in the best ways. There's so much fun, pop references you can't not know.... like really.

Some brilliant cross over characters from his other series, I really enjoyed this because it's not always something that works. This works :) and you'll not be disappointed.

This is 7 books in, I now know there's hopefully a ton more! excellent laughs and wonderful characters. I really hope it never ends. (Plus my fav character Mandy, and aliens and Jane! I know the history, this just was great)

If I could give over 5 stars on this series I would. My fav all round.

Keep them coming, can't wait on the next!

Comic book world sort of

I enjoyed this book. This is book seven in the humours mixed up world of Gary Karkofsky, a super villain no scratch that super hero no not that either ...hmm the world's biggest film fan. You definitely need to check out the rest of the books in this series and in order because well it is about super hero's and villains that can time travel and no body is really dead, well maybe. There is a lot of film references, one liners, quips and action. You are never sure who you can trust or where the story will take you but the one for sure is its going to be a lot of fun. Hmm nope I can't think of a film quip to put in here so I guess I will just leave it to the very talented author to do it for me.
Gary Karkofsky tried it as a super villain but ended up losing to many of his friends or killing villains that was acting worse then him all in time order to take over the world. Also in the hopes that he won't screw up the world for his daughters, anymore than it all ready is.So he is trying his hand at being a super hero but with nobody trusting him after what his doppelganger did he is left sat in his office reviewing murder she wrote episodes until he gets a client. The Presidents daughter has been kidnapped by Dracula and taken to the Satan Swamp. At the same time something weird is happening to the world and realities are merging and people that are meant to be dead and friends are coming back as enemies. It seems the fate of the world is once again in Gary's hands. His old teammates have all deserted him and he will need to team up with a new team to get the job done.
I like Jeffrey Kafer as a narrator, he has just the right sounding voice for Gary and the many characters in this book and helps to make the story fly by or it's time travel.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.