Four More Free Audiobook Excerpts for Advent 12. The four are performed by Michael Stafford, Luke Castle, and Khai Lannor. These are my gifts for you for Advent Day 12.
This is a great book to start with if you haven’t tried any Andy Zach book before. It contains stories from both his Life After Life zombie comedy series and his superhero story Super Secrets. It also shows you Zach’s sense of humor (plus there’s one little horror story that isn’t overly gruesome). This book is great for both kids and adults and works just fine on it’s own.
I loved the silly story of the flying zombie cucumbers. Ha! Very fanciful. And they have migratory routes, like butterflies! Very silly and had me chuckling. I also loved the story with the hamster (who does play a role in Secret Supers). Perhaps rodents will truly save the world some day.
The stories also help fill in some of the blanks of the zombie comedy series, including one about Diane (the beloved zombie mother-in-law). But what I really liked was the stuff about genetic engineering and the aliens. Book 3 of the Life After Life Chronicles had a lot of stuff tossed into the story and some of these short stories really help fill those parts out.
All around, it’s a fun collection of tales. 5/5 stars.
The Narration: Michael Stafford was a good pick for narrating this anthology. While the Life After Life series and the Secret Supers use different narrators, Stafford was a good inbetween voice. He had unique voices for all the characters and his female voices sounded feminine. I also liked his kid voices for the Secret Supers kids. The pacing was good and there were no tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
I also have an audio dramatization of one of my favorite stories from the book on Youtube. Enjoy!
Four More Free Audiobook Excerpts – Secret Supers
Secret Supers audiobook
Luke Castle is my narrator for this book. I selected him because he was a teenager, like my superhero characters. They are Jeremy Gentle, a nerdy genius with cerebral palsy. Dan Elanga, a Cameroon immigrant who was blind. Kayla Verdera, a former cheerleader who got spinal meningitis, lost her voice, and sense of balance. Aubrey Wilcosky, a softball-playing athlete who lost two legs in a car accident.
I love that someone is writing fun superstories in which disabled and differently abled kids can see themselves as potentially brave and heroic. The story doesn’t just show them doing impossible things that fully abled people can’t even do; it shows them using their heads to solve problems and cooperating together to use their different gifts to change the world for the better. And it’s well told, with a youthful sounding narrator that highlights the 12-13 years of the characters.
I received this free audiobook and voluntarily left this honest review.
Four More Free Audiobook Excerpts – Villain’s Vacation
“Sorry to leave you in the lurch, Darla, but we’ve got to go and help,” said Aubrey.
“What can you do?”
“More than you think.”
“I’ve already called my car,” said Jeremy.
“Your car? You’re not old enough to drive,” asked Darla.
“I made a flying car. I can summon it here. See, there it is.”
Darla’s, the cheerleaders’, Rich’s, and the football players’ mouths dropped open as Jeremy’s car came flying down the street, as fast as any other car. Jeremy and Dan had modified it so it had a rumble seat in the back for Kayla and two running boards with grips and safety lines like a fire truck, for Dan and Aubrey to stand.
“That is SO COOL,” screamed Darla.
The Secret Supers climbed into the car. Jeremy transferred carefully from his wheelchair to the driver’s seat, not using his telekinesis.
“We’ll come back if we can. Watch my electric wheelchair,” said Jeremy as they zoomed off.
“Wow, Jeremy! You’re really going fast,” said Aubrey over the rushing wind.
“I told you I was getting stronger. I think we’ll have to modify this again for full seats for you and Dan.”
“Hurry,” said Dan. “They’re trapped in the basement!”
“Okay, let me open her up.” The car sped up, and they began passing other cars on the road.
“Fifty-five, sixty miles an hour! That seems to be my limit, now. Hey, did someone call the fire department?”
“I did before we started,” said Dan. “Oh hurry!, The smoke is getting thick! They’re lying on the basement floor with wet clothes over their faces!”
A line of cars at a red light blocked them.
“Hold on! Kayla, shields up!”
Shields up, Captain Jeremy!
The car faded into invisibility.
