The Masked Family

By: Robert T. Jeschonek

Narrated by: Randy Hames

Meet Cary Beacon, a superhero in his own mind. Cary's mission to rescue his kidnapped stepkids leads him to Mexico, where he teams up with El Yucatango, a gonzo masked wrestler on a mission of vengeance. As Cary and El Yucatango fight the battle of their lives to save the kids, Cary's disappearance forces together his fractured family back home, torn apart by a fiery tragedy years ago.

The parallel quests of Cary and his family link to an explosive moment in true-life history: the KKK's 1924 siege of the immigrant mining town of Lilly, Pennsylvania, which left a curse on the Beacon family. Can delusional Cary break the curse? If he and his siblings reunite as their childhood backyard alter egos, The Nuclear Family, maybe they stand a chance.

©2012 Robert T. Jeschonek (P)2012 Robert T. Jeschonek

Critic reviews

"Robert T. Jeschonek is a towering talent." (Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author)

"Robert Jeschonek is the literary love child of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman - his fiction is cutting edge, original, and pulsing with dark and fantastical life. His stories suck me in and refuse to let me go until the last page, even as his characters are busy stealing my heart." (Adrian Phoenix, critically acclaimed author of The Maker's Song series and Black Dust Mambo)

"It's about the people behind the masks - the former Klansman who devotes his life to helping the oppressed, the loony luchador who wants one last chance at cosmic retribution, and the steadfast and earnest tiny tots of the Nuclear Family." (Eric Searleman, SuperheroNovels.com)

Starts a little confusing but worth it!!!

The books jumps amongst 3 different time periods, and at first seemed too confusing to follow well. BUT it is worth the read-- comes together rather expertly, with wonderfully lively characters. Great extended metaphor of "mask" throughout, and what being a superhero really means. Worth it!

Awful

What disappointed you about The Masked Family?

Uninteresting storyline and characters. Awful, redundant prose. I rarely give up on a book, but the writing was so awful that I yelled in frustration at the author on several occasions and didn't even get through the first half.

Has The Masked Family turned you off from other books in this genre?

I'm not even sure what genre this is.

Did Randy Hames do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Yes, the narration was OK.

What character would you cut from The Masked Family?

All of them.