It’s been five years since Scotland became the birthplace of a new breed of superheroes.
While iconic figures like Golden Eagle and the Phantom Fantoosh take to the skies, others are left with less mighty gifts: turning ceramics into instant coffee or bypassing community centre opening hours, anyone?
“A bizarre, playful riot of a novel which inverts everything we know about the modern superhero. I laughed all the way through this delightful romp.”
—T. L. Huchu, author of the Edinburgh Nights series
Available for pre-order
Publication Date: 5th November 2026
Price range: £4.49 through £14.00
Meet Cathy’s friends.Dundonian Cathy Burns has more reason than most to resent this brave new world. Her girlfriend, Ishbel, rocketed to fame as the Silver Selkie, leaving Cathy overworked at the Benefits Agency, assessing support for the newly ‘Abled.’ At home, she’s caring for her mum and dealing with the fall-out of her dad’s abduction by the dimension-hopping entity, Kannyman.
When one of Cathy’s clients dies under suspicious circumstances she discovers others with Abilities have met similar ends. Her search for answers leads her to the Knoxians, a religious sect convinced the Abled are divine punishment made flesh. She finds herself chatting to pissed-off pigeons, encounters a Muirhouse-based Oracle and falls into a reluctant alliance with the mercurial Kannyman.
On her quest, Cathy faces a terrible truth: sometimes getting exactly what you want results in the end of the world…
Launch Dates:
5th November, Blackness Library, Dundee
30th November, Central Library, Edinburgh
“A twisting mystery and a surreal trip down the rabbit hole into superhero noir. Kirsti Wishart crafts a mirror-universe world of fantastical superpowers – and less fantastic abilities – brought into sharp relief by the bureaucracy-weathered Cathy Burns’ search for justice.”
—Heather Palmer, author of the Eynhallow Saga
Kirsti Wishart’s Scottish – so very Scottish! – superheroes are bringers of wonder and horror; profane, hilarious and miraculous, often all at the same time, like life itself. The elevator pitch may be Irvine Welsh crossed with a Marvel comic, but the themes cut deeper, and Wishart’s confident and tender voice is unmistakably her own. I could not put it down.
—Hannu Rajaniemi author of The Quantum Thief and Darkome
Wishart crafts a candy-floss-laced-with-cyanide superhero adventure firmly rooted in Scotland. Deft turns of phrase and hilarious observations about the kind of heroes we do – and don’t – deserve are underscored by essential questions about acceptance, belonging and responsibility. Get ready for a wild ride in Wishart’s heroic imagination.
—Lynsey May, author of Weak Teeth
I loved this book! Absolutely loved it. Clever, queer, and quintessentially Scottish.
— Ry Herman, author of This Princess Kills Monsters
Kirsti Wishart lives in Edinburgh where she writes novels, short stories and other things. She has a Ph.D in Scottish Literature from the University of St Andrews and was granted a New Writers Bursary from Scottish Arts Council in 2005.
Her first novel, The Knitting Station, was published in 2021 by Rymour Books and her second, The Projectionist, was selected by SNACK Magazine as one of the ten best Scottish novels of 2022.
Kirsti has been a Hawthornden Fellow, shortlisted for the Scottish Arts Trust Short Story award, a contestant in Literary Death Match and has had work in New Writing Scotland,Product and The Bottle Imp.
Her superpower would be waiting patiently