“No one saw that,” said Dan, holding on for dear life as they soared over the cars and traffic lights. “Please hurry! My little sister is coughing on the smoke.”
“I guess we can dispense with the roads. My GPS says if we take a twenty-degree turn—”
“Look out for the high-tension wires,” screamed Aubrey.
Six high-voltage wires blocked their path, less than twenty feet away.
“Hold on,” yelled Jeremy.
The car dropped like an elevator with its cable cut. The Secret Supers ducked, and the wires passed where their heads had been a moment before. They could feel the hairs on their heads lift up from the intense voltage a foot away.
“Look out, a tree,” shouted Aubrey.
The car swerved around and over an oak tree blocking their path.
The Elanga’s house blazed ahead, a pillar of fire and smoke rooted in the disintegrating house.
Swooping down, Jeremy brought the car to a skidding halt in front of the house. A wall of heat burned their faces. Acrid smoke assailed their noses. In the distance, fire engine sirens blared.
A popup window appeared on my computer screen. “Loretta, do you wish to accept a video call from John Smith?” I read. I quickly clicked Accept.
As soon as a black-and-gray-haired man appeared on my computer screen, I said, “Oh, Papa Smith, I want to give up.”
“Why would you do that, Loretta? You’re one of the most successful children in our family business.”
“Bah! Four crummy kids beat me.”
“Well, yeah, but you didn’t know they were there in Maryville and they would come after your agent.”
“Sure, I knew they were there. They were all over the national news this past year.”
“But everyone just thinks they’re regular disabled kids. Heck, Andy Zach published their story as fiction. No one knew they had superpowers until we caught them on video defeating your agent.”
“The telekinesis kid, Jeremy, is really powerful, but the telepathic pair, Kayla and Dan, can’t be stopped or intercepted. That’s before you add a real super girl, Aubrey. Their disabilities gave them the perfect disguises.”
“That’s an idea. What if we publish that video and tell everyone they have superpowers? The fame would disrupt their lives and maybe distract them so we can take over Maryville.”
“Hmmm. Maybe. But that would also point back to us as the source of the video. And people might think it’s just a deep fake.”
He sighed. “You’re right. The government might also enlist them in the NSA or some other secret agency. We don’t want any attention from them. Tell you what. Take a vacation. You haven’t had a break for a long time. Maybe if you do something completely different, you’ll come up with a solution to the Secret Supers.”
“There’s a good idea, Papa. My last one was in Paris? Three years ago?”
“Yes. That was after you successfully rigged that state election and got our candidate elected.”
“What would be a complete change for me? Something outside a city, something fun—I know!”
“What?”
“I’ll go to Coaster World!”
“That’s right. You always loved coasters as a kid.”
“Ugh! I sure want to get back at them. But they’re backed up by the NSA. I’m not eager to tackle them and the US government.”
Papa stroked his hair. “The best cure for falling off a horse is to get back on. How about if I get a partner for you?”
“They’d better be awfully competent. I can’t really work with anyone who’s incompetent, or average, or merely a genius.”
“How about if you and I work together?”
I gasped. Papa Smith had raised me. He’d been very vague about what happened to my parents, so he was the only parent I’d known. I’d dreamt of working with him in the family crime business, but I hadn’t seen much of him once I went to college and began teaching, over fifty years ago. He was the one person I was pretty sure was smarter than me. Or at least he knew more.
Want More Than Three Free Excerpts? Click to Get Your Own Copy!
Any newsletter subscriber gets free audiobook codes–as long as they last. Click here to get yours.Don’t wait until they’re gone!
Do you want an autographed book? I’ll mail it directly to you with free shipping and I pay the taxes! Click here to get yours. My shipping may not be the same day, but at least it’s free–for you.
Author Andy Zach Publishing Secret Supers – I covered my years publishing 2016 to 2023 in my post Who Is Author Andy Zach? But I didn’t cover my Secret Supers series.
How Secret Supers Began
My daughter has cerebral palsy and lives in an electric wheelchair. She lives independently in her own apartment for the past thirteen years.
