3 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2020/09/16/bystander-27-by-rik-hoskin-review/

I’d class this as Punisher crossed with the Reckoners, but I’m not much of a comics guy so there could well be a closer match. There’s a heavy superhero/comic influence, mixed with a science-fiction/alternate world setting, and a bit of a mystery thrown in. It’s a curious combination—one that I feel could’ve been an amazing read when done right. While Bystander 27 did quite a few things right, it was far from perfect. Let’s get into it.

Ex-SEAL Jon Hayes has never felt so small.

With the Navy he’d served multiple tours all around the globe, battling terrorists in the Middle East and chasing cartels in South America. He returned to the States and married his dream girl, Melanie, before moving to New York to start their life together. But for a man who’d toured all around the globe New York might as well be a different world.

For New York is where the ‘Costumes’ hang out. Superpowered heroes and baddies overrun the place, battling it out in the streets on a daily basis. For the residents, it’s just a fact of life; pollution is annoying, traffic always terrible, and the costumes are out to play. Like the rest, Hayes does his best to ignore it, but is generally wowed along with the rest when the heroes take center stage.

Until Melanie is caught in the crossfire. She—along with their unborn child—is killed in a clash between Captain Light and the Jade Shade.

As Hayes struggles to come to terms with the loss, he uncovers a mystery at the center of the Costumes conspiracy. Deeper and deeper he digs, until the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur. But as Hayes pieces the mystery together, he must decide whether he’s after just the truth of the matter, or vengeance for his fallen family.

So… I’m really torn on this one. Bystander 27 does a lot of things right; it combines a compelling mystery with an action-packed thriller, a heavy does of science fiction, and a tangible sense of urgency—all within the head of a man overcome by grief, his life slowly descending into madness as his chase takes him down the rabbit hole. While it’s a fairly slow build, I never had trouble reading it. The mystery—it’s a good one—kept me interested until the very end, where everything kinda goes to hell. And while I absolutely hated the conclusion, I very much liked the epilogue tacked on the end. The thing is, Jon Hayes is a pretty good protagonist. He’s a bit ordinary, bland, and forgettable in the beginning, but that makes his character development all the more impressive. He literally goes from just another face in the crowd to an unforgettable piece of the puzzle. You know the puzzles that have one piece shaped like an apple? That’s Hayes. He’s an apple.

No matter how many things it does right, Bystander 27 is constantly in its own way. The fascinating mystery at the forefront is countered by a slow build and just strange language. Jon Hayes—who’s in his early 30’s—talks like a man from the mid-twentieth century. “Son of a gun”, flakes with hypno-discs and popguns”, and “punk kids on their way to band camp” highlight some of my favorites. It’s not used to replace anything explicit—the author still uses plenty of that—it’s just like something out of the fifties. Or a comic. Or a comic from the fifties. The language is… just strange.

The author is also constantly reminding us that Hayes was a SEAL. I mean, CONSTANTLY. I can understand the references to it in the beginning and at certain times that relate to backstory, but we’re reminded of Hayes’ SEAL training at least once a chapter through the first hundred pages. After that it drops off a bit only to pick up again, so that we’re still being told about his SEAL training past page 300.

The book’s conclusion—which I won’t talk much about—is unoriginal at best, and clichéd at the worst. That said, I liked the epilogue. Way more than the conclusion to the story, in fact.

The last thing I want to harp on is 9/11. It’s mentioned as the reason Hayes joined the Navy. In a world where superheroes have roamed downtown New York, Manhattan in particular, since the mid-Sixties, how exactly is 9/11 still a thing? Worse, it establishes the time of the story. I might’ve accepted the language being as it is in a story set before the seventies. But as a post-9/11 thing? Nope.

TL;DR

Something like a cross between the Punisher and Reckoners, or the novelization of a superhero comic book, Bystander 27 does a lot of things right. Possessive of a intricate mystery and very real character development, I never thought about giving up on it. Unfortunately, with a slow pace, dated if not odd language, and a clichéd ending—the book constantly made me question my decision not to bin it. At the end of the day Bystander 27 just can’t get out of its own way. And while it legitimately contains a good, even provocative story, in the end it just doesn’t deliver.

