The Hero Virus - Russell Dumper

It's been a little while since my last review, life got in the way for minute there! Fear not, I'm back in action today and back with a real treat for you all.

Before we jump in, I'd like to thank Russell Dumper for personally sending me a copy of his fantastic book. Whilst this isn't my usual read, I really enjoyed the ride and am begging Netflix or Channel 4 to make this story into this decade's Misfits.

Without further ado, let's jump in!

Trigger and Content Warnings

TWs:

• Violence

• Animal death

• Pandemic and illness

• Suicidal ideation

• Institutional abuses of power

Tropes

• Troubled protagonist

• High stakes

• Dystopian (the very beginning of a potential dystopia)

Book Summary

Chris Taylor wake up every morning to play Russian Roulette. Having recently lost his pregnant wife, and only having his dog to live for, he's decided to leave it up to the universe to decide whether he lives or dies. But the universe has other plans for Taylor...

Suddenly his trusty Labrador becomes violently ill and dies, and it's not until Taylor himself contracts the same violent illness does his life finally seem to have purpose. The sickness has given him superhuman powers, and soon the authorities are swarming around Taylor and those he's close to.

The Hero Virus might be different to other illnesses, but it’s no less dangerous. Not everyone lives to discover their powers. And those who do? Who knows what they'll do or how they'll impact the world?

My Reading Journey

I'll start off by saying that whilst this isn't my usual kind of read, I found the story really entertaining. But whilst I enjoyed the story, I must say that where Russell Dumper really excels is with his characters and their journeys. Chris Taylor and his group of friends are really relatable. All are ex-rugby players, except their friend of Indian descent who prefers cricket (this is told in a really tongue in cheek way, which made me laugh), but whilst growing up together they have all diverged, with Chris' best friend becoming a conspiracy theory blogger and a bit of an incel. Weirdly, this made everything feel more realistic; as people grow they discover weird parts of the internet and turn into different people.

I enjoyed the realism of that, and how it showed how good people can become corrupted by misinformation and, later in the story, by power. The conflict mostly stems from how something that should and could be used for good can become twisted and self serving.

I must say, however, my favourite aspect of the plot is how Chris finds his purpose after losing everything he held dear. His finding his place in a world completely changed was a great allegory for grief as a whole.

Peaks

• The portrayal of Taylor's grief and subsequent depression was really well done. I really felt for him, and felt his struggle towards acceptance. The grieving journey was written so sensitively, and (in my personal experiences) accurately.

• The pacing was fantastic. There was absolutely no 'dead air' or filler, however sometimes I could've used a beat to catch up emotionally.

• Even the side characters seemed true to life. Taylor's group of friends felt very much like people we all could have gone to school with and grown up with.

• The Britishness. I really enjoyed reading about familiar settings and characteristics, but for me the types of humour were really comforting. I've spoken about this a few times, but as much as I love books from American authors, it's just really comforting sometimes to read something you can see yourself in culturally.

  
  

Pits

• I hated the scene where Herodotus dies. Having lost pets quite suddenly myself, I found this really hard to read, especially considering how violently the poor pooch died.

• The lack of fleshed out female characters. Thankfully there wasn't that icky 'boobed boobily' misogynistic characterisation per se, but there just wasn't a living memorable female character.

• I'm unsure on the ending. Was it a cliff-hanger, or just open-ended?

• The main character is called Chris Taylor. His friends all call him Chris, but all the narration refers to him as Taylor. For whatever reason, I found that jarring.

The BookCat’s 9 Lives

I would read this in six out of nine lives.

The breakdown:

Writing style 😻

Pacing 😻

Plot and storyline 😻

World building 😻

Magic system 😿

Originality 😻

Emotional impact and engagement😿

Lasting impact 😿

Character development 😻

Thank you for reading my latest review, please let me know below how you found it and any way that would improve my future reviews.

Life before death, fellow Radiants <3