Alex Segura with Laura Leffler: Enemy of My Enemy
LA Times Book Prize-winning author Alex Segura presents his Marvel crime thriller putting Daredevil at the center of the trial of the century, with moderator Laura Leffler.
Why we picked this
Segura's Secret Identity won the LA Times Book Prize by treating superhero publishing history as literary noir — morally rigorous and formally precise. His new Daredevil novel continues that project: Matt Murdock defending the Punisher at the trial of the century is a genuine legal and ethical dilemma, not just a cape spectacle.
Alex Segura is not the kind of writer who treats licensed fiction as a paycheck assignment. His novel Secret Identity — which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller and earned a New York Times Editor’s Choice designation — used the backstage world of 1970s superhero comics as the setting for a genuinely rigorous literary noir. Enemy of My Enemy brings that same seriousness to a new assignment.
The novel puts Matt Murdock in an impossible position: defending Frank Castle, the Punisher, in the trial of the century — the alleged murder of the Kingpin. As Daredevil, Matt investigates inconsistencies in Castle’s confession; as a lawyer, he must navigate what it means to defend someone whose entire philosophy he opposes. The criminal underworld of Hell’s Kitchen is simultaneously erupting in a succession war. The result uses superhero infrastructure to ask genuine questions about the relationship between law and justice, guilt and violence.
Segura appears in conversation with Laura Leffler at Tattered Cover Colfax, doors at 5:30 PM. Tickets include a signed book or a $5 gift card.