More novelty than actual reading material, "You are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero" is one of those books you remember from your childhood, written in the tradition of Choose Your Own Adventure. I picked this book up because I remember loving those books as a kid, so of course a more grown-up version was intriguing.

The core storyline is that Julia, a girl with whom you just went out on a date, is kidnapped and the kidnappers call you to demand a ransom. You're not sure how strongly you feel about this girl, so it's up to you whether you choose to help her, and how you are going to go about doing it. And in the tradition of the children's books, you can get yourself into a number of different predicaments no matter what you choose.

While reading this book - and it's definitely a quick read, especially if you keep hitting "The End" - I found myself doing the same thing I did when I was a kid: keeping my previous place so that if I didn't like the direction the story was going, I could go back and take the other option. It's definitely not a book that you sit down and read straight through, simply due to the format. I enjoyed retracing my steps and making different choices, but I found that I lost interest with that and simply paged through here and there to see what kind of trouble the character keeps getting into. The book definitely stays in light and fluffy territory, even though some situations involve death, destruction, and elderly orgies. This is not a book to read if you are looking for the next Great American Novel or deep insight into life, the universe, and everything. That said, however, the writing is funny, and it easily comes across as a parody of a mystery thriller. If you're looking for a fun way to spend an afternoon, you might want to page through this book.