Karen Diem’s third novel, Power, in her Arca series is as true to its title as the prior two (“Super” and “Human”) While not only a trilogy of clever titles, each single word relates to the plot of the book it represents. Power is all about our main villain’s schemes to steal something powerful to wreak havoc on the people on earth.

The main characters of Zita Garcia, Wyn, and Andy are back, and while Human focused more on Wyn, this novel turns its attention to Andy. If you never read this series, Zita is an extreme sports enthusiast and Brazilian martial artist with a few super powers to boot. She and her superfriends dress in costumes and often find themselves in trouble.

This novel starts with action immediately and doesn’t take a breath until the middle of chapter four. From there on, the plot alternates between action-oriented and character-driven sequences. Watching Zita counsel one of her friends is certainly a highlight of this novel. The other is the creative setting and plot twists that drive the fast-moving narrative.

By now, Diem has her characters down and readers should be delighted with their familiar and witty banter. Reading their interplay, each perfectly voiced in a contrasting personality, is a highlight of this book. These three characters really represent three points in a triangle. 

While the villains may be more vivid in book two, the settings and action sequences of book three will remain in the reader’s mind long after finishing it. The conclusion was particularly memorable.

Zita’s point-of-view gives the reader insight into her mind and by far she’s the most interesting person in the book. Hilarious and loyal, Zita is a bull-in-a-china-shop character that keeps the third in the series engaging. Once in a while, she arrives at a conclusion before the reader without proper explanation, but it’s easy to catch back up.

The book’s style is easy-going and a pleasure to read. The action sequences are well choreographed and come to life from the page. Diem has also evolved her world in surprising ways. Judging the covers (yes, go ahead and say it), the novels at first look like a gritty, urban superhero drama casting Zita in Batman’s role. First, examine the covers closer, and second despite the amount of dark colors in each, they are surprisingly and joyfully unapologetic in adhering to a lighter graphic novel feel. Not a whole lot of grim determination or angsty consciences here, just people fighting bad guys because it’s the right thing to do. That said, this is an adult book with characters dealing with adult situations, and deeper contexts exist if you choose to look for it.

Finally, the reader must be up on their Arca history to read these books. There will be no refresher of what happened before. If you haven’t read the prior two or it’s been a while, it might take you a bit to remember characters and situations, but you will arrive there eventually. And once that happens, the chapters flow.

I highly enjoyed Karen Diem’s Power and look forward to when our super trio have to encounter a Monster (i.e. the fourth novel). Hopefully that won’t be too far in my future.

Buy it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYCY4ND