Heroes are the worst. Jim Riven would know-he used to be one. Now he just wants to run his crumbling old bar and be left alone. Beer and chicken wings don’t try to vaporize him. Well, not since that one time.

But when remnants of his old life come calling, they bring the one reason he can’t ignore. Lock, a hero who died fighting for the Spectrum-the world’s premier hero team-may not be so dead after all. But if she’s alive, where has she been? Though Jim works hard at not caring about stuff, this is different. Lock was his sister, and the truth about her is hidden somewhere in the Spectrum’s base.

Sneaking in is easy. For the first time in years, the Spectrum has invited aspiring heroes to compete for recruitment. The hard part? Something has twisted the Spectrum’s minds, and now they’re hunting the recruits for sport. If Jim’s going to survive long enough to find the truth, he’ll have to work with a ragtag group of wannabe heroes-and one villain-all while keeping his true identity secret.

See? Heroes are the worst.

In a world where superheroes and supervillains are real, Jim Riven wants nothing more than to run his seedy bar and stay off everyone’s radar. He tried his hand at the superhero thing once before, and it ended up costing his older sister, Summer, her life. Now, heroes, villains, and superpowers are the last things he wants to think about.

Jim’s determination to stay off the grid falls by the wayside when Lord Neon contacts him with the information that Summer may still be alive. All he has to do is compete in the Dare, nominally a competition to recruit new members for the superhero team. Lord Neon’s enigmatic instruction: “Follow the green line.” But Jim barely has time to ponder the meaning of that inscrutable directive before he realizes that someone has taken control of the superheroes and converted them to supervillains. In the ensuing battle royale, he wonders if he’ll ever be able to solve the mystery of Summer’s disappearance.

Worst Hero Ever is an enjoyable potpourri of fantasy and science fiction. Everyone, it seems, including Jim, has a hidden superpower. The official superheroes may be imposing, but the challengers participating in the Dare show surprising ingenuity and resilience. Jim cracks lame jokes and spouts corny puns throughout, as becomes his jaded attitude toward the whole superhero milieu.

Yet through it all, despite his self-assessment as the “worst hero ever,” Jim’s better nature constantly shows through. Everyone he teams up with has baggage, but together, they form an effective fighting force.

Fantasy and science fiction are not genres I typically read, but I nonetheless enjoyed Worst Hero Ever after acclimating myself to its alternative universe. It’s a tale of swashbuckling adventure akin to Star Wars or some of the pirate epics from Hollywood’s golden age. It’s easy to read and fun. But watch out for the ending!

Archer Thorn was born in the same city as you, on the same day, in the same hospital. In the room next to yours, his mission began. He has hunted you day and night for your entire life. When you finish this book, he will be standing behind you. Run.