A bullet that set off a synaptic storm, a neural seizure.
For the past six months John's been in a coma, vividly dreaming a decade worth of life. In that splintered, imagined version of reality, the gunman who shot him also killed his family. Destroyed by grief, John thereafter became a vigilante of a similar mold to the comics and movies he's always been obsessed with, such as John Wick and The Punisher.
All of that feels real to him. Realer by far than the tidy house, the strange family, the ruined body that he has woken up to now.
As he speaks to a therapist, as he tries to rebuild his strength and navigate this unfamiliar life in the suburbs, he struggles with the question of his identity...
Especially when crime comes to his neighborhood and he feels compelled to answer.
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BENJAMIN PERCY is the author of seven novels – most recently The Sky Vault (William Morrow, 2023) – as well as three story collections and a book of essays, Thrill Me, that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms. Since 2017, he has written Wolverine for Marvel – and he currently writes the comics Deadpool Wolverine, Red Hulk, Hellverine, and the "Predator vs" series. His novella – American Criminal (NeoText, 2023) – is presently in development with Amazon MGM Studios, with Gavin O'Connor attached to direct. His honors include a Whiting Award, an NEA Fellowship, a McKnight Fellowship, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, the iHeartRadio Award for Best Scripted Podcast, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories.
Dark, twisted, visceral, and impossible to put down, THE HUMAN BULLET could only spring from the mind of master storyteller Benjamin Percy. This story feels like it could only exist today, but savvy readers will be able to pluck out the many influences that serve as ingredients for John’s story. If you’re a fan of action-thrillers with some real substance, THE HUMAN BULLET serves up a huge helping. I read it in one sitting. You will, too.
I tore through it in a single sitting, and it held me on the precipice of its truth the whole time. Marvellous.