As a lifelong superhero genre fan, I’m thrilled to see fresh ways in which people twist it. Bystander 27 shows the world of vigilantes from the perspective of a bystander whose life was destroyed by superhumans doing their usual stuff (fighting, saving the planet, and more).

After witnessing a gruesome death of his pregnant wife during a super-powered battle, Jon Hayes’ becomes obsessed with superhumans. He tries to understand who they really are and why his wife died. His investigation reveals something weird - the crowds of spectators across multiple super fights are always the same people. He even spots himself and his family in recordings of such fights, in places they’ve never visited.

Hayes tries to uncover who calls the shots, and to exact his vengeance. Nothing in Bystander 27 is as it initially appears. The book contains at least a few layers of misdirection. It took me half its length to figure out what was going on and the other half to work out what it might mean.


In terms of theme, the idea is clever and flexible. It presents superheroes as a threat to normal people trying to live their lives. It fits into a fashionable trend of deconstructing the subgenre. Of course, Hikman isn’t the first to do it. Garth Ennis’ The Boys series changed people’s approach to the subgenre and its staples.

As a former SEAL, Jon has a lot of hidden skills, and he uses them to find the truth. Hikman captures, convincingly, his character’s paranoia and obsession but doesn’t develop him as much as I would like. Defined by his neuroses, and badass past, he remains two-dimensional. Fortunately, other things make up for it. Thanks to quickly paced plot and plenty of meta content, I finished the book in two sittings.

Bystander may seem basic in its premise, but it packs a strong and divisive twist near the end of the book. I didn’t like it and it soured my experience. I can see readers loving it, though. I don’t like characters interacting with their creators, that’s all. And I’ve probably said more than I should have.

Anyway, Bystander 27 has great pacing, plenty of action, and it packs a few nice twists. It doesn't break new ground, but it feels fresh. Worth a read.

A gripping and enjoyable read. I loved this superhero fantasy that kept me hooked and entertained till the last page.
The world building is excellent, I loved the storytelling and the character development, and couldn't put this book down.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

A gripping and enjoyable read. I loved this superhero fantasy that kept me hooked and entertained till the last page.
The world building is excellent, I loved the storytelling and the character development, and couldn't put this book down.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Bystander 27 is a thriller set in a world where superheroes are real; you walk past them in the street every day barely blinking an eye until one day their actions have a devastating impact on your life. This is exactly what happened to ex-Navy Seal Jon Hayes. Jon and his pregnant wife, Melanie, are living their best lives together awaiting the arrival of their baby as the perfect accompaniment to their partnership. When a violent altercation breaks out between superhero, Captain Light, and supervillain, The Jade Shade, Melanie is caught in the crossfire and is killed as collateral damage when a helicopter descends on her. Hayes really just wants to move on, to heal and to mourn his loss but he can't help but wonder why. He begins to investigate the superheroes and villains who inhabit the city alongside him and needs to know exactly who is behind the costumes and capes in order to gain justice for his late wife. But the deeper he dives the more dangerous and disturbing it becomes and he then comes to the realisation that the quest for truth is not going to be an easy one.

This is a gripping action novel with plenty of danger and dark deeds but with a touch of emotion too as we feel for protagonist, Jon, and his situation. It's a fun and highly entertaining read packed with strangeness — aliens, robots and fae roam the city and there is a selection of interesting gadgets mentioned throughout. I must admit that I rarely read superhero fantasy fiction as normally it isn't my thing but I found this engaging, well-plotted and decently paced and what I particularly appreciated was instead of the caped crusaders being front and centre in the story Jon, a bystander, was the central figure which makes a refreshing change. But when Melanie is killed he decides he must act rather than just stand by and look as it is the only way to achieve the justice he very much craves. His tenacity and ceaseless effort is admirable and makes clear just how much he loved his wife. The narrative flows easily and this is very much a book you can race through in a couple of hours. Oh, and the twist at the end blew me away. Unexpected and satisfying. Many thanks to Angry Robot for an ARC.