The Kid Sensation Series: Books 1-3

By: Kevin Hardman

Narrated by: Mikael Naramore

Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

Get the first three books in the Kid Sensation series.

Sensation (Kid Sensation book one)

Like millions of other kids, Jim grew up wanting to be a superhero. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, Jim actually had the goods: a plethora of super powers that would have been the envy of any meta on the planet. But when his tryout with the Alpha League - the world's premiere group of supers - goes disastrously wrong, Jim basically becomes an outcast.

Two years later, Jim is still bitter about what happened to him. However, he soon finds himself the centerpiece in an odd turn of events that gives him a second chance at his dream. It’s a lot for one super to handle, even with a smorgasbord of abilities. But if saving the world were easy, everyone would do it....

Mutation (Kid Sensation book two)

Having saved the planet and earned a place with the world’s premiere superhero team, Jim (aka Kid Sensation) is preparing to attend the prestigious Academy, where teen supers from every corner of the globe learn to master their abilities. At the same time, however, he is approached by a mysterious government organization that wants Jim to work for them - and they won’t take no for an answer.

Moreover, at the Academy itself, an insidious and highly contagious virus is running amok through the student population, striking at the heart of their abilities. Students are losing control of their powers, with lethal consequences....

Infiltration (Kid Sensation book three)

Having a surfeit of super powers is great for battling bad guys and saving the world, as Jim (aka Kid Sensation) is finding out, but less useful in dealing with day-to-day situations - like bonding with his superhero father, adjusting to a team environment, and coping with what might be perceived as a growing rivalry between himself and another teen super. On top of all that, despite having a serious girlfriend, he finds himself inexplicably drawn to a new female super he’s just met.

At the same time, some villain has just gotten himself a new toy: an unknown weapon of tremendous power that is able to strike without warning. It quickly becomes clear that the only way to stop this new evil is from within.

©2013 Kevin Hardman (P)2018 Kevin Hardman

Puberty and Superpowers

Ok, this is a coming of age story, and my headline might have been a little misleading, but Sensation is about a young man struggling to find his place in the world. Given that he has super powers that makes his task a little harder than most.

The book is a great straight forward good vs evil/ hero vs villain tale, but it really goes much deeper than that. It has, as Shrek would say, LAYERS. One might think that Kid Sensation is overpowered, but I really look at tis book as a text for what Superman would go through as a young man. I think a great point the first book makes is how he deals with rejection and being an outsider in a community that is already beyond regular humanity.

The action is great, and there is a mystery regarding a mole that will keep you guessing. Naramore does a great job narrating this book.

Book 2:

I generally start off with any perceived problems, and here are a couple: The book does start out a little slower than I'd have liked, but that is just set up and prep for the rest of th tale. There were a few parts that I had trouble understanding why things did or did not happen, such as when the kids were attacked. . . no one retaliated? Had one of those kids been mine then somebody would have been nibbling on their liver. Hardman seems to just be hitting his stride as a writer, as the book really picks up and gets to be fun and exciting. Any fan of superheroes would love this book.

Mikael Naramore does a great job narrating, he clearly puts his all into the process, and gives each character a unique voice, and their personalities shine through and apart from one another. This is a fun book, part 2 in a series, and you'll hope there are many more to come.

Book 3:

Hardman has continued to build up his heroic world. Kid Sensation is back in this third book. Naramore' narration, already great, has somehow continued to improve. I really think he is beginning to get into the swing of the series, and his enjoyment of the material really shows. The series itself is straitup popcorn chewing superheroics like you'd see on the big screen.

I do have one small nitpicky problem, and that is the way the story is set up. For the most part it seems very much like two seperate self-contained stories. They do tie together, but it just comes off like two short stories put together. Nothing wrong with that, I just think either idea could have been fleshed out into a full length tale to stand on their own. Hardman's writing is as fine and sharp as ever, and he is very aware that he might be writing for an audience that does not consist solely of adults, and he keeps it toned for a YA audience (just like most comic books). I would like to see Kid Sensation face a real rival of a villain later in the series, every hero needs a good nemesis.

Over all another top notch tale.

Get it, read it, love it.


This is a great book for Young Adults, my teens listened with me as we drove, and they really enjoyed the series. I really reccomend it for kids and adults, and fans of comic books or their movies will enjoy this set as well.

