Model Actress Whatever

From the acclaimed critic and award-winning author of Anno Dracula comes a bitingly satirical story of superheroism, soap opera and alternative reality — for readers of Austin Grossman’s Soon I Will Be Invincible and George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards.

When Chrissie Chambers (model actress whatever) discovers her soap opera character is about to be killed off, she finally stops dieting and discovers hitherto untapped supernatural abilities. Meanwhile, Chrissie’s aunt – former national heroine Lady Shade – goes missing. Afraid for Jasmine’s safety and itching to costume-up, Chrissie and her ghost-possessed best friend Loulee break into Devil’s Dyke, the asylum where Jasmine works as a therapist with the most dangerous cutthroats (supervillains) in Britain… only to find the inmates have taken over… Chrissie debuts successfully as a cloak (superheroine), but who will become the arch-nemesis of Lady Shade II?

In Chrissie’s timeline, the Beatles didn’t split up and recorded a hallucinodelic album in 1972 – Never Mind (strictly, Never Mind the Beatles) – which literally changed the world. Set in an alternative 2020s London, this hugely entertaining, darkly humorous superhero tale is packed with Newman’s trademark wit, and comes with wickedly sharp edges.