THE SOMEBODY PEOPLE, by Bob Proehl, is the epic conclusion to his first book, THE NOBODY PEOPLE. In this altered reality, a certain number of people have been given supernatural abilities like flying, stopping time, teleportation, etc. Seven years prior to this book something called The Pulse happened, imbuing many more people with abilities, but there was still a large contingent of the population that had no special ability and seemingly never would. Because of a perpetual unrest between those with powers and those without, a plan is created to end the unrest and bring order back to the world, but it quickly becomes clear that nothing is as simple or as pure in intention as it seems.
The world Proehl creates is so imaginative and magical and the reader will spent a lot of time pleasantly exploring the world throughout the book. On the surface, one could compare the story to major storylines in a certain comic book series, but this book is so much more gritty and Proehl makes sure to make each of his characters very real and tangible in a way that other stories like this have not done. I did get a little lost at times with so many characters to follow and which ones have a history together and which ones don't, but it really didn't slow me down too much. The ending of the book is so mind-bending, so complicated, and so exciting I had to read the last few chapters twice.
THE SOMEBODY PEOPLE is such a unique and different novel that I can't wait to see what Bob Proehl comes up with next.
Thank you to Random House/Del Ray, Bob Proehl, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. ( )