Now a motion picture starring Andy Serkis and Thomas Brodie-Sangster Donald Delpe is a troubled teenager. Not only is he a 'terrible teen' by default, as obsessed with sex, music, videogames and drugs as the rest of his gang, but he is also suffering from a life-threatening form of leukaemia, which makes him an even more difficult boy, both for his parents and his teachers. Escaping into his own comic-book realm of immortal superheroes, ruthless villains and sex-crazed vamps, he repeatedly dashes his family's hopes by refusing to fight the battles facing him in the real world. As famous psychologist Dr King is brought in to help, a glimmer of hope is rekindled. But will the doctor break the rules, betray the parents' trust and risk everything to help Donald achieve his greatest wish? Or will Donald be the one to save the doctor? Inspired by real events, Death of a Superhero is a brilliantly original fusion of novel, comic book and film script; a celebration of the transience of life, the eternal difficulty of love and a hilarious riff on our 21st-century infatuation with movies and the superhero solution.

Author Biography

Anthony McCarten's debut novel, Spinners, won international acclaim, and was followed by The English Harem and the award winning Death of a Superhero, all three books being translated into many languages. McCarten has also written twelve stage plays, including the worldwide success Ladies' Night, which won France's Moliere Prize, the Meilleure Piece Comique, in 2001. Also a film-maker, he has thrice adapted his own plays or novels into feature films which he directed himself.