Enemies & Allies by Kevin J. Anderson
(A selection offered via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program)

Let me start by warning of my bias: in the circles I frequent, Kevin J. Anderson has a reputation for mediocre prose and character sabotage.  So much so, that when I finished this novel and offered it around to a few local readers groups, no one was interested.  I requested the title in spite of myself, just to see what could be done with an old standby.  Unfortunately, I didn't get anything new, or even a new take on an old idea.



The plot loosely circles the first meeting and alliance of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel, at the height of the McCarthy-era Red scare. 

This time around, Luthor's in bed with the Russians, determined to both undermine Superman, and get the top defense contract bids - even if it means playing dirty with Wayne Enterprises.  Amidst a fake alien invasion and a nuclear scandal, Batman tries to decide whether Superman's a threat.  Mutual rescuings ensue and the "American Way" is upheld.

It's a simplistic story that could have been done so much better.  As it is, Enemies and Allies is a cookie-cutter plot given grade-school scripting, with little regard to the reality of the era.  My biggest problem with the book wasn't the writing, but the way the setting was handled.  The back blurb promises a return to the social values of the '50s, and the novel's unironic presentation of the propagandistic American values left me cold.  I live in a world that knows nostalgia isn't what it used to be, and the past isn't as shiny as some of our parents would like to think.  I don't ask for all of my superheroes to have flaws, but I've long outgrown the notion of a picture-perfect universe.