Secret Identity

A Novel

By: Alex Segura

Narrated by: Aida Reluzco

This program features original sound design.

From Anthony Award-winning writer Alex Segura comes Secret Identity, a rollicking literary mystery set in the world of comic books.

It’s 1975, and the comic book industry is struggling, but Carmen Valdez doesn’t care. She’s an assistant at Triumph Comics, which doesn’t have the creative zeal of Marvel nor the buttoned-up efficiency of DC, but it doesn’t matter. Carmen is tantalizingly close to fulfilling her dream of writing a superhero book.

That dream is nearly a reality when one of the Triumph writers enlists her help to create a new character, which they call “The Lethal Lynx”, Triumph's first female hero. But her colleague is acting strangely and asking to keep her involvement a secret. And then he’s found dead, with all of their scripts turned into the publisher without her name. Carmen is desperate to piece together what happened to him, to hang on to her piece of the Lynx, which turns out to be a runaway hit. But that’s complicated by a surprise visitor from her home in Miami, a tenacious cop who is piecing everything together too quickly for Carmen, and the tangled web of secrets and resentments among the passionate eccentrics who write comics for a living.

Alex Segura uses his expertise as a comics creator as well as his unabashed love of noir fiction to create a truly one-of-a-kind novel - hard-edged and bright-eyed, gritty and dangerous, and utterly absorbing.

©2022 Alex Segura (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2022, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2022, NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed

This was written for me! ❤

There is nothing generic or forgettable about Secret Identity. This is just the kind of mystery book that I love - the kind where the mystery is only part of the story. There is a whole world here. The characters exist outside of the crime. Carmen is an excellent protagonist, and she's very convincing. I’ve read about ten mystery books this year, and she is my favorite crime solver. Segura did a great job with all the characters. Even characters that are involved in shady business are empathetic.

There is so much flavor here. This is a slow-burn noir with social commentary, and the main character has a troubled past. As a Cuban-American, I loved all the cultural references. I’m not used to any cultural representation in the types of books I prefer, so that was pretty cool. As someone who grew up loving superheroes before they went mainstream, this was such a treat. The historical aspects took me down a rabbit hole, and I was googling a lot about the comic book industry after finishing the book.

I enjoy stories within stories when they’re done well, so I was thrilled with every scene of the Lynx. The actual comic book pages in the ebook looked fantastic, and the audiobook did such a great job in differentiating the comic book from the rest of the narrative. I listened to the entire audiobook before even looking at the ebook, and I was never confused. The narrator was outstanding and really made the story come to life.

I loved Secret Identity. It’s like this was written for me. This was a credit well spent.