The Soundtrack of his Life

March 5, 2019

The soundtrack to Superpowered Love 5: Re-Entry Burn is far and away the most personal one I've ever done. It has four of my top five (currently extant) bands at the forefront, because Malory is the first character I ever wrote who had my own taste in music. Most of it, anyhow. (The rest, I gave to Bren in The Takedown, but more on that when we get to book 8 :D) It's kinda funny, considering his cousin Brady is the wannabe rock star--and honestly the Riot Boy soundtrack has some important stuff to me in its seminal punkness, too. But this one, damn dude.

So here it is, in all its nerdy rock-emo glory. Turn it up, y'all:

Re-Entry Burn, the mixtape:


“US Government” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Take Them On, On Your Own)
“Re-Wired” by Kasabian (Velociraptor!)
“Fire It Up” by Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank)
“Outsiders” by Franz Ferdinand (You Could Have It So Much Better)
“Thick as Thieves” by Kasabian (West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum)
“Virginia State Epileptic Colony” by Manic Street Preachers (Journal for Plague Lovers)
“Bad Blood” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Beat the Devil’s Tattoo)
“Help!” by The Beatles (Help!)
“Man of Simple Pleasures” by Kasabian (Velociraptor!)
“How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths (Meat Is Murder)
“Motorcycle Emptiness” by Manic Street Preachers (Generation Terrorists)
“Weight of the World” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Howl)
“This Fire” by Franz Ferdinand (Franz Ferdinand)
“Babydoll” by The Fratellis (Here We Stand)
“Pretty Girls Make Graves” by The Smiths (The Smiths)
“Nobody Loved You” by Manic Street Preachers (This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours)
“L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)” by Kasabian (Kasabian)
“Gimme Shelter” by The Rolling Stones (Let It Bleed)
“Parting of the Sensory” by Modest Mouse (We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank)
“This Joke Sport Severed” by Manic Street Preachers (Journal for Plague Lovers)
“The End” by The Beatles (Abbey Road)

My favorite band in the world, like Malory, is the Manic Street Preachers. How the fuck a girl from West Virginia who grew up while grunge was in ended up obsessed with these dudes, I mean, I don't even fucking know. Mysteries of the universe, right? They never come to the US (their music will explain that...), but I did manage to see them once at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC and it a life highlight, lemme tell you. Guess I need a trip to Wales next.

I was walking down Army Navy drive when I lived in Arlington, Va, right behind the pentagon, and I had the Manics album Journal for Plague Lovers going in my headphones. Riot Boy had just come out, and my editor Raven had said, "Now you have to write Malory's story." And that's how Re-Entry Burn happened. 

As a side note, the rest of my list is:

2. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
3. Interpol ("Sir Not Appearing in this Film")
4. Kasabian
5. Franz Ferdinand

Let's not think too much about what all that says about me. Let's instead think about what it says about Malory Claremont and his fucked up life. Bless his heart.


Malory Claremont was born and raised to be the villain in someone else's story, complete with fire-based superpowers. Then his cousin and former partner-in-crime, Brady, led him into a trap, and he's been in superpowered lockdown ever since.

When he gets out on parole, he meets Theo McCracken, a cold-superpowered ex-offender. Theo has a modern Hamlet-style past, dangerously pretty eyes, and a hunger for affection that even Mal can't deny for long.

They've paid their debts to society, but society doesn't care—from blackmailing coworkers to suspicious neighbors, it's hard to catch a fair chance. Pile that on top of their dark family pasts, and it feels like just a matter of time before they'll be shoved right back into prison.

Now available at Less Than Three and these vendors!

Latest Instagrams

© Katey Hawthorne's. Design by FCD.