Just Good Fun

I've been drawn to series that involve super powers/LITRPG/Modern Fantasy as of late. This series fit that bill. Is it a great series? Not particularly, but it is a good one to listen to for just mellow enjoyment.

The main character is kind of ridiculously overpowered. Unfortunately, despite the author trying to portray him as some kind of genius, his shortcoming is a result of him thinking/acting like your typical teenager. For example, he tends to act before he thinks which results in a lot of moments where you want to palm your face. Nevertheless, overall it is still an enjoyable series to just sit back and listen while going about your business. Mikael Naramore does well as a narrator, though his range for character voices could be a little more varied. But I can't talk since I doubt I can do any better. If it was 1 credit for each book individually, I probably wouldn't recommend it. However, it is 1 for 3, so it's a good purchase.

awesome superheroes

This is a wonderful audiobook series narrated by Mikael Naramore, who does great voices for all of the characters in the Kid Sensation series and really brings that whole world alive for the listeners. Kevin Hardman's Kid Sensation series is a wonderful, action packed, suspenseful, full of surprises series that is awesome for middle graders and young adults, or anyone that likes superhero stories. The main character Jim, has it all, smarts, all kinds of super powers, but he is a teenager and thing don't always turn out the way he plans, sometimes that is good sometimes that is bad, it is a learning process even for superheroes.

it's good

Enjoyable story. lots of fun. few minor issues with it but overall a good read

so many different angles

I love this book there's so many different angles and there's so many things you could end up going even farther and different branch series if you tried

Solid. Just solid.

Firstly, I want to make it clear that I thoroughly enjoyed this book series. As an avid listener of superhuman stories, this one was clean and everything I expected. That being said, it was everything I expected, meaning there weren't many big twists or turns that I didn't see coming.

The author is a very good writer, to be sure. I didn't find myself thinking he was taking omniscience too far, nor did I find myself hating any characters. I did find many of the names of superhumans to be annoying. Some of them were either uninspired or just silly sounding. (Retread Fred and White Worm come to mind.)

It's easy to like the protagonist, Jim, although even his name seemed a little bit annoying. (Knowing that it's an acronym didn't help much.)

I kept wanting there to be more depth to certain characters or more exploration around certain characters. There is a wealth of untapped cast members to pull from if the series were to go into future installments and spinoffs. The diversity aspect seemed reasonable, unlike books by other authors who tend to whitewash the cast. That was definitely not the case here. I loved the fact that Jim's grandfather is dark-skinned and his grandmother is not even human, meaning his mother is biracial in a very unique sense, and Jim himself is also biracial...tri-racial? The fact that his mom writes romance superhero novels was clever.

I appreciate how the author managed to have a story centered around a teenage superhero without having it get overly sexual or focused on sexual themes. It's all too easy for that to happen when that is such a focus of so many real life teens.

I don't recall much cursing if at all, and I don't recall any sex scenes or use of substances or alcohol. I suppose I could even let my own kids listen to this story. It's a bit refreshing. I might even recommend this book series to kids as young as grade 4.

The super villains seem a bit too easily defeated for my taste, but maybe that's because this series is meant for a younger audience to appreciate. I like loose ends, so I did appreciate having a villain escape to places unknown here and there. I wish there was more exploration around The Academy before the story moved away from that locale. I think a lot more could have been done with that. (Maybe it'll happen in later books?) I also wanted to hear more about the inner workings of The Academy. It had a superhero Hogwarts vibe which was exciting and has potential.

All in all, I really wish that each book was longer so more could happen. There is a tendency with writing to try to keep it nice and neat and tie up loose ends. Sometimes you don't need to do that, and stretching it out is okay. I've read books that seem to go on forever, but I don't think anyone really minds that when it's a good read/listen.

I always end up sounding critical, but truly this was a very well done trilogy. I'm eager to see if there are other books in this series that continue the story.

Well done and I highly recommend. It's not an unexpected tale but it is everything you'd expect from the genre.

Great set of books.

Love the book set, definitely worth the money. The only thing I didn't like was in the story. The MC has a vast array of powers, which in fights, he seems to always forget he has them. He remembers his go to powers and only ever uses them. Even though he is supposed to be trained well to use his powers. So many times I said to myself, why doesn't he use this power. But frankly, if he used his powers to their maximum potential, he would be figuratively and literally untouchable! He is very OP. That's why not the 5 stars, he could have just given him his main 4 or 5 powers and called it a day, instead of hinting he has a slew of them and getting MORE all the time. Although he picked up only 1 that I can remember and it was 1 he wasn't even sure of.

