Staff Pick
If you enjoy thrilling urban fantasies filled with rivalry and flush with characters that you'll hate to love and love to hate, Vicious is the right book for you. Two college students, Victor and Eli, will do anything (seriously, anything) to figure out how to give themselves superhuman abilities. When their experiments go wrong and only one pays the price, he is determined to make his old friend pay. They are both so morally gray, it might take you a while to figure out whose side you're on. Recommended By Brianna B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A trade paperback repackage of New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab's Vicious, a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers--now with a new cover
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates--brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find--aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge--but who will be left alive at the end?
In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.
"A dynamic and original twist on what it means to be a hero and a villain. A killer from page one...highly recommended " --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Universe vs The Avengers and Patient Zero
Synopsis
A trade paperback repackage of New York Times bestseller V.E. Schwab's Vicious, a masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, and superpowers which will include:
*A new cover by Wil Staehle, cover artist of the iconic Shades of Magic trilogy covers
*Schwab's Tor.com short story set within the Vicious universe, "Warm Up"
*A teaser for the upcoming sequel, Vengeful
Victor and Eli started out as college roommates--brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find--aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge--but who will be left alive at the end?
In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.
"A dynamic and original twist on what it means to be a hero and a villain. A killer from page one...highly recommended " --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Marvel Universe vs The Avengers and Patient Zero