From the acclaimed critic and award-winning author of Anno Dracula comes a bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera and alternative reality -- for readers of Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible and George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards.
When Chrissie Chambers (model actress whatever) discovers her soap opera character is about to be killed off, she finally stops dieting and discovers hitherto untapped supernatural abilities. Meanwhile, Chrissie’s aunt - former national heroine Lady Shade - goes missing. Afraid for Jasmine’s safety and itching to costume-up, Chrissie and her ghost-possessed best friend Loulee break into Devil’s Dyke, the asylum where Jasmine works as a therapist with the most dangerous cutthroats (supervillains) in Britain… only to find the inmates have taken over… Chrissie debuts successfully as a cloak (superheroine), but who will become the arch-nemesis of Lady Shade II?
In Chrissie’s timeline, the Beatles didn’t split up and recorded a hallucinodelic album in 1972 – Never Mind (strictly, Never Mind the Beatles) – which literally changed the world. Set in an alternative 2020s London, this hugely entertaining, darkly humorous superhero tale is packed with Newman’s trademark wit, and comes with wickedly sharp edges.
Genre: Science Fiction
When Chrissie Chambers (model actress whatever) discovers her soap opera character is about to be killed off, she finally stops dieting and discovers hitherto untapped supernatural abilities. Meanwhile, Chrissie’s aunt - former national heroine Lady Shade - goes missing. Afraid for Jasmine’s safety and itching to costume-up, Chrissie and her ghost-possessed best friend Loulee break into Devil’s Dyke, the asylum where Jasmine works as a therapist with the most dangerous cutthroats (supervillains) in Britain… only to find the inmates have taken over… Chrissie debuts successfully as a cloak (superheroine), but who will become the arch-nemesis of Lady Shade II?
In Chrissie’s timeline, the Beatles didn’t split up and recorded a hallucinodelic album in 1972 – Never Mind (strictly, Never Mind the Beatles) – which literally changed the world. Set in an alternative 2020s London, this hugely entertaining, darkly humorous superhero tale is packed with Newman’s trademark wit, and comes with wickedly sharp edges.
Genre: Science Fiction
Praise for this book
"Somehow manages to be futuristic and nostalgic at the same time." - M A Bennett
"Anarchic, exuberant and endlessly inventive. This may be the best superhero movie I've ever read." - M R Carey
"The powerline connection between Michael Moorcock and the spangly multiverse lunacy of the present moment, this is an exciting, literary, urgent venture into what happens to super heroes as they cross the Atlantic, and why. Newman transcends pastiche and ends up telling the truth very loudly. Unmissable." - Paul Cornell
"With Model Actress Whatever, the always transgressive Kim Newman subverts the superhero genre with all the aplomb that he brought to vampires in Anno Dracula." - Stephen Jones
"Set in an alternate history Enlightened by a magically mysterious Beatles' chord, Model Actress Whatever brings Newman's Diogenes Club series bang up to date and dives deep into the superhero mythos. Fast and furiously funny, exuberantly imaginative and achingly hip, this is Newman at the top of his game." - Paul McAuley
"Newman's trademarks are razor-sharp prose, a biting wit and big finishes you never see coming but always feel inevitably perfect - all of which are fully on display in Model Actress Whatever. This is a spectacular, alt-reality superhero story, almost operatic in its scale, and splendidly Newmanesque. Highly recommended." - A G Slatter
"What if Austin Powers (only filmed by Brits) had a baby with EastEnders (also filmed by Brits), and it grew up to be a (British) version of the Adam West era Batman, driving a Jensen Interceptor?" - Charles Stross
"Kim Newman's florid fantasies can't be pitched as a cross between this and that, they're an explosion of genre TNT in pop-art baubles of verbal delight that fizz on the page." - Stephen Volk
"Anarchic, exuberant and endlessly inventive. This may be the best superhero movie I've ever read." - M R Carey
"The powerline connection between Michael Moorcock and the spangly multiverse lunacy of the present moment, this is an exciting, literary, urgent venture into what happens to super heroes as they cross the Atlantic, and why. Newman transcends pastiche and ends up telling the truth very loudly. Unmissable." - Paul Cornell
"With Model Actress Whatever, the always transgressive Kim Newman subverts the superhero genre with all the aplomb that he brought to vampires in Anno Dracula." - Stephen Jones
"Set in an alternate history Enlightened by a magically mysterious Beatles' chord, Model Actress Whatever brings Newman's Diogenes Club series bang up to date and dives deep into the superhero mythos. Fast and furiously funny, exuberantly imaginative and achingly hip, this is Newman at the top of his game." - Paul McAuley
"Newman's trademarks are razor-sharp prose, a biting wit and big finishes you never see coming but always feel inevitably perfect - all of which are fully on display in Model Actress Whatever. This is a spectacular, alt-reality superhero story, almost operatic in its scale, and splendidly Newmanesque. Highly recommended." - A G Slatter
"What if Austin Powers (only filmed by Brits) had a baby with EastEnders (also filmed by Brits), and it grew up to be a (British) version of the Adam West era Batman, driving a Jensen Interceptor?" - Charles Stross
"Kim Newman's florid fantasies can't be pitched as a cross between this and that, they're an explosion of genre TNT in pop-art baubles of verbal delight that fizz on the page." - Stephen Volk
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