The First Diary

July 11, 2011
At the start of this disappointing thriller from Benson (Evil Hours), 48-year-old Martin Talbot learns from a confessional letter that his 72-year-old, Alzheimer's-afflicted mother, Judy, wrote years earlier that she was the Black Stiletto, "ne of the most famous people on the planet," a costumed vigilante who began to operate in New York City in 1958. Extracts from Judy's diary tell her story. When puberty hits, Judy Cooper finds she has superhuman vision and hearing as well as an "intuition" that can tell her whether a person is good or bad. After being sexually abused by her stepfather, she flees her Texas home for the Big Apple, where she finds someone willing to teach her boxing. When the gangster she falls for is killed, Judy, inspired by reading a Batman comic, adopts the persona of the costumed hero to take on the mob. Fans of Alan Moore's work incorporating superheroes into a realistic world will find this similar effort doesn't measure up.

July 1, 2011

Imagine waking up to discover that your Alzheimer's-striken mom had been an action figure. That's the fate of Martin Talbot, who unearths a 1958 diary kept by his mother. A New York street vigilante in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Judy Talbot later inspired a comic book series and an Angelina Jolie movie, as well as the action figure. Most of Benson's (James Bond: Choice of Weapons) thriller excerpts Judy's diary detailing her attempts, devoid of superhuman powers (a la Batman), to teach herself boxing and karate, as well as to wield the weapon that provides her crime-fighting name, the Black Stiletto; she's equally adept in stiletto heels and sews her own threads, one set for summer and another for winter. Interspersed are less interesting sections about Martin's life and a subplot dealing with a Mafia hit man whose brother had been killed by the Black Stiletto and, after 52 years in stir, is out to get her. VERDICT This mashup of the work of Gloria Steinem, Ian Fleming, and Mario Puzo, all under the editorship of Stan Lee, will appeal to fans of comic books and the movie Kick-Ass.--Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2011
Imagine the surprise of middle-age accountant Martin Talbot when he discovers that his mother72, stricken with Alzheimer's, living in a nursing homewas the Black Stiletto, an internationally known, black leatherclad, late1950s vigilante who became a media star decades later. Getting access to Judy Cooper's diaries, Martin learns that his mother ran away from her dysfunctional home in Odessa, Texas, at 13 to go to New York, where she learned to box, earned a black belt in karate, and was tutored in using knivesall useful skills for a young woman in the big city. While Martin reads the first diary, old-time Mob enforcer Roberto Ranelli, just paroled after 52 years in prison, is looking to avenge his twin brother's 1958 death at the hands of the Black Stilettoa quest that leads to a potentially lethal climax. The appeal in this series-opener lies in the transformation of Judy Cooper into an international icon of feminist strength and power who assumes near-mythic proportions. Prolific crime-fiction writer Benson captures the style of a young woman's diary and moves with ease between time periods in this comic booklike novel of nonstop action. Prime escapism.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)