A fun first book

The first book was rather enjoyable, a bit silly, and light, but I think that was the intent. The second book was contrivance upon contrivance. Which resulted in a very artificial, very brittle setting and story. Most of the second book felt like a room with three people A B and C. A is beating B while C watches with a gun, wanting to save B, but not doing anything because they don't want to hurt anyone. Read the first, pass on the second, I'll update my review if I listen to book 3.

Entertaining, not enough action.

Great story. Personally, it needed more action scenes for a superhero story. It was all you could expect a 16 year old kid to do, but for his power set and ingenuity, it was lacking on power dominance and description.

Good Book

At fist I thought the MC was a little over powerd but as the story kept going the character grew and developed very well.

Sensational book

Wow so glad I discovered this series, I just loved it and was hooked from the very start. It has everything you could want with a for good story - action, plot twists, mysteries super powers, family life, good guys and bad guys. What's even better is in this one book you get three great stories for the price of one. So what's stopping you from getting it?

Book one Sensation- A teenage boy finds himself talked into trying out to become a super hero but having previously tried out before where it ends disastrously he know he has his work cut out for him. To make matters worse there is also a bounty on his head, it's a good job he is a shape shifter. Things get really serious when a team of super villains start to target him.

This was a great story and a really good introduction to the characters and there individual powers.

Book two Mutation - Jim and his friends are off to super hero academy to learn how to become better hero's. School life is hard enough but add in a group of teenagers with powers and things are bound to go wrong. Then pupils start losing control of there powers and the virus seems to be spreading. Can Jim save the day?

I love the twists this book takes and the way Jim has to out smart his deadly foes and with all the action it keeps you listening. You could easily see this being made into a film.

Book three infiltration- With super heros popularity waning slightly from a few mishaps lately they decided to hold a charity competition between the teen super heros to boost morale. So Jim not only has to compete in the televised event but he also has to take down a mystery force that keep setting of bombs all before someone gets hurts and as the main targets seems to be his father he had better hurry.

I think this was the weaker story out of the three as there was a lot of information about the teenage trails which was fun but it took a long time before Jim engaged the hunt for the bad guys. Still worth listening too though.

I really liked the narrator and he definitely helped bring each of the characters to life.
I can't wait to start the next book in the series.

fantastic

what a set of fantastic Young Adult audiobook, they are well written by Kevin Hardman and narrated by Mikael Naramore. I look forward to more in the series xxxx

This series is an absolute delight start to finish.

It is a genuinely upbeat and positive story with many twists and turns to keep you guessing.

I love the character development of both the lead and side characters.

This is essentially a superhero story from an adolescent perspective but it feels grown up at the same time and covers a multitude of themes without ever straying over any social lines.

I genuinely hope that you give this book series a try.

I received a free review copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review which I have provided above.

Entertaining Superhero Fun

I received a free review copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I found all three audiobooks in The Kid Sensation Series: Books 1-3 series starter, a fun enjoyable listen filed with action, snark and humour. The narrator did a brilliant job giving life to the many different characters and also bringing each of the stories together as a whole. There are a few twists in each of the stories, a few which were obvious in my opinion and a few which were not, but nevertheless, I was thoroughly entertained and will be listening to more audiobooks by the author and narrator, especially this series.
As with all superhero stories, the superhero saves the day and prevails, in this case Jim(Kid sensation) saves the day/world from different foes with a little help from friends along the way in each story whilst learning what it means to become a superhero. But it is the journey that is action packed and entertaining which will have you coming back for the next story. In my opinion, definitely worth a listen.

Entertaining

These books are not my usual read probably would not read them in the future but as an audiobook they were highly entertaining and would listen to more

Great addition to the super hero genre!

I initially reviewed each book independently, but Audible doesn't allow me the space to post all 3 reviews, so here's a compilation of those reviews.
Book 1: Sensation
This was a very fun quick read. It’s reminds me of both Phipps’s Supervillainy series and of the modern TV show, The Flash. The Kid (aka Jim) is coming of age and he’s got all these powers. He’s living with his mom and his grandpa in a world where many people have some kind of super power. If you have one of these powers (or even more than one) you still have to pay rent. So many embellished humans work 8-5 jobs and generally have basic, boring lives.

