Adam Sternbergh Books In Order

Publication Order of Spademan Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Apart from being an author, Adam Sternbergh is also the culture editor for the New York Times magazine. Shovel ready is his debut novel. He currently has two books in his name, Shovel Ready and Near Enemy. Shovel Ready has received mostly positive reviews and Adam Sternbergh has been commended for his excellent work. Currently, plans are underway to adopt the book into a movie, and the critically acclaimed actor, Denzel Washington has been chosen to play the anti-hero Spaderman. For any author, this is a dream come true and from the look of things, Adam has indeed defied the odds.

Shovel Ready

Shovel Ready is a type of novel which defies genres and crushes labels. From a reader’s perspective, such books rarely appear and readers who have the privilege to read such books are changed forever. The main character in this installment is Spaderman. He is the quintessence of antihero. Spaderman has always had a normal life, a wife and a job as a garbage man before the entire world turned upside down after a bomb explosion in New York City. In this book, Spaderman refers to himself as the garbage man meaning he is willing to clear up people’s messes at a certain price.

As a cleaner, Spaderman does not want to be associated with this kind of job, hence he does ask for the clients name or detailed information. He only asks for money and a name. Spaderman is extremely good at his job. But everything turns upside down after he receives the name of the daughter of a well-known evangelist. After tracking her down, Spaderman knowingly breaks his own rules by getting to know her, up close and personal. He also gets to know her secret. This move in turn changes everything he stood for. He decides to protect the evangelist’s daughter from anyone who may try to harm her.

A majority of readers who had the priviledge of reading the book were completely astounded by the fact that such a unique and profound book could be an author’s debut novel. This book not only shows the author natural talent but also cements the authors place as a promising and rising star in the writing business. At the beginning of the book, you will be a little bit confused, since there are strings of conversation that the author uses without indicating whether they are conversations or not. Addionally, the main characters dialogue are all conducted in this manner.

But after reading a few pages, you will get accustomed to this kind of writing because most of the conversations are done in this manner. As the main character in this book, Spadernan is absolutely fascinating. He is not only witty, but also at times very sarcastic and rude. Nonetheless, the author also makes him seem like a bad guy especially since he is a hitman. Later on, we are shown by the author, Spaderman’s good side. The plot in this book is full of twists and turns which many at times you are not going to see them coming. All in all, once you get a good grasp of the writing style, then this is going to be a quick read. The pace of the storyline is quite first, while the story flows quickly and smoothly.

The storyline is filled with numerous detailed descriptions and imagery of the characters and even beyond. Unlike most novels, this is unquestionably a different writing style. Overall, this book was full of fresh air in a different world. It combines all the genres while defying the labels. For individuals who are looking for books which are out of the regular literature boxes, then this series is a must read.

Near Enemy

As the second installment in the Spaderman series, Near Enemy is a darkly hilarious and gripping book. This books picks up from where the first book left off. A year has now passed, but the author goess ahead to do excellent job in keeping the reader updated with the happenings. With everything going back to normal, Spaderman decides to take on what he expects to be a normal job; take out a guy who has been a living pain for everyone. Despite the fact that Lesser has been creating enemies wherever he goes, he comes from his dreaming state and raise claims that a group of terrorists have found ways of getting into the limnosphere and controlling the system from within.

Additionally, the group of terrorists are based somewhere in New York. Spaderman is at crossroads. He does not know whether he should believe lesser. If Lesser is telling the truth, then this might be a very huge terrorist attack since it would be emanating from inside. Thus, Spaderman begins his investigation into the matter. As he looks into the claims, he uncovers numerous enemies, one after the other. Some of the enemies, he never thought would be so close. The first book in this series will take you by surprise and might end up being one of your favorite book.

Both the first and second storyline, have deep and dark twisted elements, and this time around the anti-hero is back. The plot and story line in this installment turned out to be extremely complex in every way and filled with several twists and turns. As the storyline progresses, we learn more about the terrorists and their plans. Furthermore, the author has done an excellent job in writing the storyline by using vivid imagery and paying attention to detail. Like the first book, Spaderman is still the main character in this installment and despite being an anti-hero he still has a layer beneath his personality. Apart from Spaderman and Lesser, all the other characters were well written.

Conclusion

Near Enemy and Shovel Ready are a walk to a rather weird side. Apart from being fast paced, they are also snarky, fun and entertaining. The different and unique writing style are what makes this two books quite unique. If you are a sophisticated reader who is looking for a different kind of book to read, then make a point of reading the Spaderman series by Adam Sternbergh.