After I’d published my Life After Life Chronicles, I wanted to try a new genre. She came to me and said, “Hey Dad. Why don’t you write a book about a flying wheelchair?”
That was a good idea, so I wrote Secret Supers. The main character is Jeremy, a seventh-grader with cerebral palsy. He’s a nerd who spends a lot of time in his lab downstairs doing scientific experiments. One experiment gave him a superpower: telekinesis. He could make objects move with his mind, including making his wheelchair fly.
His friends in the special ed class also got superpowers and they decided to fight crime in their town–while in seventh grade.
But enough from me. Here’s a recent review from a reader:
Jeremy has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. He is in a special education class with Dan, who is blind, Kayla, who was mute and used a walker, and Audrey, who lost her legs and uses crutches. One afternoon, when conducting experiments in his laboratory, Jeremy accidentally gives himself superpowers. Specifically, he gains the ability of telekinesis, which he can use to help himself walk, cause his wheelchair to travel at much higher speeds, and even fly. Not wanting to keep this discovery to himself, Jeremy tells his 3 friends about it and gives each of them superpowers as well. But now that they have superpowers, what should they do? Following the words of Uncle Ben of Spiderman, they decide they must use their powers for good, beginning by trying to solve a case of a stolen car, and keep their identities a secret, modeling their costumes on the Incredibles.
This book was a fun story that placed individuals with disabilities front and center in the story. While the superpowers allow them to do things they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise, it is what they choose to do with their powers that makes all the difference. Also, even with their superpowers, their initial disabilities aren’t erased, which I think is important. I liked to development of the characters and how they interacted and supported each other; I only wish the book had been longer so I could have spent more time with them. I am glad that there’s a sequel already published, and I look forward to reading/listening to it.
When you write a series, you want each book to be better than the one before it. How could I top four seventh-grade superheroes? In seventh-grade, I loved roller coasters. Why not have an adventure in a coaster park? So, that’s what I created with Villain’s Vacation. My Secret Supers team goes to a coaster park for summer vacation. And their worst enemy is there too, and out for revenge, in Villain’s Vacation.
“Villain’s Vacation” by Andy Zach, narrated by Michael Stafford, whisks you on a thrilling ride as four disabled seventh graders with superpowers take on Coaster World. The writing is as electrifying as their powers, keeping you glued to each twist and turn. Stafford’s narration brings each character to life, adding an extra layer of excitement to this action-packed adventure.
Secret Supers in Space audiobook cover. Click to listen.
Every trilogy needs at least three books. But what’s better than a coaster park setting? How about outer space? But how will I get them there? There is a space camp in Alabama. Why not send them there? And then . . . my readers will find out how they get to space. So I wrote Secret Supers in Space.
Here’s an audible review from 09-04-24:
Listener received this title free
Great sequel
I was given a free copy for an honest review. The story picks up shortly after the last one ended. The conversations early on give a nice recap of the previous stories. There is action, adventure, comedy, and even a little romance. This book has something for everyone and I recommend giving it a try.
I have more ideas than time to write–or speed in writing and publishing.
My current project: Sorcerer’s Apprentice World. This will be my first fantasy book. All the others are science fiction, with a scientific basis for what happens, even if it isn’t any known science.
So, what’s it about? What if magic came to the Earth and everyone got magical powers? And what if no one knew how they’d work?
That’s the premise of book one. This’ll be a trilogy too–at least.
But what about Secret Supers? I definitely have plans for a fourth book. But how can I make it as interesting as the others? That’s my problem. I’ll accept suggestions here and give you a free ebook in return.
Other projects on the runway are: a devotional on the book of Psalms, another short story collection, a fairy tale, a graphic novel, and a children’s book. Which would you like to see?
Who is Author Andy Zach? – Some Free Audiobooks
Any newsletter subscriber gets free audiobook codes–as long as they last. Click here to get yours.Don’t wait!
Do you want an autographed book? I’ll mail it directly to you with free shipping and I pay the taxes! Click here to get yours right now.