My only complaint really is that it looks like The Kid Sensation is growing into multiple powers, so many that he’s nigh invincible. I generally like my superheroes to have weaknesses that they have to plan for or occasionally die from. For The Kid, this is balanced somewhat by his youth – lack of experience and a bit of naivety.
Book 2 Mutation:
Over all, it feels more like a YA book because it’s nearly all action, and what isn’t action is young people being awkward around each other trying to make that solid emotional connection. It was cute, fun, on that level. I would like a bit more depth and I think the series has solid potential for that.

The action kept me thoroughly interested in the story. There’s always something around the next corner, some further challenge for Sensation to face. I also enjoyed that not all Supers are created the same way – some are mutations, some are alien half breeds, some are not made of flesh and bone, etc. The story has a lot going for it big-picture wise. This tale closes with a solid ending, but leaving us ready to see what Sensation gets into in the next book. 4.5/5 stars.
Book 3 Infiltration:
This book really made the trilogy for me. Book 2 was good but not great. Book 3 raises the bar once again for this series. Book 2 had a touch of YA angst, which isn’t my cup of tea. Book 3 goes without that angst (hooray!). This story tests Jim a bit. The bad guys have some tech that the superheroes haven’t really explored and Jim has to stretch his abilities to pull off the infiltration. For me, the one little weakness of the story was that I never really worried for Jim’s safety. I knew he would win out. If the stakes were a little higher, it would add to the suspense.

The Narration: Michael Naramore is just a lot of fun to listen to. With clear diction and a range of voices, he’s got a good fit for all the characters. I loved his deeper voices (like for Alpha or Omen). He’s also got a teen voice for Jim and a grumpy old man voice for Jim’s grandad. His female voices are decent too, sounding feminine. The pacing was spot on and there were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion, which are 100% my own.

Great (Sensational?) value in this start to series

The most important question with any collected edition is whether or not the individual books are worth a listen as otherwise it still isn't good value, thankfully the three books in this collection are all enjoyable listens and another good jumping on point to this superhero world that the author has created.

The over-abundance of powers that Jim (aka Kid Sensation) has at his disposal compared with most heroes in the world of these books could easily end up being a lazy way to get round any difficulty if not handled properly, but the author manages to avoid falling into this potential trap with sensible limitations on the character, at other times using it as a plot point with how he interacts with other heroes and also the consequences of him being too reliant on his own powers. It will be interesting to see how the author deals with this issue in future books because it might become more tricky to get the right balance as Jim becomes more experienced with his powers.

The narrator did a good job with these books, his tone was clear throughout and was sufficiently distinctive with the main characters that it helped to draw me into the stories that much more.

Overall, this collection is a good entry point to this superhero world although Mouse's Tale also works very well in that respect too.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

A cool mix of YA and superman

Sensation
This is a world where super powers are not quite as uncommon as our world, it is a cool mix of YA and superman.
Jim is a normal teenage boy with all the usual teen issues to deal with, along with something extra, he seems to have more superpowers than all the other heroes put together and this doesn't make his life any easier.
I really enjoyed this book and didn't want to stop listening, unfortunately life got in the way and I had to take 2 sittings to finish the book.

Mutation
Now that Jim (aka Kid Sensation) has proven himself one of the good guys, he can finally join the Academy with the other teen supers and learn more about using his powers. However, when he gets there he finds that someone is using the place for a more nefarious purpose.
I really liked Jim, though he comes across a bit cocky, like most teenage boys I guess.

Infiltration
Kid Sensation is is really growing into his powers and getting better at combining them and coming up with plans to get out of any situation. This is particularly useful when he has to go undercover as a villain to find out how to battle a particularly powerful threat to the world and to the Alpha League,
I started this straight after finishing book 2 as I wanted more from Kid Sensation and his world. I really enjoyed it and was sorry when I finished.

Fantastic

This is a fantastic box set. Kept me awake most nights until I finished it. Absolutely amazing characters and brilliant storyline. I couldn’t get enough. I need he next one.
The narrator is spot on as always. Edge of the seat stuff.
I highly recommend this box set.😹😻👆

More a boys story.

This seems to have been written with a youth audience in mind. May get better as it goes on but not to my liking.