And honestly, this series has so much more than meets the eye, that I could have an entire blog around it. That's why I think it's smartest to open up something more about these stories, before bringing the man behind the keyboard out...
Notice, that this contains mild spoilers on both The Outlaw and Carmine saga's. So, if they're on your reading list and you want to be surprised by the end (which you will be!), then please stop reading now!
That said, you read right: It has two saga's. The Outlaw, which focuses on our favorite fictional quarterback, Chase Jackson. Carmine is all about his girlfriend Katie Lopez.
This book series is one of my favorite YA series's. It's right up there with Hunger Games and Harry Potter. Though not for the same reasons. Hunger Games and Harry Potter are Hero's Journey, told brilliantly In a way Millennial and Zoomer Kids enjoy them.
Outlaw is character-driven In the same way as these. It starts as a Hero's Journey. Chase has to grow from an amateur vigilante-detective to a celebrity-superhero In contemporary L.A (actually it's the dark not-too-distant future of 2017!).
It turns out, that the reason for his Inhuman reflexes and strength are, because he's In a group, that has been genetically modified, or infected, after birth. This group calls themselves The Infected.
The Infected have enhanced strength and reflexes. Many also have unique powers, like insanely magnetic charisma or ability to read and manipulate minds.
The Infected are lead by two masterminds: Carter and a man known as The Chemist. He’s a Voldemorty villain, with an obsession to Outlaw. Carter is not much better, except his followers don't worship him, like those of The Chemist.
These men hate each others guts and the plot centers around their conflict. Outlaw and his friends, both normal and Infected, fall between these two maniacs. Instead of having to pick a side, they have to do something more basic: survive. And then help others survive as well.
This becomes difficult, as the whole US government is drawn In the conflict, which soon becomes an all-out civil war between normal humans and the Infected. US is torn. Sound familiar?
It's hard to believe, that Alan Janney started this series In 2013 and finished it in 2018. It's so mirror-image of the chaos we're seeing by just tuning on any media. Outlaw starts with racial riots of unsatisfied Spanish communities and then progresses into a point, where The whole Western civilization is torn apart. It's really hard to say, whether to laugh or cry.
This plot could easily become disoriented mess, like Disney Star Wars, but thanks to Alan Janney's passionate urge to drive the story forward and likable characters, it stays enjoyable.
Though I have to admit, that I've only reached to the third act of Carmine. There's still three books to go. Carmine is the second saga of the series, that's post-apocalypse.
Just this progress makes it super interesting. It progresses like Mad Max movies, where The world crumbles more and more between each movie. Imagine if Mad Max had started from Max Rockatansky's time in police academy and then worked its way to end of the world. Hard to imagine, I know. Even harder to imagine, that it just works, like with Outlaw.
Granted, it does over-stay its welcome at times, but then it picks up the pace again and keeps us readers at the edges of our seats.
Outlaw is amazingly energetic and enjoyable series and a welcome addition to a tired superhero genre. Tired? Sure, but only In the mainstream media. There are lots of original superhero stories from passionate writers. Tom Reynolds's Meta and Alan Janney's Outlaw will be classics of this bunch. But there are others, if you know where to look. And there will be more.
How Did you like the Outlaw? What other superhero novels come to your mind? Please comment below. Also, don't forget to share this in your social media. Next week, I'll be interviewing the man behind the Outlaw, Alan Janney himself!
Till then, check out the Outlaw yourself from here!
Thanks for reading!
-Alex
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